It finally happened, and not that long after the overwhelming success of Baldur’s Gate 3 has calmed down a bit: Larian announced a new game in the Divinity universe, simply called “Divinity”, no less. But shortly after that high of the announcement, details started to roll in – details that are good, bad, worrying, and sometimes a bit in between.
No surprise for the first news, it’s turn-based again, using a new ruleset and a new engine, and it’ll most likely hit early access – with all the marketing fluff of it being “next level” even compared to BG3 included. So far, so good, and in any sane world, that’s where the story would end, you know: Studio that nailed the formula of turn-based RPGs makes another one, shocker.
Instead, we’ve ended up with a whole different beast entirely. A dream project wrapped in a loud and quite explosive argument about generative AI used in video games. Rumors are going haywire with Larian reportedly “pushing hard” for AI tools, and social media lit up as expected.
Larian Doubles Down on Its Formula for Divinity
Let’s start with the easy bit: yes, Divinity will be a turn-based RPG. Many media outlets confirmed what everyone kind of assumed anyway, even if the announcement trailer didn’t give away much. In an interview, Vincke flat-out called the new game a turn-based RPG, all the while promising it will feature pretty much everything we’ve already seen from Larian before, but you know, updated and brought to the next level.
All reports we’ve seen land on the same point, and in turn got rid of a lot of fears long-time Larian fans probably had – they’re not pivoting to action combat, and no, they’re not about to abandon the charming tabletop feel either. Phew. A few key details we’ve got so far, perhaps? Here goes:
- Divinity is built in a new engine, and it isn’t just a re-skinned Divinity/BG3 tech stack either.
- There’ll be single-player and co-op, just like Original Sin 2 and Baldur’s Gate 3.
- The game is planned to launch in early access, yet again mirroring BG3’s rollout to the T.
- Scale-wise, Vincke has called it “Larian Unleashed” and already better than Baldur’s Gate 3
The Game Awards trailer leans into that ambition. It doesn’t show any core systems yet, but the tone is pure Larian, as far as we’re concerned: an ominous statue, apocalyptic hints, a sense that you’re about to break whatever this world is built on.
If you’ve played DOS2 or BG3, the promise is pretty simple: more reactive storytelling, more ridiculous combat interactions, and more opportunities to ruin everyone’s day with a badly aimed fireball. So on the design side, nothing scary, but there’s no need for innovation either, in our opinion – at least not for the sake of it. If you like Larian’s flavour of turn-based chaos, this is exactly what you wanted to hear, we reckon.
Divinity And The Generative AI Debacle
Enough praising Larian, let’s get to the juicy bits – the AI debate. The interview got pretty much condensed to a single line, which naturally detonated across Reddit: Apparently, Larian has been pushing hard on AI, using it to explore ideas, flesh out PowerPoints, develop concept art, and even write placeholder text. Oof.
Having said that, it appears that this method hasn’t led to any big gains in efficiency, but as you can imagine, that single part of the interview kicked the hornet’s nest something fierce. Fans of Larian who see generative AI as plagiarism at best were understandably a tad twitchy, especially given how much goodwill the studio earned with their masterpiece BG3, considering how anti-corporate it was, not mentioning they even admitted to just a bit of crunch – something rarely seen nowadays.
Unsurprisingly, Vincke then spent the next 48 hours basically saying: Everyone? Calm down. The clarifications given pretty much boil down to:
- AI is used internally as a tool for early ideation: reference moodboards, rough composition outlines, placeholder text, and internal presentations.
- There will be no AI-generated content in the shipped game: “everything is human actors; we’re writing everything ourselves.”
- Larian is hiring more artists and writers, not cutting them – Vincke keeps bringing up the fact they’ve got 70+ artists, including 23 concept artists, and open positions for more.
- Internally, staff are “more or less OK” with this limited AI use, though even Bloomberg notes there has been some pushback and discomfort.
So, Should You Be Worried About AI In The New Divinity Game?
Short version: keep an eye on it, but don’t write the game off yet – especially since it’s Larian we’re talking about, they’re probably not going to ruin everything by being lazy. Let’s talk about the pros and cons here.
On the plus side:
- Larian has gone on record multiple times saying no AI-generated assets in Divinity’s final content.
- They’re expanding their teams, not shrinking them – which is the opposite of what most AI-hungry publishers are doing right now, you know that’s true.
- Their entire brand is “we care about RPGs more than shareholders do,” and throwing that away to save a few weeks of concept art would be a pretty legendary own goal.
On the worrying side:
- Once AI is in any part of the pipeline, the pressure to use it “just a bit more” rarely moves backward.
- Fans are right to call out that research today can become policy tomorrow, especially in an industry currently obsessed with automation.
- Larian’s success doesn’t mean they’re immune to dumb decisions; it just means the fall would hurt even more.
If you love Divinity and Baldur’s Gate 3, the healthy position is probably the following – and take that with a grain of salt, if you would.
At the end of the day, be excited that Larian is making another huge, turn-based RPG and openly trying to outdo themselves. Be loud about where your line is with AI, and yes, vote with your wallet if need be. And when Divinity finally hits early access, judge it on what’s actually in the build – the writing, the performances, the art, the feel of the combat – not just the worst pull-quote from a Bloomberg article, at worst.
Because we gotta be honest, if there’s one studio that should know how fragile goodwill is right now, it’s the one that accidentally became the last good guy in an industry that keeps treating players and devs like data points. Larian? If you’re reading this, don’t mess this up. We’re begging you.
