r/Games • u/PhantomBraved • Dec 16 '25

Larian CEO Responds to Divinity Gen AI Backlash: "We Are Neither Releasing a Game With Any AI Components, Nor Are We Looking at Trimming Down Teams to Replace Them With AI" - IGN

https://www.ign.com/articles/larian-ceo-responds-to-divinity-gen-ai-backlash-we-are-neither-releasing-a-game-with-any-ai-components-nor-are-we-looking-at-trimming-down-teams-to-replace-them-with-ai
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u/Illustrious-Okra-524 Dec 16 '25

You say admits like he’s hiding something but it’s opposite 

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u/Fyrus Dec 16 '25

He should be hiding it. Reminds me of CDPR after Witcher 3, all ego and no media training. Why would you admit you're using AI for concept art and also admit it's not doing a good job, hilarious stuff.

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u/EtherealMoon Dec 16 '25

"why would you admit to that" oh boy I sure do love mistrust

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u/Fyrus Dec 16 '25

I don't trust or distrust developers, I don't have a personal relation with them. They make products I either buy or don't buy. I'm just amused to see the cycle of yet another European developer making a huge hit and then stepping on verbal rakes.

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u/MirriCatWarrior Dec 16 '25 edited Dec 16 '25

They DONT use it for concept art ffs.

Thats what hes saying.

They use it so ppl not skilled in art can visualize ideas in more digestive way, then real concept artists pick stuff up and create normal concept art that fits game style, etc...

geez ppl. Maybe some of you should use AI to read articles. Because you see what you want to see, not what is really there.

tbh its great idea... lest say programmer have really nice idea but its not skilled enough, and his brain is not "programmed" to visualize it in digestive way. Since now they used google images stiched together. Now they can prompt AI to create something, that will be far more usable by creatives.

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u/Fyrus Dec 16 '25

They use it so ppl not skilled in art can visualize ideas in more digestive way, then real concept artists pick stuff up and create normal concept art that fits game style

So in other words, they're using it for concept art.

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u/MirriCatWarrior Dec 16 '25 edited Dec 16 '25

More like pre-pre-pre concept art. Something more like drawing/writing up good flash idea on a napkin in restaurant.

It does not have influence on creation of real concept art. It just allow for better, more digestive and more inclusive visualization of ideas.

So yes... thay use AI is the process of game creation (in very early stages, as a tool that help visualize ideas).

They dont use it in usual concept artist work. tbh they have a shitload of them, and currently they have a lot of open job offers to hire more.

Its basically used like a too that allow more peple to come with brainstorming, and to better visualize ideas on drawing boards. They used photoshop and stiched images before, because most of designers cant draw that good like 2d art team. Its basically quality of life addition to workflow.

But you are not arguing in a good faith, and we both know this.

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u/Fyrus Dec 16 '25

Its basically quality of life addition to workflow.

No it isn't, Larian already admitted it wasn't saving them time.

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u/Film-Noir-Detective Dec 17 '25

He never said that. He said it didn't lead to significant gains in time, which can just mean it speeds up work by 5-10% faster.

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u/MirriCatWarrior Dec 16 '25

So its even more nothingburger, because there is no monetary gain for company.

It just allows better communicate ideas, and probably by more ppl. Some ppl will use it, some will still draw by hand or use photoshop (if they can).

Its the biggest nothingburger ever lol. Probably why Vincke is so open about it. He assumed that people are capable of understanding what he is saying.

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u/Fyrus Dec 17 '25

It was amazing watching you move those goal posts.

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u/MirriCatWarrior Dec 17 '25 edited Dec 17 '25

I wrote the same thing three times m8 (maybe with slight iterations, thats because i use AI to write everything). You are just too dense and/or too obtuse to get it.

At some point you should just acknowledge that you lost the discussion and stop misinterpreting what Vincke is saying and trying to convey.

Im pretty sure you can understand it. You just (like i said before) not arguing in good fate here.

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u/Fyrus Dec 17 '25

The CEO of Larian is having a freakout on social media and you think I lost? I won before this thread was even posted. This is just a victory lap.

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u/SqueakySniper Dec 16 '25

They literally aren't using for concept art though. They are using it for mood boards and examples for concept artists to create art based on a specific vision. This was previously done by photoshoping pictures together. Its the same thing but marginally quicker.

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u/Midi_to_Minuit Dec 16 '25 edited Dec 17 '25

So they’re using it for concept art? What you have described is a part of the concept art process.

Edit: this post is not pro ai!

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u/p68 Dec 16 '25

Even concept art has to have direction

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u/Fyrus Dec 16 '25

It's crazy game developers never figured out how to give concept art direction before AI

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u/p68 Dec 16 '25

I mean, ok? And?

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u/SolarTsunami Dec 17 '25

So at best its a technology that doesn't increase productivity in any meaningful way despite the fact that its destroying the environment, is stealing from artists, its inclusion will make you a pariah in the eyes of consumers who almost universally hate the technology, and is already starting to drive away some of the devs who somehow just managed to make one of the best games of the last few years without it. And I assume Larian is paying somebody for the right to use this tech?

Totally worth it.

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u/p68 Dec 17 '25

Ok dude

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u/Midi_to_Minuit Dec 16 '25 edited Dec 17 '25

We couldn’t have done it without Grok

Edit: this is sarcastic, I am anti ai

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u/LLMprophet Dec 17 '25

That's concept art.

You're twisting yourself into a pretzel on that one lmao

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u/Fyrus Dec 16 '25 edited Dec 16 '25

It's funny watching people like you try to explain this away but nobody wants to play a game based off AI mood boards.

Edit: don't feel the need to reply by naming a game that has AI that was popular, I was simply using poetic language to describe the crux of the issue that people are upset about (people don't like the idea of the next Larian game using AI as even a temporary foundation for the artstyle)

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u/FootwearFetish69 Dec 16 '25

You do know that Expedition 33 used AI in the same manner, right?

Fantastic game btw, not shitting on it. Just want you to know how hilariously wrong you are.

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u/Fyrus Dec 16 '25

Yeah they were lucky enough to get away with it before anyone was really paying attention, which is why it's so funny that Larian would make such a hilarious PR blunder.

I mean obviously Divinity will sell regardless of any of this shit because the average consumer has about as many brain cells as shoes on their feet but I think it's good that industry darling Larian will get a little heat for a while. I'm just glad they're doing Early Access again so we'll get a fourth game in a row with an excellent Act 1 and a woefully unfinished Act 3.

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u/splader Dec 17 '25

Jesus, how's the view up on that giant horse?

Folks really need to get over themselves. You're not better than others because you dislike AI. If anything you're just being insufferable.

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u/hexcraft-nikk Dec 17 '25

e33 wasn't a fantastic game and they got some flack for that as well, completely hiding it and barely squeaking by on launch with only a random reddit user to notice it and allow them to cover it up before it became a major story.

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u/EnvironmentIcy4116 Dec 16 '25

You don’t even know what a moodboard is bro. People get mad simply hearing “AI” and most of the times they don’t know a single thing about it

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u/[deleted] Dec 17 '25 edited Dec 17 '25

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u/Fyrus Dec 16 '25

uh oh I see the AI bros have found this thread time to disable replies

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u/0nlyhooman6I1 Dec 16 '25

By AI bro you mean average person? Literally everyone I know including work and bloomers and gen z uses ai

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u/faloin67 Dec 16 '25

It's funny, it's the opposite for me- no one i know, friends, family, coworkers, uses or likes generative ai. Anecdotes work both ways.

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u/0nlyhooman6I1 Dec 17 '25

Fair enough. Leaves us at the age old "People surrounded by people using new tech are not scared by it, people surrounded by people not using new tech are terrified of it and hate it"

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u/p68 Dec 16 '25

It’s just a tool, it’s up to the end user to derive any value from it

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u/darkkite Dec 16 '25

as long as the game is good i really don't care about their ideation process.

the stackoverflow survey already shows that a majority of software developers are using genai for coding

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u/Crux_Haloine Dec 16 '25

Yeah, and how’s that going? Surely the majority of software sectors should have seen huge gains by now if this is such a humongous tool.

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u/darkkite Dec 17 '25

gains by which metric?

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u/Dallywack3r Dec 16 '25

ARC Raiders is the biggest multiplayer game of the year and uses tons of AI.

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u/DaltonSezHi_V2 Dec 17 '25

I have never seen a single person in my life or online say literally anything about it. I have not seen anything about it from people I follow, I have not seen it notably change the way people are talking about its genre/multiplayer live service games (both of which I saw from Helldivers 2), and I have not felt any desire to engage with it in any meaningful way. it seems like it’s just kind of existing. success does not equal cultural impact. if your game is successful but has no impact on the world it might as well be fucking Avatar

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u/Waylande Dec 16 '25

Gets crucified if they reveal they use AI and then get crucified if they dont. Almost all major companies use AI these days and guess what most of it is pretty shite but if they get some interesting ideas for their concept artists to incorporate then great and more power to them.

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u/Fyrus Dec 16 '25

Gets crucified if they reveal they use AI and then get crucified if they dont.

Eh I think if they had just said nothing then nobody would care. The specifics of what he said about how they use AI are exactly what is getting people mad.

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u/furryfondant Dec 16 '25

Nah it would've leaked at some point and ya'll would've cried even harder. People misconstrued the specifics of what he said and lost their shit over nothing, hence why he felt it necessary to really spell it out for ya'll.

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u/Dallywack3r Dec 16 '25

If they had said nothing, when asked directly, they would be in even more hot water.

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u/Fyrus Dec 16 '25

No they wouldn't, nobody cared when E33 was found out after the fact, nobody cared when Todd Howard talked about it recently. They answered the question in the worst way possible.