Tim Willits, who serves as the chief creative officer at Saber Interactive, weighed in on the controversy sparked by CEO Matthew Karch’s remarks about allegations that a company writer had been supplanted by an artificial‑intelligence tool. The dispute began when former lead writer Stella Sacco publicly asserted in August that she had been the primary author for Saber’s forthcoming title, Rideshare Simulator, but that the studio had "replaced me with ChatGPT halfway through development." In response, Karch issued a sharply worded rebuttal, stating, "Stella who? I had to ask Claude because I have never spoken to her or seen her… As far as Stella is concerned, she was replaced by someone more talented and terminated for a variety of reasons a few months later." Sacco quickly countered Karch’s denials, insisting that her statements were accurate and labeling the CEO’s comments as "remarkably pathetic for the CEO of any company to be making." The exchange drew considerable attention at Gamescom, where GamesIndustry.biz approached Willits for his perspective on the public feud.
Willits brushed off the drama as "just Matt’s sarcasm, that’s all," but he also used the opportunity to set the record straight about Saber’s stance on artificial‑intelligence usage. According to Willits, the claim that Saber has swapped a human writer for an AI system is entirely unfounded.
"We’ve never replaced anybody with AI. That’s crazy," he said. He emphasized that none of the narrative content for titles such as Space Marine, Hellraiser, Stuntman, or any other current project has been generated by generative‑AI tools. All storylines, characters, dialogue, and even side‑mission scripts have been crafted by human writers.
That said, Willits acknowledged that Saber is actively experimenting with AI in limited, controlled contexts. He explained that the company is still exploring where AI might add genuine value within the industry, what players might appreciate, and which aspects of development could benefit from automation. "The game we don’t even have here, but we announced [Rideshare Simulator], we are experimenting with it with the AI mode," he noted, indicating that a specific optional mode within the upcoming title incorporates AI‑generated elements.
The official Steam page for Rideshare Simulator clarifies the division of labor: the main campaign’s story, characters, and dialogue are written by a human team, while AI tools are employed for voice synthesis and certain localization tasks. Additionally, the optional "Free Ride" mode features AI‑generated passenger missions and localized dialogue, and the in‑game radio stations blend human‑produced tracks with AI‑created music. Willits also stressed that Saber does not currently rely on generative AI for core production pipelines such as code development, environment construction, or texture creation. He projected that, as the technology matures, developers may discover a "clever and brilliant use case for true modern AI integration" that will become an industry‑wide standard.
He likened the current uncertainty to the early days of any transformative technology, when practitioners ask, "What are we going to do with this? How will it work?" Over time, those questions are answered as the technology finds its niche in everyday workflows. Looking ahead, Willits expressed optimism that AI will play a more prominent role in upcoming releases.
"It will be interesting to see where it goes. I bet at next year’s Gamescom we’ll have some bigger games that actually focus on it," he said, adding that he is eager to observe how AI features are received in Saber’s own Rideshare Simulator and how they might be woven into future projects. He framed the current experimentation as a valuable learning exercise: "It’s a great experiment." In summary, while Saber Interactive is cautiously testing AI in peripheral capacities—such as voice generation, localization, and optional gameplay modes—it has not replaced any human writer with a machine.
The company’s narrative and design work remains firmly in the hands of its creative staff, and any AI involvement is disclosed transparently to players. The full interview with Tim Willits will be published by GamesIndustry.biz tomorrow, providing further insight into Saber’s evolving relationship with artificial intelligence.