🔗 Share this article The Creators of Baldur's Gate 3 Clarifies Its Use of AI Tools for New Project The team behind acclaimed RPGs like Baldur's Gate 3 and Divinity: Original Sin just teased its next major project, generating a wave of excitement within the gaming community. However, subsequent comments from the company's co-founder have brought nuance to the conversation, touching on the developer's approach toward AI tools. A Tool for Ideation, Not Replacement In a new message, Swen Vincke detailed that the company is employing generative AI for particular preliminary purposes. These encompass developing pitch decks, producing early-stage visual ideas, and drafting placeholder dialogue. Crucially, Vincke made clear that the shipping material in the game will be authored solely by human writers. "Larian is developing everything ourselves," he said. We are actively expanding our roster of writers and are actively putting together dedicated writer rooms. Given that this area is being explicitly called out — we presently have 23 visual developers and have job openings for additional talent. Each initiative we do is supplementary and focused on having people spend additional energy on making content. Any AI system applied correctly is additive to a artist's routine, not a substitute for their skill. Addressing Concerns and Clarifying the Vision The news of AI usage at first generated backlash among a segment of the player base. In reaction, Vincke offered additional clarification on public forums. "At Larian, we employ machine learning to explore references, in the same way we use search engines and physical media," he wrote. "During the very early ideation stages we use it as a simple sketch for composition which we then substitute with original artwork." He continued, "Larian brings on creatives for their inherent skill, not for their ability to follow what a machine suggests." Key Areas of AI Integration Vincke had previously broken down the company's focused method to AI and ML, defining its use into three main pillars: Handling Monotonous Jobs: Areas like motion capture cleaning, voice editing, and technical processes like adapting animations for different models. Fast-Tracked Experimentation: Using tools to rapidly prototype basic mock-ups of scenarios to experiment with concepts prior to full development. Future Potential for Gameplay: Investigating how AI could one day facilitate emergent reactivity, especially in creating unforeseen permutations in a complex RPG. He explicitly noted that key artistic areas — such as writing — are are absolutely not departments where the company is reducing creative talent. In fact, Larian is recruiting more in these exact positions. "Larian is neither shipping a game with any AI components, nor planning on reducing teams to swap them out with AI," Vincke summarized.
The team behind acclaimed RPGs like Baldur's Gate 3 and Divinity: Original Sin just teased its next major project, generating a wave of excitement within the gaming community. However, subsequent comments from the company's co-founder have brought nuance to the conversation, touching on the developer's approach toward AI tools. A Tool for Ideation, Not Replacement In a new message, Swen Vincke detailed that the company is employing generative AI for particular preliminary purposes. These encompass developing pitch decks, producing early-stage visual ideas, and drafting placeholder dialogue. Crucially, Vincke made clear that the shipping material in the game will be authored solely by human writers. "Larian is developing everything ourselves," he said. We are actively expanding our roster of writers and are actively putting together dedicated writer rooms. Given that this area is being explicitly called out — we presently have 23 visual developers and have job openings for additional talent. Each initiative we do is supplementary and focused on having people spend additional energy on making content. Any AI system applied correctly is additive to a artist's routine, not a substitute for their skill. Addressing Concerns and Clarifying the Vision The news of AI usage at first generated backlash among a segment of the player base. In reaction, Vincke offered additional clarification on public forums. "At Larian, we employ machine learning to explore references, in the same way we use search engines and physical media," he wrote. "During the very early ideation stages we use it as a simple sketch for composition which we then substitute with original artwork." He continued, "Larian brings on creatives for their inherent skill, not for their ability to follow what a machine suggests." Key Areas of AI Integration Vincke had previously broken down the company's focused method to AI and ML, defining its use into three main pillars: Handling Monotonous Jobs: Areas like motion capture cleaning, voice editing, and technical processes like adapting animations for different models. Fast-Tracked Experimentation: Using tools to rapidly prototype basic mock-ups of scenarios to experiment with concepts prior to full development. Future Potential for Gameplay: Investigating how AI could one day facilitate emergent reactivity, especially in creating unforeseen permutations in a complex RPG. He explicitly noted that key artistic areas — such as writing — are are absolutely not departments where the company is reducing creative talent. In fact, Larian is recruiting more in these exact positions. "Larian is neither shipping a game with any AI components, nor planning on reducing teams to swap them out with AI," Vincke summarized.