Saber CEO confirms Rideshare Stimulator trailer jabs at Randy Pitchford are deliberate payback for Borderlands 4 Embracer digs

Matt Karch, CEO of Saber Interactive, has publicly confirmed that his new game Rideshare Stimulator contains deliberate references mocking Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford — and he's not shy about why. Speaking to Game File, Karch said the jabs are payback for shots Pitchford took at Embracer inside Borderlands 4.

The Rideshare Stimulator trailer packs in several Pitchford references. A voiceover says "when I think I've met the randiest of passengers, someone even stranger gets in." A car sports a Texas license plate reading "USB DRV" with a gear-shaped icon — a nod to both Gearbox's Texas base and the infamous USB stick incident, in which Pitchford admitted leaving a drive containing confidential company data and a pornographic video at a Medieval Times restaurant. Another voiceover references a castle, a clear wink at Pitchford's purchase of the historic Magic Castle in Hollywood in 2022. Karch was blunt about the motivation: "The dig is because Randy took shots at Embracer in Borderlands 4. Without Embracer, Randy is performing magic tricks at birthday parties for a living."

The "shots" Karch is referring to appear to be an in-game location in Borderlands 4 called Embracer's Bluff — a name that's hard to read as anything other than a joke. Kotaku previously reported on the area, noting it features a large trash pile, an AI-powered talking toilet, and a king mayor lounging in a bathtub. Embracer was the parent company of both Gearbox and Saber before a messy period of studio acquisitions and sell-offs; Karch sat on Embracer's board of directors during that time. Gearbox was eventually acquired by Take-Two, the publisher behind GTA and BioShock, while Karch took Saber independent. Despite Embracer's widely criticised acquisition spree, Karch has previously defended the company's intentions as genuine.

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick weighed in on Pitchford's reputation back in August, telling IGN he loves Randy and considers him "one of the all time great game makers," while acknowledging he can be controversial — sometimes intentionally. Whether Pitchford responds to Karch's very public dig remains to be seen, but given both men's track records, this probably isn't the last word.