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After dominating the gaming scene with Baldur’s Gate 3 in 2023, Larian Studios is now preparing for its next big project, Divinity. The title was announced with great excitement at the 2025 Game Awards, and naturally, fans were quick to express their enthusiasm for this upcoming RPG that promises to revive a beloved franchise. However, this enthusiasm soon turned into controversy after a statement from Swen Vincke, the studio’s director, sparked heated debate on social media.
The Creators of Baldur’s Gate 3 at the Heart of a Heated Controversy
After the Divinity announcement, journalist Jason Schreier interviewed Larian’s head, Swen Vincke, who shared exclusive behind-the-scenes details of the new project with Bloomberg. It was revealed that Divinity will be a turn-based RPG and could be released sooner than expected. However, it wasn’t the gameplay details that sparked the most attention, it was the revelation that the Baldur’s Gate 3’s studio is incorporating generative AI into its development process.
The news quickly sparked backlash, particularly due to the ongoing public debate over AI’s role in creative industries. Gamers and fans of Baldur’s Gate 3 alike were quick to criticize Larian for openly admitting to using AI for tasks like “exploring ideas, fleshing out PowerPoint presentations, developing concept art, and writing placeholder text.” Vincke stated that while Divinity will utilize AI for certain functions, “all the actors are human,” and “everything [is] written by humans.”
One player voiced their frustration, saying, “I will never understand the desire to use genAI for concept art or idea exploration. That’s the FUN part. That’s what I wish my entire job was.” Others players and Baldur’s Gate 3 fans chimed in with remarks like, “Don’t worry, we’re only using AI to develop the fundamental creative basis for our game,” and “Saying that visual artists deserve less respect than the mocap and writing in a game is crazy.” Some pointed out, “If it’s simply to explore ideas like using Google and art books, why not just use Google and art books instead of funnelling money to an unethical Pinterest?”
There was also some ironic commentary. Critics highlighted how gaming companies using generative AI are indirectly contributing to hardware shortages that could affect the industry and players alike in the near future. One (former) fan of Larian Studios remarked, “Who is gonna be buying your games when we can barely afford rent and you being too lazy to type placeholder text is one of the reasons a PC is gonna cost $3k+?”
Larian Defends Itself, But Online Backlash Continues
As the controversy intensified, the head of Baldur’s Gate 3’s studio felt the need to clarify his earlier remarks. In a lengthy post on X (formerly Twitter), he addressed the growing criticism: “Holy fuck guys, we’re not ‘pushing hard’ for or replacing concept artists with AI,” he said. “We have a team of 72 artists, of which 23 are concept artists, and we’re hiring more. The art they create is original, and I’m very proud of what they do.”
Vincke went on to explain that when he mentioned the use of generative AI, he was referring to the early stages of design. “I was asked explicitly about concept art and our use of Gen AI. I answered that we use it to explore things. I didn’t say we use it to develop concept art. The artists do that. And they are indeed world-class artists,” said the head of Baldur’s Gate 3’s studio. “We use AI tools to explore references, just like we use Google and art books. At the very early ideation stages, we use it as a rough outline for composition, which we then replace with original concept art. There is no comparison.”
Despite this clarification, the explanation did little to calm the controversy. Many users continued to criticize Larian for using AI in any capacity, arguing that even if AI isn’t directly responsible for the final concepts, its role in the creative process still makes it part of the game’s development. “If you are using AI to generate ideas to explore, that is using AI in your game,” one artist responded to Vincke’s post. “This is duplicitous spin to say otherwise.” This response has since gained over 18,000 likes and 900 retweets, making it clear that the debate is far from over.
Source: Bloomberg
