Tim Willits, the chief creative officer at Saber Interactive, stepped in to comment on the controversy sparked by CEO Matthew Karch’s reaction to allegations that a staff writer had been replaced by an artificial‑intelligence system. The dispute began when Stella Sacco, who had been identified in August as the lead writer for Saber’s upcoming title Rideshare Simulator, publicly asserted that the company had dismissed her and substituted her role with ChatGPT halfway through the project’s development cycle. 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 fired back with her own statement, insisting that her claims were accurate and labeling Karch’s remarks as “remarkably pathetic for the CEO of any company to be making.” The exchange quickly attracted media attention, and GamesIndustry.biz seized the opportunity to ask Willits for his perspective during a press event at Gamescom.
Willits dismissed Karch’s remarks as “just Matt’s sarcasm, that’s all,” and then moved on to the core issue: the use of generative‑AI tools in Saber’s development pipeline. “First and foremost, we have never replaced a human employee with AI,” Willits emphasized.
“That idea is absurd. None of the narrative work on Space Marine, Hellraiser, Stuntman or any of our other titles has been generated by a machine. All of those scripts, side‑quests, character arcs and dialogue were crafted by people.” He added that while the company does not currently employ AI to write core story content, it is actively experimenting with the technology in limited contexts to understand where it might add value.
“We announced Rideshare Simulator with an ‘AI mode’ as an experiment. The main campaign, its characters, and the dialogue are all written by a human team. The side missions are also human‑written.” The Steam store page for Rideshare Simulator provides a transparent disclosure: the primary campaign narrative, characters, and spoken lines were authored by human writers, whereas AI tools were leveraged for voice synthesis and certain localization tasks. Additionally, an optional “Free Ride” mode features AI‑generated passenger missions and localized dialogue, and the in‑game radio stations blend tracks composed by musicians with pieces produced by AI algorithms.
Willits clarified that Saber does not yet rely on generative AI for core production assets such as code, level geometry, or texture creation. “Our pipelines for programming, environment design, and art remain entirely human‑driven,” he said.
However, he acknowledged that the industry is still in an exploratory phase. “In the future, I expect a developer to discover a truly clever and groundbreaking use case for modern AI that will make everyone say, ‘That’s it—this is how AI belongs in games.’ Until then, it’s like any new technology that arrives on the scene.
People initially ask, ‘What can we do with this? How will it work?’ and over time we discover the everyday applications.” Willits expressed optimism about the trajectory of AI integration, predicting that upcoming showcases—such as next year’s Gamescom—will feature larger titles that deliberately incorporate AI in meaningful ways. “I’m curious to see how it plays out for us, how it works in our Rideshare game, how players respond, and how we can weave it into the experience without compromising creativity,” he remarked. “It’s a valuable experiment, and the results will help shape the next wave of game design.” The broader conversation touches on a key tension in the gaming industry: balancing the efficiency and novel possibilities offered by AI with the need to preserve human creativity and authorship.
While Saber’s leadership insists that no writer has been outright replaced, the company’s willingness to test AI‑generated content in ancillary modes reflects a cautious, incremental approach. By being transparent about where AI is used—voice generation, localization, and optional mission creation—Saber aims to maintain trust with its audience and its own creative staff. Willits concluded by noting that the full interview with GamesIndustry.biz will be released the following day, promising more detail on Saber’s experimental AI initiatives and the company’s stance on the ethical considerations of machine‑assisted development. The upcoming publication is expected to shed further light on how the studio plans to navigate the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence while upholding the principle that human talent remains at the heart of game storytelling.