Saber CEO Confirms Taxi Sim Trailer Jabs at Randy Pitchford
Matt Karch openly admits the references to Pitchford and a notorious USB drive in the Rideshare Stimulator trailer are payback for digs at Embracer buried inside Borderlands 4.
A Trailer Full of Receipts
Public feuds between video game executives usually simmer quietly in financial filings and carefully worded press releases. This one played out in a taxi simulation trailer, complete with a Texas license plate reading “USB DRV” and a voiceover about castles.
Matt Karch, CEO of Saber Interactive, has confirmed to Game File that a new trailer for Rideshare Stimulator is loaded with deliberate references to Randy Pitchford, the head of Gearbox Studios and the public face of the Borderlands franchise. The references cover Pitchford’s name, Gearbox, and an old and deeply awkward incident involving a USB drive that once turned up at a Medieval Times restaurant. Karch says it is payback, plain and simple.
“The dig is because Randy took shots at Embracer in Borderlands 4,” Karch told Game File. “Without Embracer, Randy is performing magic tricks at birthday parties for a living.”
What Borderlands 4 Apparently Started
The shots Karch is referring to are widely believed to involve an in-game location in Borderlands 4 called “Embracer’s Bluff.” As reported by Kotaku, the area features a large trash pile, an AI-powered talking toilet, and a king mayor found relaxing in a bathtub. Not exactly a glowing tribute to the company that once owned Gearbox.
Embracer Group was the parent company of both Gearbox and Saber Interactive before its well-documented collapse as an acquisition platform. Karch served on Embracer’s board of directors during that period. Gearbox has since been acquired by Take-Two Interactive, the publisher behind GTA and BioShock, while Karch runs Saber as its own operation.
Karch has previously defended Embracer’s intentions, even as the company’s aggressive studio buying drew widespread criticism. His feelings about how that chapter ended, at least where Pitchford is concerned, are now on the record.
Reading the Trailer
The Rideshare Stimulator footage makes its references with the kind of plausible deniability that falls apart the moment you look at it closely. A voiceover line says, “When I think I’ve met the randiest of passengers, someone even stranger gets in.” A car appears bearing the Texas license plate “USB DRV” with a gear icon on it. Gearbox is headquartered in Texas. The USB reference points to the incident Pitchford himself described via the Piff Pod podcast, where he admitted leaving a drive containing confidential company information and a pornographic video at a Medieval Times restaurant.
Pitchford said at the time that the video featured a “barely legal” model and that he had downloaded it to study the performer’s technique, which he compared to that of a magician. The drive was eventually returned to Gearbox, but the story spread considerably after that.
The trailer also includes a line about taking a ride to “my castle,” which is a fairly direct nod to Pitchford’s purchase of the Magic Castle in Hollywood back in 2022. He still owns the historic magicians’ club.
Karch’s Parting Shot
Karch did not leave the conversation without a broader point. “It’s amazing to me how fast people forget those who went above and beyond for them,” he told Game File.
Pitchford has not publicly responded to the trailer or Karch’s comments as of this writing. Meanwhile, Rideshare Stimulator now has more name recognition than most taxi simulators could ever dream of, which probably was not an accident either.
What is Rideshare Stimulator?
Rideshare Stimulator is a taxi simulation game published by Saber Interactive, the company run by CEO Matt Karch.
Why did Matt Karch include digs at Randy Pitchford in the trailer?
According to Karch, it was payback for shots Pitchford took at Embracer inside Borderlands 4, including an in-game location widely believed to mock the company.
What is the USB drive incident involving Randy Pitchford?
Pitchford previously admitted he left a USB stick containing confidential Gearbox information and a pornographic video at a Medieval Times restaurant. The drive was returned to Gearbox, but its contents became more widely known afterward.
What happened to Embracer, Gearbox, and Saber after Embracer's acquisition spree?
Gearbox was eventually acquired by Take-Two Interactive, while Karch went on to run Saber Interactive as a separate company after Embracer's studio acquisition strategy collapsed.