Larian Studios Details Its Application of AI Tools for Upcoming Project

The studio behind hit RPGs like Baldur's Gate 3 and Divinity: Original Sin just unveiled its next major project, creating significant hype within the industry. However, follow-up statements from the studio's co-founder have brought nuance to the conversation, touching on the studio's philosophy toward generative artificial intelligence.

A Tool for Ideation, Not Replacement

In a recent message, Larian's director explained that the team is employing generative AI for specific ancillary purposes. These encompass enhancing pitch decks, creating initial artistic references, and writing draft text.

Crucially, Vincke made clear that the end assets in the game will be crafted exclusively by actual creatives. "We are creating everything ourselves," he affirmed.

Larian is continuously expanding our roster of concept artists and are currently forming dedicated writer rooms.

Given that this area is being explicitly referenced — we currently have twenty-three visual developers and have roles to fill for additional talent.

All our efforts we do is supplementary and aimed at having people spend additional energy on the creative process.

Every ML tool used well is additive to a developer's process, not a replacement for their skill.

Addressing Concerns and Clarifying the Vision

The revelation of employing this technology originally provoked backlash among portions of the player base. In reply, Vincke offered additional elaboration on public forums.

"Our team utilizes machine learning to explore references, just like we use search engines and reference books," he stated. "During the conceptual brainstorming phase we use it as a simple sketch for structure which we then replace with authentic concept art."

He added, "Our studio recruits artists for their creative vision, not for their capacity to follow what a AI generates."

Three Pillars of Practical Application

Vincke had previously broken down the team's practical method to AI and ML, grouping its use into three main areas:

• Automation of Tedious Tasks: Areas like motion capture cleaning, dialogue cleanup, and pipeline-specific tasks like adapting animations for different models.
• Accelerated Iteration: Using technology to quickly build simple versions of scenarios to experiment with concepts ahead of complete development.
• Long-Term Aspirations: Investigating how AI could eventually create new forms of reactivity, especially in managing dynamic reactions in a vast role-playing world.

He explicitly affirmed that core creative domains — such as writing — are not fields where the company is replacing creative talent. On the contrary, Larian is recruiting more in these very positions.

"Larian is not shipping a game with any AI components, and we are certainly not looking at cutting teams to substitute them with AI," Vincke summarized.