Larian Studios CEO Swen Vincke, as well as creative directors, recently participated in an AMA on Reddit to set expectations for the studio’s upcoming Divinity game, particularly about its stance on generative AI–a hot-button topic in the industry right now. Responding to a fan question about the role of generative AI in game development, Vincke was rather blunt: “There is not going to be any GenAI art in Divinity.”
His comments arrive amid wider debate over how and whether AI should be used in creative processes, especially as some high-profile games have faced backlash for such use. One notable example is Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, the acclaimed RPG that had two Indie Game Awards (including Game of the Year and Debut Game) rescinded when it was revealed the title had included AI-generated assets during development, violating strict no-AI rules–even though those assets were patched out later.
In the AMA, Vincke acknowledged that previous discussions about experimenting with AI tools for concept-art had been confusing. To make its intentions clear, the studio has elected to avoid generative AI entirely in concept-art creation for Divinity. As Vincke put it, there should be no doubt about where the art came from.
