Larian Studios has clarified its position on generative AI in game development, announcing that its upcoming RPG Divinity will not employ GenAI tools for concept art. The news arrives after weeks of controversy when CEO Swen Vincke confirmed the studio had been trying out AI heavily in-house during production.

The revelation was posted as part of an AMA on Reddit, with Vincke speaking directly to fans in regard to their worries for the next Divinity game and putting the need for procedurally generated graphics in future Larian games to bed.

There is no Generative AI in Divinity's Concept Art

And when asked about Larian’s AI plans in general, Vincke bluntly said that generative AI is not to be used for creating concept art in Divinity.

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“So first off — there will be no GenAI art in Divinity,” Vincke wrote. He stated that previous comments about AI being used for exploration were confusing but also said the studio never anticipated replacing human artists.

To eliminate any possibility of future confusion, Larian has decided to not use GenAI tools at all in the creation of concept art going forward. This, for Vincke, means there can be no debate over where the game’s art came from.

The studio stressed that all concept art will still be produced by its in-house artists.

Why Larian Faced Backlash

The controversy erupted after Vincke told Bloomberg in December that Larian was employing an AI tool to tinker with ideas, generate placeholder text and guide early concept exploration. Most fans read this as AI replacing artists, which was met with a slew of backlash on the internet.

He went on to clarify that AI was never utilised as a substitute for artists or the finished concept art. But he conceded his remarks were misinterpreted, prompting the studio to adopt a stronger public stance.

AI Still Has a Role at Larian

Concept art will still be entirely human-made, Vincke said, but Larian is still playing with AI in other ways.

Generative AI could, he said, stop internal iteration across departments from becoming a slog by speeding the process of developers testing ideas and refining gameplay. The aim, he says, is not cutting costs so much as trimming wasted development time and ratcheting up overall quality.

But Vincke also put his foot down when it came to asset creation. Larian won’t use AI-generated assets for any game unless the model has been trained only on the studio’s own data, including full consent of the original creators.

Godhood Announced at The Game Awards 2025

Larian announced Divinity by releasing a trailer during The Game Awards 2025. The studio called it its largest as well as most ambitious project yet. No actual gameplay has been discussed at this point, but how can you not have high hopes after Baldur’s Gate 3?

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The wider games industry and AI

Generative AI is one of the most controversial subjects in game development. A few studios are employing it for game sequels’ voice lines or in-game assets, but many developers and players worry about the issue of creative ownership and ethics that lingers around Ai’s future proliferation.

Larian’s choice places the studio on the more conservative side of that discussion – leaning towards transparency in art while still considering AI as an adjunct to development.

For now, fans can take solace in one thing: when Divinity does launch, its look and feel will be shaped by human artists, rather than algorithms.