The Creators of Baldur's Gate 3 Details Its Application of Generative AI for New Divinity Game
The studio behind popular titles like Baldur's Gate 3 and Divinity: Original Sin recently shown its next major project, sparking a wave of anticipation within the gaming community. However, subsequent comments from the studio's lead designer have brought a new dimension to the narrative, focusing on the studio's stance toward AI tools.
Augmenting Workflows, Not Cutting Jobs
In a new statement, Larian's director outlined that the company is using generative AI for certain supporting purposes. These encompass developing PowerPoint slides, generating early-stage concept art, and writing draft text.
Notably, Vincke made clear that the shipping assets in the game will be created exclusively by real creatives. "Our team is developing every line manually," he affirmed.
Our studio is constantly expanding our pool of concept artists and are currently assembling writing teams.
As visual development is being particularly mentioned — we presently have over twenty visual developers and have positions available for further creatives.
Each initiative we do is supplementary and focused on enabling creatives to spend additional energy on the creative process.
Any machine learning application applied correctly is additive to a developer's workflow, not a substitute for their skill.
Addressing Concerns and Clarifying the Vision
The news of employing this technology originally sparked concern among portions of the community. In response, Vincke issued more detail on online platforms.
"At Larian, we employ these tools to explore references, just like we use search engines and art books," he stated. "In the conceptual brainstorming phase we use it as a basic framework for layout which we then replace with hand-crafted artwork."
He added, "Our studio recruits artists for their inherent skill, not for their ability to follow what a machine suggests."
Key Areas of AI Integration
Vincke had in the past detailed the studio's practical approach to machine learning, grouping its use into key pillars:
- Automation of Tedious Tasks: This encompasses motion capture cleaning, dialogue cleanup, and technical processes like adapting animations for different models.
- Accelerated Iteration: Using tools to quickly build simple models of scenarios to experiment with concepts before complete production.
- Long-Term Aspirations: Researching how machine learning could in the future facilitate new forms of player agency, especially in managing player-driven narratives in a vast role-playing world.
He clearly noted that core creative areas — such as music composition — are not departments where the company is replacing creative involvement. On the contrary, Larian is actively hiring in these very positions.
"Our studio is not launching a game with AI-generated content, nor looking at reducing creatives to replace them with artificial intelligence," Vincke stated definitively.
