Larian Studios Explains Its Application of AI Tools for Next Divinity Game

The team behind hit RPGs like Baldur's Gate 3 and Divinity: Original Sin just teased its new project, generating immense anticipation within the industry. However, subsequent remarks from the studio's lead designer have added clarity to the discussion, touching on the team's stance toward machine learning.

Augmenting Workflows, Not Cutting Jobs

In a new message, Larian's director detailed that the company is employing machine learning for particular preliminary purposes. These include fleshing out presentation materials, creating early-stage visual ideas, and writing placeholder dialogue.

Notably, Vincke made clear that the end material in the game will be crafted exclusively by real writers. "Larian is developing every line manually," he said.

Larian is constantly growing our roster of writers and are currently assembling writing teams.

Given that concept art is being explicitly mentioned — we currently have 23 concept artists and have positions available for more creatives.

Each initiative we do is additive and focused on having people spend greater focus on actual creation.

Every ML tool applied correctly is supplementary to a creative team workflow, not a replacement for their talent.

Responding to Feedback and Defining the Path

The admission of AI usage at first generated unease among some the player base. In reply, Vincke issued more detail on social media.

"At Larian, we employ machine learning to research ideas, similar to we use Google and reference books," he stated. "During the conceptual ideation stages we use it as a rough outline for structure which we then substitute with original illustrations."

He continued, "Larian brings on artists for their inherent skill, not for their capacity to execute what a algorithm proposes."

Three Pillars of Practical Application

Vincke had earlier outlined the company's focused approach to this technology, grouping its use into key pillars:

• Handling Monotonous Jobs: Areas like motion capture cleaning, voice editing, and pipeline-specific tasks like adjusting assets for various species.
• Accelerated Iteration: Using systems to rapidly prototype simple mock-ups of gameplay ideas to validate concepts before expensive production.
• Future Potential for Gameplay: Exploring how machine learning could in the future create emergent gameplay, especially in creating dynamic reactions in a vast role-playing world.

He clearly noted that key artistic domains — such as writing — are are in no way areas where the studio is replacing creative input. In fact, Larian is actively hiring in these exact fields.

"We are neither shipping a game with any AI components, nor planning on cutting staff to swap them out with artificial intelligence," Vincke summarized.