The Divinity Developer Details Its Use of Generative AI for New Divinity Game

The studio behind acclaimed role-playing games like Baldur's Gate 3 and Divinity: Original Sin recently unveiled its next major project, sparking immense excitement within the gaming community. However, subsequent comments from the studio's co-founder have brought a new dimension to the conversation, addressing the developer's approach toward machine learning.

Augmenting Workflows, Not Cutting Jobs

In a new clarification, the studio's founder outlined that the developer is employing AI technology for specific supporting purposes. These encompass enhancing PowerPoint slides, producing early-stage visual ideas, and writing draft copy.

Notably, Vincke made clear that the final content in the game will be crafted entirely by real creatives. "Larian is creating everything manually," he affirmed.

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

Given that this area is being specifically mentioned — we right now have 23 artistic staff and have job openings for further artists.

Everything we do is incremental and aimed at having people spend additional energy on the creative process.

Any ML tool implemented properly is a boost to a developer's workflow, not a replacement for their craft.

Tempering Reactions with Clear Intent

The admission of employing this technology at first sparked unease among a segment of the community. In reaction, Vincke issued further elaboration on social media.

"Our team utilizes AI tools to gather inspiration, similar to we use search engines and art books," he explained. "In the very early planning process we use it as a simple sketch for structure which we then replace with original illustrations."

He added, "Our studio recruits artists for their inherent skill, not for their capacity to replicate what a AI generates."

Three Pillars of Practical Application

Vincke had earlier detailed the studio's targeted approach to machine learning, categorizing its use into three main pillars:

• Handling Monotonous Jobs: This encompasses refining animations, voice editing, and pipeline-specific tasks like retargeting animations.
• Rapid Prototyping ('White Boxing'): Using tools to quickly build basic versions of mechanics to validate concepts before complete development.
• Future Potential for Gameplay: Exploring how AI could one day create emergent player agency, especially in creating dynamic reactions in a vast role-playing world.

He clearly noted that core creative areas — including visual art — are are absolutely not departments where the team is replacing artistic talent. On the contrary, Larian is actively hiring in these very positions.

"We are not launching a game with AI-generated content, and we are certainly not looking at trimming down staff to replace them with artificial intelligence," Vincke stated definitively.