A dispute over how much artificial intelligence went into an upcoming driving-sim satire has turned into a public brawl, with Saber Interactive denying it replaced a writer with ChatGPT even as its CEO says he wishes he had.
The game at the center of it is Rideshare "Stimulator," a gig-economy driving sim revealed in a short trailer roughly two weeks ago and developed by Unigine with Saber as publisher. The trouble started when narrative designer Stella Sacco, listed on LinkedIn as Saber's lead writer from July 2023 to July 2024, posted on Bluesky that she had been the lead writer on the project before the company "replaced me with ChatGPT midway through development." She also claimed "all the passenger voices were AI too," and questioned why none of it was disclosed on the Steam page.
Saber's Denial, And Its Admission
Saber pushed back in a statement to PC Gamer, saying "Neither Saber nor Unigine have replaced any writers with AI for Rideshare or any other game," and adding that Rideshare's story "was written entirely by real people." The company said its writing staff has tripled since 2023 and that none of its 3,000-plus employees "have to worry about being replaced by AI."
At the same time, Saber confirmed the game does use generative AI. According to the statement, Rideshare will include "an experimental, free-ride mode that by necessity incorporates AI as the number of passengers in the game is infinite." The company described itself as "firm believers in using AI tools to improve or enhance gameplay experiences."
Sacco stood by her account, telling PC Gamer, "I was there, and it was my job to write the game, and then it wasn't once Matt Karch decided using ChatGPT would be great publicity for the game." On social media she said her direct boss argued repeatedly against the AI push before executives insisted "gamers love new tech."
The CEO Escalates
Saber CEO Matthew Karch then weighed in directly with a statement to This Week In Video Games, as reported by Kotaku. He opened with "Stella who?" and said he had "never spoken to her or seen her." Karch did not deny generative AI is involved in "certain parts of the game," saying the company will update the Steam page "once we have finalized the feature set." He described the title as a lower-priced game and framed the AI use as "a plus for consumers."
He also went after Sacco personally, claiming she "was replaced by someone more talented" and terminated "for a variety of reasons a few months later," before adding, "I would frankly in retrospect have been happy to replace her with AI. At least we would be dealing with someone programmed to be honest."
Sacco responded that Karch was "lashing out" to avoid scrutiny over the extent of the AI use, calling his statement "remarkably pathetic for the CEO of any company."
As Kotaku and GamesIndustry.biz note, the Rideshare Steam page currently carries no AI disclosure, even though Valve requires developers to flag generative AI content that reaches players. The store page's discussion section has since filled with arguments over the game's undisclosed AI, and Karch's handling of the row has arguably done more to define the project than its trailer did.
What This Means For Players
If you were eyeing Rideshare "Stimulator," the practical takeaway is that Saber has confirmed generative AI will drive at least the "free-ride" mode and passenger content, with disclosure promised later on Steam. For anyone who tracks AI use in games before buying, that is worth watching as the page updates, and it is a reminder to check Steam's AI disclosure box on other unreleased titles too.