Swen Vincke, CEO of Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian Studios, has shared the studio’s approach to generative AI, saying that everyone at Larian is “more or less OK” with how teams are using the controversial technology.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Vincke said the emerging technology hasn’t led to “big gains in efficiency.” Yet, according to Bloomberg, Larian has been pushing hard on gen AI, with creators often using AI tools to explore ideas, flesh out PowerPoint presentations, develop concept art, and write placeholder text.
The CEO added that there won’t be any AI-generated content in Divinity, Larian’s upcoming RPG announced last week at the Game Awards. “Everything is human actors; we’re writing everything ourselves,” he said.
As with elsewhere in the industry, the use of gen AI has led to some pushback at Larian, “but I think at this point everyone at the company is more or less OK with the way we’re using said,” Vincke told Bloomberg.
In one such case, an artist who worked on Baldur’s Gate 3 took to Bluesky to say that she loved working at Larian until AI came into the picture. “Reconsider and change your direction, like, yesterday,” she wrote. “Show your employees some respect. They are world-class & do not need AI assistance to come up with amazing ideas.”
Larian CEO says the creative process can’t be accelerated
In the interview, Vincke also spoke about Larian’s goal to cut down on development time and finish the recently unveiled game Divinity in less time than Baldur’s Gate 3, which took six years to make, adding that “I think three to four years is much healthier than six years.”
One of the tactics being implemented is to develop many of Divinity’s quests and storylines in parallel rather than in linear fashion. Doing so requires larger writing and scripting teams. The studio now has 530 employees across seven offices in Europe, North America, and Asia.
Yet, Vincke said “the creative process itself actually is something you cannot accelerate,” and that giving writers, designers, and artists time to iterate and explore ideas is what led to the success of Baldur’s Gate 3.
“People underestimate how many times we’re implementing something and realize in the middle that it’s just not going to work,” Vincke said.
This sentiment seems contrarian to the use of AI for placeholder text and concept art, along with the fact that, according to Vincke himself, the technology hasn’t led to a substantial change in efficiency.
Generative AI has faced similar scrutiny elsewhere in the industry from both players and developers. Early this year, 11 Bit Studios, developer of base-builder The Alters, apologized for not disclosing the use of gen AI, a disclosure that is part of the submission process for some platforms. The studio said it used AI-generated assets as works in progress, as well as AI-powered translation tools for “additional last minute translations.”
The situation around The Alters‘ generative AI use is just one of many this year, which also included Frontier Developments backtracking on its decision to use gen AI in Jurassic World Evolution 3 after fan backlash, a French actress taking legal action against Aspyr Media over allegations of using AI to replicate Lara Croft’s voice performance in Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered without her permission, and Broken Sword co-creator Charles Cecil saying AI upscaling was an “expensive mistake.“
