Larian Studios has released new information regarding its upcoming Divinity game following a Reddit AMA involving various staff members.
Development Insights
Larian CEO Swen Vincke stated that the studio grew from 411 employees at the end of Baldur's Gate 3's development to approximately 500 currently working on Divinity. He noted that the growth has slowed, as the team for a large cinematic RPG is mostly in place.
Gameplay Mechanics
Divinity's looting system will feature handcrafted items, similar to Baldur's Gate 3, rather than the random, level-dependent loot of previous Divinity: Original Sin titles. Mod support is confirmed, though its availability at launch remains unspecified. Co-op play will be available at launch, with modders having the ability to increase the player count beyond the final party size. Native WASD keyboard movement controls will not be supported by default, suggesting modders may implement this, as they did for Baldur's Gate 3.
Engine and Features
The game will utilize Larian's proprietary Divinity Engine, which has undergone "significant changes." Head of design Nick Pechenin hinted at a new mechanic, widely speculated to be swimming, stating it addresses something that "bothered" him in previous Larian RPGs. The camera perspective will be similar to Baldur's Gate 3, featuring a hybrid of top-down and third-person views. There is no release date for gameplay footage, as the game is currently in full production. Playable races and classes were not disclosed, but clues are present in the announcement trailer.
Narrative and World
Writing director Adam Smith described Divinity's tone as more grounded, incorporating folk horror elements while maintaining tonal variations. It is a standalone story within the established Divinity continuity, offering familiar elements for long-term fans without being solely fanservice. The magic armor system from Divinity: Original Sin 2 will not be present; a new system for character protection and boss encounter balancing is under development. Character customization is planned to be "even better" than Baldur's Gate 3, with more options.
Scope and Technical Details
Vincke indicated Divinity will build upon lessons from Baldur's Gate 3 and Divinity: Original Sin 2, aiming for increased player agency and consequences. Larian intends to make Divinity playable on Steam Deck. Substantial changes to the physics engine are expected. Head of design Nick Pechenin confirmed a new combat and character progression system, designed to be intuitive yet deep for both Baldur's Gate 3 and Divinity: Original Sin 2 fans. Larian will consider Nintendo Switch 2 for the game. Romance options are confirmed, with "Lizard romance" highlighted. The goal for companions is to have more inter-party interactions and deeper relationships. Regarding the announcement trailer's dark tone, Vincke clarified the game aims to allow players to be a "light in the darkness" and explore agency, even to make the world worse.
Generative AI Use
Larian has committed to not using generative AI for art in Divinity and has ceased using GenAI tools for concept art development. Vincke stated that the studio is experimenting with GenAI in other departments to improve efficiency, such as refining ideas faster and reducing mechanical tasks. He emphasized that "creative assets" for the game will not be generated without absolute certainty of the training data's origin and consent from creators. Larian explicitly prohibits using actor recordings to train or build AI voice models. Writing director Adam Smith confirmed no text generation is used for dialogues, journal entries, or other writing. The primary use of Machine Learning generated assets is within the cinematics and animation pipeline, where models trained exclusively on Larian's data are used to clean, retarget, and add motion to performances.