Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian Studios has clarified its stance on the use of generative AI, weeks after CEO Swen Vincke acknowledged the company’s use of the new technology in game development. Larian boss confirms there will be no GenAI art in the studio’s next game, Divinity. Vincke said Larian will not use generative AI tools in the development of concept art.
Larian CEO and creative director provided clarification on artificial intelligence for the studio’s next project, Divinity, in a recent Reddit AMA thread. In response to a question about the studio’s stance on the use of artificial intelligence in game development, Vincke clarified that there will be no GenAI-created assets in Divinity.
“So first of all – there won’t be any GenAI art in Divinity,” the Larian boss said. “I know there’s been a lot of discussion about our use of AI tools as part of concept art exploration. We’ve said that this doesn’t mean the actual concept art is generated by AI, but we know it can cause confusion. So, to make sure there’s no doubt, we decided to avoid using genAI tools during the concept art development process. This way there’s no discussion of the origins of the art.”
Vink’s clarification comes weeks after he sparked backlash for comments he made about Larian’s policy on using generative artificial intelligence in game development. In a December interview with Bloomberg, he said the studio was using artificial intelligence tools to experiment with ideas, create concept art and placeholder text, and more.
The interview resulted in Larian facing criticism online for his policy on the use of generative artificial intelligence. Vincke later responded to the backlash and clarified the studio’s use of AI tools when creating concept art.
“I was asked specifically about concept art and our use of Gen AI. I responded that we use it to explore things. I didn’t say we used it to develop concept art. That’s what artists do. They truly are world-class artists,” Vink said at the time.
Divinity releases trailer at The Game Awards 2025
Image source: Larian Studio
Larian says AI can help other sectors
In a Reddit AMA, Vincke confirmed that the studio will completely avoid using AI tools in the concept art development process, but said that generative AI can help the studio speed up other departments.
“That being said, we’re constantly trying to increase the speed of our attempts. The more iterations we can do, the better the gameplay overall will be,” he said.
“We think GenAI can help here, so we’re trying it across departments. We hope it can help us refine ideas faster, leading to more focused development cycles, less waste, and ultimately higher-quality games.”
Vincke also noted that Larian could eventually use AI-generated assets in its games if the AI models are trained on data owned by the studio.
“The important thing to note is that we don’t generate the ‘creative assets’ that end up in the game without 100% certainty of the source of the training data and the consent of the people who created it. If we use a GenAI model to create an in-game asset, it will be trained on the data we have,” he said.
Since the release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot in 2022, generative AI technology has risen rapidly and has become a controversial issue in the gaming industry. Several companies have recently pushed for greater use of GenAI in game development to reduce costs and shorten development times.
Recent popular games such as Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 and Arc Raiders utilize AI tools to create in-game assets and voices respectively.
Larian’s next game, Divinity, was revealed at The Game Awards 2025. The studio says the role-playing game will be its biggest game ever.
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