Tim Willits, who serves as the chief creative officer at Saber Interactive, recently weighed in on the controversy sparked by CEO Matthew Karch’s reaction to allegations that a member of the writing team had been replaced by an artificial‑intelligence tool.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 upcoming title, Rideshare Simulator, but that the company had “replaced me with ChatGPT halfway through development.” Karch’s reply was blunt and laced with sarcasm. He wrote, “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, in turn, defended her original statement, calling Karch’s retort “remarkably pathetic for the CEO of any company to be making.” When GamesIndustry.biz approached Willits at Gamescom for comment, he dismissed the back‑and‑forth as “just Matt’s sarcasm, that’s all.” He then pivoted to the core issue: the use of AI in Saber’s development pipeline.
“The bottom line is that we have never swapped a human employee for an AI system. That notion is outright nonsense. We do not employ generative AI for the narrative work on Space Marine, Hellraiser, Stuntman, or any of our other projects,” Willits asserted. Willits did, however, acknowledge that Saber is actively experimenting with artificial‑intelligence technologies.
“We’re still figuring out where AI can add genuine value in the industry—what players will actually enjoy, where it can make the development process more efficient, and what use‑cases make sense,” he explained. He cited Rideshare Simulator as a testbed for these experiments, noting that the game includes an “AI mode” that the team is currently trialing.
“All of the core story beats, characters, dialogue, and side missions were written by human writers. The AI components are limited to specific, optional features,” Willits clarified. The Steam store page for Rideshare Simulator provides a transparent breakdown of the AI involvement.
It states that the main campaign’s narrative, character arcs, and spoken lines were crafted by a team of human writers. AI tools were employed only for voice synthesis and certain localization tasks. Additionally, the optional “Free Ride” mode offers AI‑generated passenger missions and localized dialogue, while the in‑game radio stations blend tracks created by musicians with pieces generated by AI algorithms.
Willits emphasized that Saber does not 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. Nonetheless, he expressed optimism that a breakthrough use‑case could emerge, one that would demonstrate a compelling, seamless integration of modern AI into a gaming experience.
“When that moment arrives, everyone will say, ‘That’s it—this is how AI belongs in games.’ Until then, it’s similar to any new technology: people initially wonder how it will fit, and over time we discover its practical applications.” Looking ahead, Willits predicted that AI will become a more visible element at future industry events. “I expect that by next year’s Gamescom we’ll see larger titles that actually center around AI-driven mechanics,” he said. “I’m eager to see how our own Rideshare experiment is received, how players respond to the AI‑enhanced features, and how we can refine the integration.
It’s an exciting research project for us.” In summary, while Saber Interactive is cautiously exploring AI’s potential—particularly in niche areas like voice generation, localization, and optional gameplay modes—the company maintains that all substantive narrative work remains in the hands of human creators. The controversy surrounding Stella Sacco’s claim appears to stem from a misunderstanding of the scope of those experiments, and both the CEO’s sarcastic rebuttal and the CCO’s clarifications underscore that no writer has been outright replaced by a chatbot.
The full interview with Tim Willits can be found on GamesIndustry.biz.