“So first off – there is not going to be any GenAI art in Divinity,” Vincke said in a Reddit AMA. “I know there’s been a lot of discussion about us using AI tools as part of concept art exploration. We already said this doesn’t mean the actual concept art is generated by AI, but we understand it created confusion.

“So, to ensure there is no room for doubt, we’ve decided to refrain from using genAI tools during concept art development. That way, there can be no discussion about the origin of the art.”

The company will still try to continuously “improve the speed with which we can try things out. The more iterations we can do, the better, in general, the gameplay is.

“We think GenAI can help with this, and so we’re trying things out across departments. Our hope is that it can aid us to refine ideas faster, leading to a more focused development cycle, less waste, and ultimately, a higher-quality game.

“The important bit to note is that we will not generate ‘creative assets’ that end up in a game without being 100% sure about the origins of the training data and the consent of those who created the data. If we use a GenAI model to create in-game assets, then it’ll be trained on data we own.”

While certainly a “we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it” dilemma – Larian isn’t swearing off AI completely, after all – this should at least assuage concerns about Divinity’s development. But what about the writing? Writer Adam Smith weighed in, confirming that abstaining from GenAI “applies to writing as well. We don’t have any text generation touching our dialogues, journal entries or other writing in Divinity.”

Responding to a query about how AI-generated placeholder text would be better than stub text, Smith said that it’s not. “We had a limited group experimenting with tools to generate text, but the results hit a 3/10 at best, and those tools are for research purposes, not for use in Divinity. Even my worst first drafts – and there are a LOT of them – are at least a 4/10 (although Swen might disagree), and the amount of iteration required to get even individual lines to the quality we want is enormous.

“From the initial stub to the line we record and ship, there are a great many eyes and hands involved in getting a dialogue right.”

Divinity doesn’t have a release date or platforms, but Larian Studios is aiming for a quicker turnaround time than Baldur’s Gate 3. Early access is potentially on the cards once more, though plans have yet to be confirmed (and it’s unlikely to become available in 2026), and combat once again embraces a turn-based approach.

Despite the dense lore surrounding the series, the developer has ensured that new players can jump into Divinity without prior knowledge. As for the shocking reveal trailer, Larian’s Michael Douse said it was more about “treating the audience with a level of intellectual respect.”

“Larian’s DNA is agency. Everything we work towards is to the benefit of our teams, games, and players,” he wrote. “A better work day, and a better game. Our successes come from empowering people to work in their own way and bring the best out of their skill & craft, so that we can make the best RPGs we can possibly make.”

As for his discussions on the use of AI, Vincke noted that the studio not evaluating new technology and how it could be used would be irresponsible. Despite this, however, he also noted that Larian’s development processes “are always evolving”, and that the studio will make changes when its processes aren’t as efficient.

“In that context, it would be irresponsible for us not to evaluate new technologies,” he explained. “However, our processes are always evolving, and where they are not efficient or fail to align with who we are, we will make changes.”

To offer further explanation about the development of Divinity, Vincke has said that Larian will host an AMA (ask me anything) where fans of the studio’s works can ask various developers just about any question they want about the development of Divinity. Through this, Vincke hopes to be more transparent about how the studio is making use of different technologies. This AMA is slated to take place after the Holiday break, which likely means that it will happen some time in January at the earliest.

“To give you more insight, we’ll do an AMA featuring our different departments after the holiday break, in which you’ll get the opportunity to ask us any questions you have about Divinity and our dev process directly,” he wrote. “We’ll announce the date in the new year. In the meantime, I wish you all happy holidays!”

Vincke had noted earlier this week that, while he had spoken positively about the potential use of generative AI for game development, Larian Studios was only using these tools to provide more options for its concept artists, and that the developer does not have any plans to reduce its talent pool of artists.

“We’ve been continuously increasing our pool of concept artists, writers and story-tellers, are actively putting together writer rooms, casting and recording performances from actors and hiring translators,” said Vincke in his statement. “Since concept art is being called out explicitly – we have 23 concept artists and have job openings for more. These artists are creating concept art day in day out for ideation and production use.”

Further in the same statement, Vincke also noted that Larian Studios is “neither releasing a game with any AI components, nor are we looking at trimming down teams to replace them with AI. While I understand it’s a subject that invokes a lot of emotion, it’s something we are constantly discussing internally through the lens of making everyone’s working day better, not worse.”

Divinity is currently in development for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, and currently has no release date.

“I’m no fan of AI generated art, but anyway, it’s time to face reality,” wrote Vávra. “AI is here to stay with us. As frightening as it may be, that’s the way it is. Personally, it scares me the most in the music because you can’t even recognise AI there anymore.”

Vávra went on to discuss the potential use cases of generative AI-based tools that could be used to take out some of the more tedious parts of game development, especially when it comes to creating content that doesn’t really matter all that much in the grand scheme of things.

“On the other hand, you know what I hate most about making games? The fact that it takes 7 years and 300 people and tens of millions of dollars to make. And the fact that Tom had to spend 500 hours in the studio recording completely generic heckling and generic bars,” he wrote.

“If AI can help me make an epic game in a year with a smaller team like in the old days, I’m all for it. That game will still have an art director, writers, programmers, graphic designers, but they won’t have to do the tiresome and boring tasks, they’ll have to focus on the essentials. I have ideas for lots of games, but I’m fifty years old and so far it’s taken me seven years on average to make one game. If AI helps me realize those ideas faster, I’m all for it.”

He also discussed how generative AI could be used for writing, especially for things that aren’t story-critical but still help with a game’s worldbuilding. While developers already have technology like 11labs that allows them to lay out scripts and knowledge bases for NPCs, he asks “wouldn’t it be nice if you could ask ANYONE ANYTHING in an RPG?”

“For non-story stuff, this is an absolutely revolutionary development from a player’s point of view,” Vávra wrote. “And you can’t record it with an actor because it has INFINITE variations. But what you can record are cutscenes and story dialogue. You don’t need an Oscar level performance when ordering a sausage in a pub or when asking how to get to the castle.”

Vávra went on to compare resisting the proliferation of generative AI to resisting the use of sewing machines in the textile industry, or going back to riding horses well after cars and planes have become common. He closes out his lengthy post by noting that, while generative AI “may mean the demise of humanity, nobody knows now, but it may also mean that ANYONE, at a fraction of the cost, will be able to implement virtually any grand idea.”

This interview has since caused quite a stir among fans of the studio’s other recent works like Baldur’s Gate 3 and Divinity: Original Sin 2. While some noted that using generative AI tools for things like PowerPoint presentations might be fine, the fact that these tools are also being used to create concept art for the game acts as a bit of a red flag. As Reddit user Gnl_Winter notes, it “poses an ethical copyright issue, and it also hampers creativity, which is a serendipitous process in which the ideas developed as concept art are essential.”

This criticism has prompted Vincke to issue a statement as a follow-up to IGN, where he spoke about how machine learning tools provided to creative teams are working as “additive” to their own talents rather than being serving as replacements. He also noted that Larian currently has 23 concept artists, along with job openings to hire even more. Thanks to this, new concept art is being created on a daily basis for use in ideation as well as production. Check out the full statement below.

“We’ve been continuously increasing our pool of concept artists, writers and story-tellers, are actively putting together writer rooms, casting and recording performances from actors and hiring translators.. Since concept art is being called out explicitly – we have 23 concept artists and have job openings for more. These artists are creating concept art day in day out for ideation and production use.”

“Everything we do is incremental and aimed at having people spend more time creating. Any ML tool used well is additive to a creative team or individual’s workflow, not a replacement for their skill or craft. We are researching and understanding the cutting edge of ML as a toolset for creatives to use and see how it can make their day-to-day lives easier, which will let us make better games.”

“We are neither releasing a game with any AI components, nor are we looking at trimming down teams to replace them with AI. While I understand it’s a subject that invokes a lot of emotion, it’s something we are constantly discussing internally through the lens of making everyone’s working day better, not worse.”

Vincke also took to social media to issue yet another statement, where he said that Larian is not replacing its concept artists with generative AI tools. He also spoke about having a team of 72 artists in total, and how everything the team is creating is completely original. His statements about the use of generative AI, he noted, came from him simply being asked about the subject during the interview. Expanding further on the use of AI, he said that the tools were used to explore references in a way similar to how books and even Google are often used.

The company is once again looking at (yet not confirming) an early access launch, but the chances of releasing in 2026 are “unlikely.” Though further details, including the story, remain hush-hush, it’s clearly aiming higher than Baldur’s Gate 3.

“This is going to be us unleashed, I think. It’s a turn-based RPG featuring everything you’ve seen from us in the past, but it’s brought to the next level.”

The studio initially worked on a new project with Wizards of the Coast, but despite having “all of the ingredients for a really cool game” conceptually, the “hearts of the developers” weren’t in it. It moved to Divinity last year, and while Vincke considers Baldur’s Gate 3 to be “a good game and I’m proud of it, I think this one is going to be way better.”

One reason for this is that, unlike with Dungeons and Dragons, Larian doesn’t have to translate those systems into another format. “Here, we’re making a system that’s made for a video game. It’s much easier to understand.”

If all this wasn’t enough, Divinity is on a new engine, and while there have been growing pains, the goal is to cut down on development time. “I think three to four years is much healthier than six years,” he said. You can still expect the storytelling seen in Baldur’s Gate 3, which Larian is “doubling down” on, along with improvements to its streaming systems. Stay tuned for further updates in the meantime.

As many try to figure out what’s going on and how this ties into previous games, there are those praising Larian for pushing the envelope and not trying to “sanitize stories to make them more palatable.” Michael Douse, director of publishing at the studio, responded to this on Twitter, noting that “treating the audience with a level of intellectual respect” emerged from “a lot in planning.”

“It isn’t about trying to shock them. It’s about trying to match their powers of comprehension so that it resonates. We know people are capable of appreciating a three-dimensional world.”

The fact that this isn’t a new Original Sin but something else entirely has many speculating whether Larian could once again rely on a turn-based combat system or go real-time. Either way, Divinity will be the developer’s biggest project to date, even surpassing Baldur’s Gate 3.

When it will be released is a different matter, especially since Larian is a fan of releasing games into early access first. Original Sin 2 spent only a year before launching in full, but Baldur’s Gate was a three-year process (and still required patching for optimization issues). As always, time will tell because it may be a while before Larian is ready to spill the beans on Divinity.

Host Geoff Keighley said there would be more updates in the future, so forget about an early access date or platforms anytime soon. But he confirmed that it will be Larian’s biggest title to date, even bigger than Baldur’s Gate 3. A natural progression, but for now, we’ll need to wait and see what kind of gameplay it offers.

Larian has been on quite a hot streak over the years. Following the critically acclaimed Divinity: Original Sin, a CRPG take on its fantasy IP, it released Original Sin 2 in 2017 to even more widespread acclaim. However, its last title blew away all expectations, sweeping Game of the Year awards in 2023 and reportedly selling over 15 million units as of November 2024.

Registered on December 9th by IHDE and Partner Rechtsanwalte, the first is quite literally the series’ title. It’s unknown if it’s a new mainline title or a sequel to Original Sin (the last title being Original Sin 2 from 2017). This trademarked image matches the symbol on the statue’s door perfectly, while another depicts a figure in a summoning circle.

IHDE and Partner Rechtsanwalte have also handled Larian’s other trademarks in the past. At this point, it’s just a matter of time for the Divinity reveal, whatever it could be.

The Game Awards airs live on December 11th at 4:30 PM PST. Other confirmed announcements include Tomb Raider, Resident Evil Requiem, Neon Giant’s next project, and more.

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.

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.