Despite this, however, publishing director Michael Douse has said that it’s currently too early to tell whether we will be seeing a third title in the Divinity: Original Sin series. Responding to a social media post asking whether the name change was a hint, Douse responded by saying, “Too early to tell, my guy.” He continued: “But many pots on the stove. We’ll see where the cooking takes us and when.”

In another, longer post, Douse explained that the studio is currently figuring out its assets, which includes social media handles that might be related to the studio’s IPs. “This is just part of the process to take stock of what we own, and what we have and haven’t claimed when it comes to our IPs,” Douse explained. “Turns out it’s a good idea to own the @’s related to IPs that are yours. For example, to prevent people scamming off the back of your brand, etc.”

“Twitter are transferring a bunch to us, but inexplicably swapped out this one for the Larian account,” he wrote about the temporary name change to Divinity. “I wish it were more exciting, but we are still working away on multiple projects and don’t expect any announcements any time soon. Especially not while I’m watching 1923 on Paramount+ at 1am. But soon if anyone @’s you from a Larian related account, at least you’ll know it’ll be us scamming you and not someone else.”

While no details about the next game by Larian Studios have been revealed, we do know that it will not be a follow-up to Baldur’s Gate 3. CEO Swen Vincke had said back in April that the studio is “deep in the trenches” in the development of its “crazy ambitious” new game.

“We’re deep in the trenches on working on our next big thing,” said Vincke when asked where the studio was with its next project. “It’s shaping up quite well actually, but it’s crazy ambitious. I mean, there are so many new things we can do these days, so yeah. It’s complex. On top of that, we’re trying to figure out how we’re going to be making two games.”

One of the interesting things Vincke said about running Larian Studios was how challenging it can be to run the studio from the perspective of logistics and management.

“Organising ourselves for [two projects] is also not the easiest thing in the universe,” he explained. “We make very complicated games with lots of permutations, with lots of agency for players. So predicting when those are going to be finished is hard, and then trying to organise two games around that is even harder. So we’re keeping ourselves busy, really.”

The studio’s last title was the critically-acclaimed Baldur’s Gate 3, which is available on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Check out our review for more details.

While Larian had a storied history with RPGs, with titles like Divinity: Original Sin and its sequel, the studio had to originally go with crowdfunding to finance its previous titles. With Baldur’s Gate 3, however, the studio had a couple of critically successful RPGs under its belt when it approached the current company behind Dungeons & Dragons, Wizards of the Coast.

With his post on X, Vincke has indicated that the studio will be coming out swinging with its next outing to capitalize on the success it saw with Baldur’s Gate 3.

“Got me all nostalgia – it really has been an incredible journey so far. But the story ain’t over yet” wrote Vincke on X. “Stay tuned. Going to try to skip the dark night of the soul moment though if you don’t mind.”

It is worth noting that the two titles under development at Larian will not be direct sequels to Baldur’s Gate 3. Rather, both RPGs will be based on the studio’s own IP, and will not be tied to Dungeons & Dragons in any way. The studio mentioned this back in 2024, going on to state that it will not be bringing any more narrative content to Baldur’s Gate 3, and that its next game will not be Baldur’s Gate 4.

To help development of its new titles, Larian also opened a new studio in Warsaw, Poland last year. Announcing the new studio, the developer stated that it will be using all the talent it can get to realize the visions behind its two ambitious RPGs.

Baldur’s Gate 3 was released back in 2023, and was a critical and commercial success for Larian. The game also managed to sweep up almost every award it was nominated for. If you want more details about the RPG, check out our review. You can also learn about the next major update here.

Got me all nostalgic – it really has been a incredible journey so far. But the story ain’t over yet. Stay tuned. Going to try to skip the dark night of the soul moment though if you don’t mind. https://t.co/eLSTv3CXb4

— Swen Vincke @where? (@LarAtLarian) January 10, 2025

Speaking to IGN, Larian CEO Swen Vincke confirmed that the team will return to it at “some point”, but not before the team takes a break after Baldur’s Gate 3.

“It’s [Divinity: Original Sin] our universe we built, so we’re definitely gonna get back there at some point. We will get back there at some point. We’ll first finish this one [Baldur’s Gate 3] now and then take a break because we will need to refresh ourselves creatively also.

“You’re seeing 400 developers putting their heart and souls into this. You’re getting the best of them and their craft into this game. And so I can tell you, it’s quite a thing.”

The last major title in the series is Divinity: Original Sin 2, which was first released for PC in 2017 after spending a year in early access. It received extensive critical acclaim (check out our review), with many considering it one of the best RPGs ever. The Definitive Edition would arrive for PC, Xbox One and PS4 in 2018, adding new content and quests before it arrived on Nintendo Switch in 2019.

As for Baldur’s Gate 3, it’s out on August 3rd for PC and September 6th for PS5. Head here for more details on what to expect and here to learn about what’s changing.

Earlier today, there was a rumour about Larian Studios – better known for developing the critically acclaimed Divinity: Original Sin series – acquiring the Baldur’s Gate IP. Anyone who enjoyed BioWare’s series, either back in the day or recently with the Enhanced Editions, would realize that that is a pretty big deal.

Though the source was an RPG Codex user claiming his new colleague to be a former Larian employee, inXile Entertainment founder Brian Fargo further added fuel to the fire. Fargo said on Twitter that he happens “to know who is working on BG3“.

Sadly, it doesn’t seem to be. When WCCFTech reached out to Larian Studios, it denied the rumour, stating it hadn’t purchased any IP. Furthermore, the studio continues to work on the Divinity franchise and its upcoming Project Gustav. The latter will be announced when the right time comes.

While we haven’t given up hope yet, it is good to hear that the studio has enough going on. We already know that Larian Studios is thinking of how to top Divinity: Original Sin 2 with Project Gustav. Time will tell just how good it actually is.

Larian Studios is already hard at work on its next title after the critically and commercially acclaimed Divinity: Original Sin 2. In a recent documentary by Gameumentary, CEO Swen Vincke revealed that the project is codenamed “Project Gustav“.

Vincke remarked that the project “blends the same things that we’ve been exploring all the time”. “It’s going to be narrative, systems, multiplayer, new things, new ideas,” he added. On the surface then, it doesn’t sound too fundamentally different from what the Divinity: Original Sin series achieves.

He does note that perhaps the “biggest stress” right now is “how can we make something that’s better than Divinity: Original Sin 2? How do we make sure that we don’t lose what was good and how do we know that we innovate on the things that people would not want to do again because they did it once and it was cool but they won’t do it twice, which is typically a trap that sequels fall into. But it’s fun. This is why you do this, right? You make new things, you explore new avenues of gameplay.”

Divinity: Original Sin 2 first launched for PC in September 2017 and quickly garnered acclaim for its combat, world design, quests, writing, and overall aesthetic. Larian Studios had been working to bring the title to Xbox One and PS4, which culminated in the Definitive Edition releasing for consoles in August 2018.

This update also arrived on PC for free and made several improvements to the writing, combat, character progression, and various other systems. Larian Studios hadn’t really hinted at another sequel or follow-up to the Original Sin series till now, so it should be interesting to see where Project Gustav goes.

Divinity: Original Sin’s console launch is almost here, and today’s new trailer shows us how the acclaimed turn based combat system of the original PC release has been optimized to perform effortlessly on gamepads thanks to the intuitive control system and UI designed for consoles. 

Offering players a mix between high tactical combat, and breezy, low engagement enemy encounters, Divinity’s combat system promises to bring an authentic cRPG experience to consoles for the very first time, without compromises or cutbacks. Plus, the Enhanced Edition comes with three new difficulty modes: Honor, Tactician, and Explorer, each offering a new, tailor-made experience honing on different play-styles. 

Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition launches on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One later this month. Meanwhile, developers Larian have started development on the game’s direct sequel, Divinity: Original Sin 2, which is slated to hit the PC some time next year. Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more coverage and information.

So, instead of criticizing Bungie for its work on Destiny, we look at five different developers that the studio could learn from. Whether it will actually do so remains to be seen but at the very least, there are some lessons that could be learned when Destiny 2 eventually happens.

CD Projekt RED

CD Projekt RED is perhaps one of the more celebrated developers this year thanks to the stellar open world RPG The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. From being forth-coming about changes in the graphics for the sake of stability to delivering on its promises for a wide open world, full of intriguing stories and quests, many believe the developer to have already earned Game of the Year.

However, the developer’s post-launch support has been phenomenal. Despite The Witcher 3 launching with its host of issues, it was still a highly playable and enjoyable experience. CD Projekt RED has launched patch after patch though to make it better. That’s to be expected, sure, but how about the free DLC that’s been releasing each week? From new quests and equipment to alternate costumes – not to mention giving away extra stuff to all players who pre-order the game – CD Projekt RED knows how to respect its audience.

Ubisoft Massive

Yes, it is somewhat hilarious to think that Bungie could learn anything from an Ubisoft studio. After all, this is the company that delivered not one but two of 2014’s most disappointing launches with Watch Dogs and Assassin’s Creed Unity. However, Ubisoft Massive is the key developer for Tom Clancy’s The Division and it’s working fairly hard to deliver a compelling experience.

More importantly, it’s delayed the MMORPG/shooter to ensure proper quality. The Division was thought to release in late 2014 but was delayed to Autumn 2015 and then to March 2016. Could Bungie have made a better game in Destiny with substantial delays? Perhaps not but it would have possibly had more time to reflect on some of its more questionable choices at launch, including no voice chat, the engram debacle, connection errors, etc.

Larian Studios

Many may not have heard of the studio but Larian is responsible for the awesome Divinity: Original Sin. This isometric RPG offers up a tactical experience and meaty story that recognizes the weight of one’s choices throughout. Divinity: Original Sin will receive a Definitive Edition later this year and it contains a ton of new content.

Along with significantly reworked visuals (utilizing Direct X 11), the story has been reworked and improved with a new ending, all characters are now fully voiced, new game modes will be introduced and that’s not counting all the new builds, quests, local split-screen co-op, characters and content that will be introduced. What’s more, despite Divinity: Original Edition being a new release for the Xbox One and PS4, it will be a free deal for those who own the base game. It won’t even overwrite the same – you’ll essentially receive a brand new game for free.

Contrast this to Bungie/Activision charging $20 for a few emotes, shaders and some class items for Year One players of Destiny. The moral of the story? Offer those who have been with you since the beginning a hell of a lot more.

Blizzard Entertainment

Activision and Blizzard work alongside each other rather than one being under the other and it shows in the latter’s games. World of Warcraft has tons of different micro-transactions outside of its monthly subscription but its key to look at what’s offered to those who subscribe monthly. New raids, new zones, new activities, tons of new story content – the list goes on. Again, you could say that Destiny’s “expansion” packs are a means of filling the void of no subscription but you’re still paying quite a bit and not receiving even a quarter of what WoW players get.

Even for games without monthly subscriptions like Diablo 3, Blizzard is doing a lot more. The upcoming patch 2.3 for the game will not only add a new zone and an item that allows you to equip abilities from Legendary weapons and armour, but the company also introduced features like Rifts, higher difficulties, Adventure Mode and much more. Diablo 3 didn’t have the smoothest launch but Blizzard did everything possible to fix the game including improving the RNG system, closing the Auction House and whatnot. It even allowed trading of items within your party. You’d think Bungie would have picked up on that part at least.

Rocksteady Studios

The Batman: Arkham Knight developer is under a ton of criticism these days alongside publisher Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. Even though it delivered a great experience on consoles, the PC port – handled by Iron Galaxy Studios – was a horrible mess. Low resolution assets, missing graphical features, horrible optimization, crashes, pathetic frame rate drops…the list goes on.

Within a day of release, Warner Bros. suspended sales of the PC version and offered refunds to consumers in order to fix the game. You could argue that Destiny players could have returned the game since they didn’t get what they expected (and Bungie mislead quite a number of people with its hype). And even if it had its issues at launch, they weren’t like the various glitches that rendered Arkham Knight unplayable on PC.

However, the decision to pull Arkham Knight from retail revealed that Warner Bros. was not happy with the result. Rather than trudge on, it wanted to make the effort to actually give players a game they would be proud of. A little more of that kind of behaviour from Bungie for Destiny – which still suffers numerous problems to this day – would be appreciated.

Which other studios could Bungie learn from in the development of Destiny? Let us know in the comments.

Even in times of great success, tragedy can still strike. Such was the case when it was revealed that Kirill Pokrovsky, a Russian-Belgian composer who created the soundtrack for Larian Studios’ Divinity: Original Sin, passed away at the age of 53 years on June 1st. The cause of his passing has not been revealed.

Posting on Kickstarter, Larian Studios stated that Pokrovsky was, “A great man, a fantastic composer and a good friend passed away yesterday. Rest in peace Kirill Pokrovsky – we will miss you. We’ve all hummed your music and we have marvelled at how far your virtuosity went. You were truly somebody unique, a true artist, and we were very lucky to have you as a colleague.”

Besides Original Sin, Pokrovsky also worked on composing for the entire Divinity series along with several solo albums. Pokrovsky’s passing will be mourned but his work and the mark he’s left on this industry will never be forgotten.

However, what about some of the bigger names of the Kickstarter craze? Where are they currently, where are they headed and what made them so unique? We take a look back at some of the biggest Kickstarter projects since 2012 along with the various successes and controversies that have followed them to release.

Divinity: Original Sin

Right from the get-go, Larian Studios’ Divinity: Original Sin faced an uphill battle. How do you justify funding for an RPG which has always been the underdog, straight from the first iteration that released in 2002? Larian developed and published Divinity: Dragon Commander in 2013 but it’s not often that a studio can handle both responsibilities. With the emergence of Kickstarter, it found a platform that could not only ensure funding but also serve as a medium to communicate directly with its paying customers, guiding them through the process of development.

When Divinity: Original Sin released, it was universally acclaimed for its solid RPG mechanics, choice system and amazingly realized world. Nowadays, Larian Studios is working on an “enhanced edition” for the game in preparation for the game’s release on Xbox One and PS4 (the makeover will be heading to PC as well as a free upgrade for existing owners).

Along with a revamped control scheme to support gamepads, online and split-screen co-op, 1080p visuals, changes to the storyline for a more satisfying ending and DirectX 11 support, there will be new endings, new locations, new quests and newer tactics required for besting enemies. Think about it – this is an enhanced edition for a game that released roughly a year ago.

Divinity: Original Sin has completely turned Larian’s fortunes around as well. Thanks to the project’s success, selling more than one million units, Larian is working on several other projects that it will reveal later this year.

Wasteland 2

It’s amazing how revered the Fallout name is today and yet, how many gamers actually know about the roots of the franchise. This isn’t due to any real lack of knowledge though. Fallout 3 released under Bethesda and adopted the studio’s Elder Scrolls-esque first person perspective in a fully 3D world with tons of replay value.

However, Fallout’s beginning wasn’t completely self-contained. It actually began with Wasteland, Interplay’s original sci-fi, post-apocalyptic RPG which dealt with a future ruined by past nuclear fallouts. The series had a spiritual sequel in the form of Fallout as director Brian Fargo worked on other projects for Interplay. In 2003, Fargo purchased the rights to Wasteland from Konami and inXile Entertainment set about to create a sequel to the original post-apocalyptic RPG.

Wasteland 2 was recognized at the time for being one of the most successfully crowd-funded gaming projects in Kickstarter history. It amassed $2,933,252 in funding. Later, it achieved the distinction of being one of the few Kickstarter projects to actually release into the commercial space following the wave of crowd-funding in 2012.

The future of Wasteland 2 looks incredibly bright as the studio is working to revamp the game’s visuals using Unity 5 and release on PS4 and Xbox One. Numerous patches have served to further refine the game and quash bugs but the visual upgrade will also bring new gameplay additions as well. As it stands, Wasteland 2 serves as a reminder that regardless of whether it’s “niche” or “old-fashioned”, a good RPG will be commercially successful.

Star Citizen

Also known as “Wing Commander VI: Chris Roberts’ Strikes Back”, Star Citizen is a massive sci-fi space sim that has currently surpassed $80 million in funding as of April 2015. Though its Kickstarter campaign ended with $6.2 million in funding back in November 2012, funds towards the game continued well into its development cycle.

Though yet to release in its full commercial form, Star Citizen looks to evolve the Wing Commander and Freelancer formula far beyond what any other developer is attempting. Space trading and combat simulation are a given but Cloud Imperium Games is also placing an emphasis on the utter scope of the game, with numerous star systems to explore and planets to register your presence on. The game’s multiplayer focus is distinctly sandbox-like and feels more like a massively multiplayer online RPG. To that effect, players can trade with each other, engage in piracy, face each other in Arena combat and much more.

That’s not all though. Star Citizen will also feature a robust first person shooter component as players traverse on foot through areas, utilizing zero gravity settings for free form fighting. This module is currently being revamped for the game following a four player co-op demo at PAX Australia 2014. Did we mention that the game still has its own fully-fledged single-player campaign called Squadron 42 that players can progress through?

Regardless of the ultimate scale of the project and how much work will be required post-launch to support it, it’s safe to say that Chris Roberts’ journey from Origin Systems to Digital Anvil to Microsoft has found a happy conclusion with Star Citizen.

Broken Age

As the first game to really kick-start (all puns intended) the wave of crowd-funding in the gaming industry, Broken Age was little more than the “Double Fine Adventure” from the minds behind Psychonauts and Brutal Legend. Its director Tim Schafer was already a seasoned veteran, having worked on cult classic adventure titles like Full Throttle and Grim Fandango. Surely enough, as the campaign started for $400,000 in funding, backers flooded to the potential that the medium offered, eventually raising more than $3.45 million when all was said and done.

Shortly thereafter, many other developers dipped into the crowd-funding pool, finding similar success and beginning the trend of kick-starting games that we see today, helping developers avoid the usual stress of seeking out a publisher and crafting their game to fit the criteria of “the suits”.

However, Broken Age later exposed a central problem of the crowd-funding platform. As Schafer analyzed the overall direction of the game, based on what was promised and what it set out to deliver. It was revealed that at its current progress, Broken Age would only be released in full in 2015. The decision was then made to split the game into two acts with funds from the first act going towards financing development on the second act.

Needless to say, there was a hefty amount of backlash. Would Double Fine ask for more funds? Why wasn’t it just delivering a finished product like it had initially promised? Despite Schafer promising that sales from the first act and Double Fine’s own money were being used to finish the second act, the experience served as a valuable lesson to backers: Things can, and often do, change during development.

The complete Broken Age adventure is available now though for PS4, PS Vita, PC, Android, iOS and other platforms, netting a fair bit of critical acclaim. There was still some disappointment, with some reviews criticizing the game’s final state, but on the whole, Broken Age’s contribution to video game crowd-funding can’t be ignored.

Mighty No. 9

Remember how we mentioned that Broken Age was a lesson in plans changing during development, often affecting various aspects like content and finances? Comcept’s Mighty No. 9 is a prime example of the phenomenon, except without the developer using its own funds to ultimately complete the game.

Mighty No. 9 began innocently enough. It was to be a spiritual successor to the Mega Man franchise and if Capcom wasn’t going to give fans a new Mega Man, they would fund it themselves. That the original creator Keiji Inafune was at the helm only sweetened the deal and when Mighty No. 9’s Kickstarter campaign began, it achieved its goal of $900,000 in just two days. Combined with PayPal funds, the crowd-funding total came to $4,046,579.

The game subsequently grew in scope. Deep Silver hopped aboard as a publisher and the game was announced to be heading to nearly every single current and previous gen platform (including the handhelds). Over time, Comcept started more crowd-funding campaigns for additional content. English voice acting cost backers $200,000. A DLC stage featuring Ray, the rival of the protagonist Beck, garnered an additional $198,000. And it didn’t quite help that as more gameplay footage released, albeit in the early alpha stage, the game was looking less impressive than initially promised.

Mighty No. 9 is still set to release though and will be out in September 2015. We’ll have to wait and see whether it lives up to the massive hype and after Broken Age’s various issues, we’re a bit skeptical as to whether Mighty No. 9 will deliver.

Shadowrun Returns

Shadowrun is another great franchise in the history of gaming which suffered its fair share of missteps on the way to its crowd-funded rebirth. Its roots are in pen and paper RPGs, standing on even ground with the likes of Dungeons & Dragons and Cyberpunk. Created by Jordan Weisman, who also had a hand in MechWarrior, Shadowrun was eventually adapted into a series of games from FASA Corporation. When FASA Corporation shut down, the future of games like MechWarrior and Shadowrun was immediately in doubt.

Microsoft’s attempts to revive the series were – to put it kindly – disastrous. It’s 2007 Shadowrun title was a first person shooter which focused on multiplayer gaming and didn’t even offer that much content to begin with (think of it as an earlier version of Destiny). Needless to say, it bombed and the series was retired once more.

Weisman and his company Harebrained Schemes began development on Shadowrun Returns when it acquired the rights from Microsoft in 2007. Unlike the FPS, Weisman would be at the helm this time and Shadowrun Returns would go back to the cyberpunk espionage and RPG mechanics that the franchise was revered for. After raising $1,895,772 the game released in July 2013 for PC and Mac OS X, displaying a remarkable turnaround since its campaign began a little more than a year prior. Shadowrun Returns was a success and received an expansion in the form of Dragonfall. This was later expanded to Shadowrun: Dragonfall – Director’s Cut and no, additional funding was not required.

Harebrained Schemes recently launched a campaign for Shadowrun: Hong Kong and despite it contributing partially to the game’s overall budget, it hit its goal of $100,000 in the span of hours. There’s still plenty we don’t know about the game but once again, it stands as a testament to the viability and demand of “niche” RPGs in today’s industry.

Pillars of Eternity

It’s often not highlighted enough how much these crowd-funding campaigns influence the future of developers. With studios shutting down all the time, it’s easy to ignore that even vaunted geniuses like Peter Molyneux struggle to find funding (though the man has had his fair share of controversies to discourage backers). In the same vein, to think that Obsidian Entertainment wouldn’t currently exist without Pillars of Eternity is mind-boggling.

This is because Obsidian has always been viewed as a relatively top-tier RPG developer. It worked on Neverwinter Nights 2 and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II, two big-name sequels that arguably eclipsed their predecessors. Even if efforts like Alpha Protocol and Dungeon Siege III didn’t pan out, the studio could still create unforgettable experiences for RPG fans. Fallout: New Vegas is proof of that.

So when it was revealed that Obsidian Entertainment would have gone out of business had the Kickstarter for Pillars of Eternity not been fulfilled, it stings a little. Thankfully, not only did the project surpass its initial funding goals to raise $4,163,208 but it also delivered an experience that lived up to the games that inspired it.

Many critics praised Pillars of Eternity for its mechanics and how it honored the likes of Baldur’s Gate and Planescape Torment while attracting a new fan base. Achieving this feat in an industry that still views new fantasy RPG IPs in light of Dragon Age: Inquisition and Dragon Age: Inquisition is all the more impressive, especially when you consider that it only released on PC, Linux and Mac OS X.

Currently, Obsidian is working on an expansion pack for Pillars of Eternity which will be similar to Tales of the Sword Coast, a sizeable expansion for the first Baldur’s Gate.

Larian Studios’ Divinity: Original Sin will be releasing on the Xbox One and PS4 this year and is receiving an enhanced edition in the process. According to the developer, this enhanced edition will add new quests and locations along with new endings, some tweaks to the story and full voice acting with actors Alix Wilton Regan and Alec Newman attached. Of course, the Xbox One and PS4 versions of the game will run at 1080p resolution along with sporting a gamepad-tailored control schemes and split-screen/online co-op.

Creative director Swen Vincke spoke to GameSpot about the same, stating that, “We went a little too overboard with it; we called it an Enhanced Edition, but I really think that we made it much more than enhanced.

“We were a little bit unhappy with some of the compromises we made on the narrative side of things, so we’re just going to take the opportunity to change everything. The ending wasn’t that rewarding, so we added a lot to it. On the endings side, we really added a lot.”

It should be noted that matchmaking for online play won’t be available at launch but Vincke isn’t ruling out the possibility. “We haven’t cracked that particular piece of the code yet.”

The good news is that current owners on PC and Mac OS X will receive the enhanced edition as a free upgrade. You’ll need a 64-bit processor and DirectX 11 support to run it though, with system requirements to be detailed later.

Divinity: Original Sin represented a “huge turning point” for the studio overall, with Vincke stating that, “It allowed us to do a lot of things we couldn’t have done before. And we’re doing those now. We’re experimenting a lot. We have two RPGs in production, which we’re not just ready to announce yet, but hopefully we’ll talk about at least one later this year.”

The enhanced edition of Divinity: Original Sin is expected out later this year.