Saber Interactive CEO Matt Karch became an easy punching bag over the last few days. It followed a dizzying array of statements, backpedals and forward bounds regarding the use of AI in the upcoming game Rideshare âSimulator.â While this kind of flame out from top brass has become increasingly common on the world wide web, the vicious loop may hopefully come to a merciful end as Karch apologizes to the gameâs former writer, who said she was fired in favor of AI.

âLast night, to my great surprise, I received a long email from Saber Interactive CEO Matt Karch,â posted writer Stella Sacco. âHe apologized unreservedly for the awful way he spoke about me in the press. The emailâs full text will stay between us⦠Iâve been firm from the beginning that I was telling the truth; I think we can all now agree thatâs been borne out. Matt expressed a desire to make it right with me; at this time I donât really know what that looks like for me, and Iâll have to take some time to sit with it, but I do at least accept his apology.â

The fracasos kicked off following the announcement trailer for Rideshare âSimulator.â  While the video takes a jab at Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford, it would soon be Saberâs own CEO fending off blows. Sacco, the gameâs former lead writer, posted that the company replaced her with ChatGPT and wasnât disclosing it on the Steam page.

What followed was a volley of statements. First a boilerplate denial from Saber, but then a weird, snarky refutation directly from Karch, which claims they intended to add the Steam disclaimer after they âfinalized the feature set,â peppering some flat riffs throughout. “Stella who?” Wrote Karch. “I had to ask Claude because I have never spoken to her or seen her.” Giant Bomb performed a dramatic reading of the rant.

Saber updated the Steam page to include an AI disclaimer, revealing that much of its voice overs, music and non-campaign mission dialogue has been generated. Sacco stood her ground, while Karchâs meltdown began to overshadow the game itself. And so, probably for the better, Karch has opted to apologize.

“Apologies are simply in too short a supply these days to spurn one when itâs offered,” wrote Sacco. “God willing, this is the last statement Iâll need to make about this.”