gaming

Saber CEO privately apologizes to fired writer, then insults a critic

Saber Interactive CEO Matthew Karch privately apologized unreservedly to writer Stella Sacco for his public remarks about her employment and capabilities after the Rideshare Simulator AI controversy. Sacco says she worked on the game, was later fired, and that a large language model took over some of her workload; Saber confirmed it used AI on the title but denied wholesale replacement of writers. After messaging Sacco, Karch posted on LinkedIn criticizing Portal writer Chet Faliszek and called him an "unsuccessful writer," despite earlier saying he would have been "happy to replace" Sacco with AI. The exchange has intensified scrutiny of AI use and executive behavior in the games industry.

• Stella Sacco says Matthew Karch messaged her directly and "apologized unreservedly" for his prior public comments about her employment and competence.
• Sacco says she worked on Rideshare Simulator, was fired, and that an LLM later handled some of her workload; Saber acknowledged AI use on the game but denied replacing all writers wholesale.
• Karch previously told This Week in Video Games he would have been "happy to replace" Sacco with AI and belittled her competency; after apologizing he called Portal writer Chet Faliszek an "unsuccessful writer" in a LinkedIn post.
• The dispute generated public criticism—including a 26-minute YouTube vlog by Faliszek—and highlights industry tensions over AI replacing human contributors and CEO conduct.