During a two-week span, a mysterious otherworldly monolith in the Mojave Desert stood as the video game community's greatest enigma. Speculation kicked into high gear when an industry producer posted an image of the curious statue, making it clear it was a teaser for a significant game announcement. Online communities went into overdrive to solve the riddle. Might it signal new content for a popular franchise? The next chapter in an iconic saga?
At the same time, the creative minds at Larian Studios found themselves gleefully sharing every outlandish theory among themselves. They possessed the answer: it was a teaser for their upcoming game. This space served as the sole place they could discuss it, bound by an unbreakable oath of secrecy. Their dedication to silence was so complete that they themselves got caught up in the public excitement.
"I had a moment where seeing people theorize that it was a sequel to *Bloodborne*," recalled *Divinity's* lead writer, "And I was like ‘Oh, I hope it is!’ And then I realized: ‘No, it certainly is not!’"
The mysterious monument provided a perfect topic of conversation, but it also sparked a important question: "Can you end up disappointing people if you generate hype?" This concern is one Larian Studios will confront as their next RPG continues development. Billed as the studio's "most ambitious" title so far, the RPG can expect a lot more scrutiny after the award-winning success of their previous project, the critically adored *Baldur's Gate 3*.
Returning to Roots
"I believe the most important factor is that we have no desire to disappoint fans," said Larian founder Swen Vincke, addressing concerns over alienating new fans hoping for a direct sequel. "We are confident that the core appeal they played *Baldur's Gate 3* was the gameplay. That is our formula, and it has its origins in our original IP. The new game is essentially heading back to the origins of it."
Larian rolled out all the stops to get *Baldur's Gate 3* fans interested in *Divinity*. The game's announcement trailer showcased blockbuster polish, depicting a horrific scene reminiscent of certain cult films. The teaser featured visceral imagery, designed in part on a developer. It was a assured reveal, demonstrating the studio's confidence in its next venture.
However, this return to their own series wasn't always the plan. Although the studio intended to return to its flagship CRPG series in time, they first envisioned creating a successor to *Baldur's Gate 3* with a project closer in spirit to that setting. *Divinity* has been in active development for about two years following a significant change in direction.
"Initially, we were developing a new game set in the world of D&D, built on the *Baldur's Gate 3* engine," noted Vincke. "We planned to work gradually on *Divinity* subsequently. But we felt that our hearts weren't really in it. We had finished our journey with *Baldur's Gate 3*, so doing another wasn't what we wanted. So we halted that project. That decision sped up everything for *Divinity*, which meant we had to start from scratch."
Forging a Coherent World
Revisiting *Divinity* after nearly a decade posed a considerable challenge. The team gained vast experience developing *Baldur's Gate 3*, which Vincke describes as the *Divinity* series at a more "advanced level." Now, he says that the new *Divinity* will be an still more evolved version of *Baldur's Gate 3* itself. To accomplish that, Larian needed to begin by reworking the game's universe.
"Among the first things we did was start to build a unified universe, because the *Divinity* lore was in the past not fully unified," Vincke elaborated. "It was necessary to resolidify it, a process we mastered during our work with D&D. Concurrently, we were building a new engine, so we adjusted our plans to use it sooner. That process predictably was not as smoothly as anticipated, so we're now nearing the end of a challenging technical overhaul."
Vincke confirmed that *Divinity* will be a turn-based RPG that can be played alone or in cooperative multiplayer. It is also a standalone title, despite being set after the events of previous games. Veteran fans will encounter some returning characters, but prior knowledge will not be necessary. The objective is to create a "grounded world where magical things unfold because of your actions."
The Core Pillar: Player Agency
That final concept is crucial. When questioned what Larian believes is the most important thing to perfect in *Divinity*, Vincke gave a succinct answer: agency. Larian's vision is to craft a deeper RPG featuring compelling "gameplay mechanics." This emphasis on player-driven narrative was a key ingredient of *Baldur's Gate 3*'s success, and the studio says it is pushing that design principle even further here.
"A central part of our design pillar is 'write your own legend.' So the agency we want to grant you is the most ambitious part," Vincke explained. "We are implementing sequences in there that will have you wondering, 'Really? It keeps going? But all I did was this simple thing!' We want players to discover these possibilities themselves. When we, during testing realized we could connect these elements, it gave me great joy. It thrilled my gamer heart, and that's the feeling I want you to feel when the game releases."
In addition to the expanded focus on player agency, the creation of *Baldur's Gate 3* has been instrumental to *Divinity*'s evolution. The studio specifically notes that it learned significant expertise in writing and crafting cutscenes from that project, which will be a central element of the new game.
Learning from the Community
The team also examined the challenges they faced during the creation of *Baldur's Gate 3*. Vincke notes that onboarding could be daunting in that game due to varied class rules. To make *Divinity* more user-friendly from the outset, Larian decided to "define our own game systems so we could make it more streamlined for play."
"A prime example was reactions in *Baldur's Gate 3*," Vincke said. "Initially, we didn't want to include them. Midway through early access, the community strongly requested them. We worried it would hinder the gameplay. So we implemented them in and discovered, well, it's actually better. They had a point! It was a positive moment because it undeniably made the game better."
With this in mind, Larian's player base will be crucial to *Divinity*'s development. Vincke confirmed that the studio will continue incorporating fan feedback
