Larian Studios has revealed their next game and it’s a return to the Divinity: Original Sin universe, although it’s not a direct sequel.
One of the many secrets that was spoiled ahead of The Game Awards was the fact that the mystery statue teased by organiser and host Geoff Keighley was a new game by Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian Studios.
Trademark registrations made it clear that the game was part of the Divinity franchise, even though Larian had said they aren’t working on a Divinity: Original Sin 2 sequel – a game that would’ve ended up being very similar to Baldur’s Gate 3.
However, the Divinity franchise stretches back several years, to the oddly named Divine Divinity in 2002, which was an action role-player. That was followed by Beyond Divinity and then Divinity 2, so technically there was never anything called just ‘Divinity’.
This new game may gain a subtitle later on (there was also a real-time strategy game called Divinity: Dragon Commander) but officially it’s the Original Sin games that are the spin-offs.
We say all this because it’s not at all clear what the game is from the trailer, since, as is typical for The Game Awards, it’s all pre-rendered.
The scene involves some kind of Wicker Man-like ceremony in a Tolkien-esque fantasy village, where everyone seems very keen to burn alive someone who turns out to be infected with… something.
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Whatever it is, it kills everyone and turns them into a version of the statue – apparently called a Hellstone – that’s been teased for the last few weeks.
Although the pre-Origin Sin games were action role-players, Larian has not described Divinity as that so far, referring to it merely as a ‘RPG’.
Whether that’s meant to imply it’s turn-based, like Original Sin, we don’t know, but they’re clearly making sure to say as little as possible, with no indication of a release date or year.
‘This marks the beginning of something with more breadth, depth, and intimacy than anything we’ve created before,’ said Swen Vincke, founder and game director of Larian Studios.
‘We’ve been building toward this moment ever since we took our fate into our own hands. This is the Divinity we’ve always wanted to make and you’re going to have loads of fun with it.’
Baldur’s Gate 3 spent over two years in early access (which comprised only its first act) and it’s likely Divinity will follow a similar path. You might hope for news on that next year, but a final release date is probably likely to be 2028 or later.
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