If you could turn the clocks back a week from today, you'd return to a world where no one (at least publicly) was hurling vitriol and hate towards Larian Studios. Everyone was actually quite excited about what the studio had coming, since it had just announced a new Divinity game at The Game Awards, which was inarguably one of the biggest announcements of the night.
In the week since that reveal, things have looked quite different from Larian, after an interview with Bloomberg (and several other outlets) with Larian's chief executive officer, Swen Vincke, revealed that Larian Studios was using generative AI technology in its development pipeline for Divinity. That admittance was the reason players criticized and chastised Larian Studios online, and the reason behind the recent stir of discussion of generative AI use in game development.
Vincke has since responded to the backlash with a more formal statement sent to IGN and a less-formal statement posted to his account on X (formerly Twitter), where he exclaimed, "Holy f*** guys, we're not 'pushing hard' for or replacing concept artists with AI."
Amidst the backlash, former developers who worked at Larian also stood up to comment on what the introduction of GenAI tech did for their experience working at the studio. Game writers and narrative designers have also stood up to call out Larian for its poor hiring practices, taking the chance to voice concerns they had held for some time, but refrained from speaking out against for fear of burning future professional opportunities and/or out of respect for the writers still working at Larian.
On the other side, Warhorse Studios founder and creative director Daniel Vávra stood up to defend Larian, saying, "Larian said they were doing something that absolutely everyone else is doing and got an insanely crazy sh*tstorm."
Now, in what appears to be a final statement on the issue for 2025, Swen Vincke took to his personal X (formerly Twitter) account to speak on the matter once again.
"It's been a week since we announced Divinity, our next RPG, and a lot has become lost in translation," Vincke began. "Larian’s DNA is agency. Everything we work towards is to the benefit of our teams, games, and players. A better work day, and a better game. Our successes come from empowering people to work in their own way and bring the best out of their skill & craft, so that we can make the best RPGs we can possibly make."
"In that context, it would be irresponsible for us not to evaluate new technologies. However, our processes are always evolving, and where they are not efficient or fail to align with who we are, we will make changes."
Vincke goes on to say that the company will host an AMA event in the new year, giving those with concerns over Larian Studios using generative AI technology the chance to directly ask the studio whatever they want. No doubt that Vincke and he rest of the team at Larian would also hope that the AMA will be where they can explain themselves in a way that quells the vitriol we've seen towards Larian this past week.
For additional context, Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, who authored the interview with Vincke that started this whole controversy, shared the rough, unedited transcript of his conversation with Vincke. You can read it below.
About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.
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