Tim Willits, the chief creative officer at Saber Interactive, weighed in on the controversy sparked by CEO Matthew Karch’s response to allegations that a member of the company’s writing team had been replaced by an artificial‑intelligence system. The dispute began when Stella Sacco, who identified herself as the lead writer for Saber’s upcoming title Rideshare Simulator, publicly asserted in August that she had been dismissed and supplanted by ChatGPT halfway through the game’s development.
In reply, Karch issued a sharply worded statement that dismissed Sacco’s claim, saying, “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 rebuttal, insisting that her original statements were accurate and labeling the CEO’s comments 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 Gamescom. Willits brushed off the heated back‑and‑forth as “just Matt’s sarcasm, that’s all,” and then moved on to the core point he wanted to make. According to Willits, Saber Interactive has never actually replaced a human employee with an AI system.
“That idea is completely off the mark,” he said. “We have not used generative AI to write any of the narrative content for Space Marine, Hellraiser, Stuntman, or any of our other projects.” He emphasized that all of the main story beats, character arcs, and dialogue in those titles were crafted by human writers, and that any AI tools the studio employs are limited to very specific, ancillary tasks. He did, however, acknowledge that Saber is actively experimenting with artificial‑intelligence technologies in order to understand where they might add value to the development pipeline. “We don’t know yet which parts of the industry will benefit most from AI, what players will enjoy, and what will actually be useful in practice,” Willits explained.
“For the game we have announced – Rideshare Simulator – we are testing an ‘AI mode’ that lets the system generate certain optional content, but the core campaign, the characters, and the primary dialogue were all written by people.” The Steam store page for Rideshare Simulator reflects this nuanced approach. It states that the main campaign’s story, characters, and spoken lines were created by a team of human writers, while AI tools were employed for voice synthesis and some aspects of localization. Additionally, the optional “Free Ride” mode offers AI‑generated passenger missions and localized dialogue, and the in‑game radio stations feature a blend of music composed by humans and tracks produced by AI algorithms.
Willits clarified that Saber does not currently rely on generative AI for core production elements such as code, level design, or texture creation. “Our pipelines for programming, environment building, and asset creation remain entirely human‑driven,” he said. “We are watching the technology evolve, but we haven’t integrated it into those fundamental areas yet.” Looking ahead, Willits expressed optimism that a breakthrough use case for AI could eventually emerge, one that would feel so natural and compelling that both developers and players would instantly recognize its potential. He likened the situation to past technological revolutions: “When a new tool first appears, people ask, ‘What are we going to do with this?
How does it fit into our workflow?’ Over time, we discover the sweet spots where it becomes a seamless part of everyday production.” He also hinted that the next edition of Gamescom could showcase more ambitious projects that put AI at the forefront. “I think next year we’ll see larger titles that actually focus on AI integration,” Willits predicted. “I’m curious to see how it plays out for us, especially in the context of our Rideshare game, how the community reacts, and how we can weave AI into the experience in a way that feels meaningful rather than gimmicky.” He described the current experiments as “a great learning opportunity” that will inform future decisions about where AI can enhance storytelling, player interaction, or procedural content generation. In summary, while Saber Interactive is exploring AI in a limited, experimental capacity—primarily for voice generation, localization, and optional side content—no writer or other staff member has been replaced by an algorithm.
The company’s stance is that human creativity remains at the heart of its narrative-driven games, with AI serving as a supplementary tool rather than a substitute. The full interview with Willits is slated for publication on GamesIndustry.biz tomorrow, where he will likely expand on these points and discuss the broader implications of AI for the gaming industry.