Saber CEO Confirms Rideshare ‘Stimulator’ Trailer Took a Shot at Randy Pitchford
A USB DRV license plate and Texas marker are among the trailer's references to a 2018 incident involving the Gearbox president.
Saber Interactive CEO Matt Karch confirmed that the trailer for Rideshare ‘Stimulator’ was deliberately poking fun at Gearbox president Randy Pitchford. The reference appears in both the trailer’s dialogue and one very specific license plate.
Saber’s game puts players in charge of a rideshare business, sending them around town with a colorful collection of passengers. Several of the trailer’s jokes point toward a 2018 incident Pitchford previously discussed on The Piff Pod.
Pitchford said he accidentally left a USB drive at a Medieval Times restaurant in Dallas, Texas, and that it contained “barely legal porn” he had copied while trying to understand a sex act he believed was a magic trick, according to Ars Technica’s account. The incident later became part of competing lawsuits, and Pitchford was eventually exonerated.
In the trailer, a voiceover says, “When I think I’ve met the randiest of passengers, someone even stranger gets in.” A car later drives past with the registration plate USB DRV and a Texas marking. Another passenger is described as a “weirdo” before asking to be taken “to the medieval feast before the moons align.”
Matt Karch connects the joke to Borderlands 4
After Game File asked Karch whether the trailer was targeting Pitchford, the Saber CEO confirmed that it was. “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.”
Karch’s comments refer to Borderlands 4 and its treatment of Embracer Group, the company that previously owned both Saber and Gearbox. Embracer acquired Gearbox in April 2021 for $363 million, then sold it to Take-Two Interactive three years later for $460 million. A group of investors led by Karch bought Saber from Embracer during the separation.
One Borderlands 4 location is called Embracer’s Bluff. It contains a large trash dump and an AI-powered toilet, leading some people to read the area as a jab at Gearbox’s time under Embracer. Karch’s response suggests he viewed the scene in much the same way, arguing that people had quickly forgotten those who had gone “above and beyond” for them.
In an interview with Epic, Pitchford described the ownership transition as a personal and studio-wide change before asking, “What does it mean to trade some autonomy for organization?”
Now that Saber has confirmed the joke, share your thoughts on the trailer’s references in the comments, and follow us on X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram, Steam, or Telegram for more gaming news.
Rideshare "Stimulator"
Developed by Unigine Holding
