Life After Baldur’s Gate 3: What Will the New Divinity Be Like?

Larian Studios’ next project has the gaming community’s full attention. The developers recently held a large Q&A session, during which they discussed the new game’s philosophy, cautiously hinting at key changes while just as confidently avoiding specifics. We analyzed the developers’ answers to separate the specifics from the marketing and understand what to expect from the new Divinity.

Concept, setting and tone of the narrative

Following the success of Baldur’s Gate 3, Larian Studios became a truly mainstream studio. For a wider audience, BG3 was the developer’s first introduction to role-playing games. Therefore, the announcement of the next project generated not only interest but also understandable confusion.

Larian’s portfolio already boasts a slew of games bearing the Divinity name, from classic RPGs to experiments like Dragon Commander. Against this backdrop, the new announcement seemed odd: simply “Divinity,” no subtitles, no numbers, no explanation.

What kind of game this is and where it fits into the studio’s lineup is a question Larian had to clarify separately. According to the developers, Divinity is a standalone story set in the Rivellon universe, unfolding in the same timeline as Divinity: Original Sin 2. The events of the new game take place in or near the same time period, and in the same space or in close proximity.

No prior knowledge of the previous games is required. The new game’s story is completely independent and aimed at a new audience, although longtime fans will inevitably find familiar locations, elements, and a whole host of references of all shapes and sizes.

Thus, the project is not Divinity: Original Sin 3 in either structure or concept—hence the lack of a subtitle. Larian Studios views the game as a new entry point into the universe and, at the same time, an attempt to bring together all the studio’s accumulated experience. According to studio head Swen Vincke, this is “the Divinity we always wanted to make”—without being strictly tied to any format or franchise subseries.

The studio calls Divinity its largest and most ambitious RPG to date. However, the developers are not yet ready to discuss the exact scale of the world and the amount of content. Vincke admits that the team itself doesn’t yet know “how big it will end up being,” as many systems are still being developed during production.

At this stage, the scope is determined by the developers’ approach to game design. The project builds on the foundations of DOS2 and BG3, but avoids directly replicating them and places a key emphasis on freedom of action.

According to Vincke, the level of influence of decisions on the world and the course of history is planned to be “significantly higher than in Baldur’s Gate 3.” This applies not only to narrative forks but also to systemic freedom. The game’s mechanics and structure are designed from the outset to accommodate unconventional and non-obvious decisions, rather than pushing the player toward predetermined scenarios.

Within the studio, this approach is described as working with controlled chaos. One developer puts it bluntly: when testing gameplay situations, the team deliberately plays out events in a random order, breaking all conceivable rules, and testing how far the boundaries of possibility can be pushed.

Larian Studios considers its greatest successes to be the moments when the player strays so far from the expected path that they begin to think the developers have “lost” them. And it’s precisely at this moment that they encounter a situation, reaction, or consequence that was anticipated. This approach is the essence of Divinity at the design level—not to suppress chaos, but to embrace it, tame it, and integrate it into the game’s very structure.

Moreover, an “imperfect” outcome is not viewed as a punishment. The developers emphasize that failures and mistakes often lead to consequences as meaningful as successes, and sometimes even open up more interesting paths.

In terms of tone, Divinity will be noticeably darker than the studio’s previous projects, and this is directly related to the overall design philosophy. It’s about creating a dark world in which the player has the opportunity to become a “light in the darkness.” This choice isn’t forced upon them. Divinity will allow you to both try to change the world for the better and consciously choose a path of destruction.

In this context, the announcement trailer shown at The Game Awards 2025 can be seen as a starting point—the current state of the world, from which the player will either lead it toward the light or be pulled into even deeper darkness.

Regardless of the chosen path, there’s still room in this world for Larian Studios’ signature humor. They promise to make it more meaningful, situational, and contextual, so that it flows naturally from the events and doesn’t turn the adventure into theater of the absurd or outright farce.

The music deserves special attention when discussing the atmosphere. It’s all very simple: Divinity’s soundtrack is once again being handled by Borislav Slavov, the composer for DOS2 and BG3. This is enough to make you feel at ease with the music.

The developers attribute the confidence in the implementation of all stated ideas, freedom of choice, and variability to the updated technological base. We’ll discuss this further.

Technology, camera and controls

Around 500 developers are already working on Divinity—more than the team at Larian Studios during the final stages of production on Baldur’s Gate 3. The game is being developed using an updated version of its in-house Divinity Engine—the same engine used in Divinity: Original Sin 2 and Baldur’s Gate 3. The studio emphasizes that it has no plans to switch to third-party solutions like Unreal Engine. Using its own technology allows for faster adaptation of tools to specific design tasks and avoids unnecessary limitations.

Gameplay Director Artem Titov notes that the engine for Divinity has been significantly redesigned. The changes affect not only the visuals but also the system level—physics, animation, and camera operation. Technical Director Bert van Semmertier also confirmed that the studio’s new projects will feature significant changes to the physics engine.

As an example, he mentioned the correct physics simulation of objects like ropes. It’s important to clarify that this refers specifically to the capabilities of the technology, not to confirmed gameplay mechanics. The engine itself is now capable of more, but how exactly these capabilities are used remains at the discretion of the game designers.

Nevertheless, some hints of new forms of interaction with the environment were still present. Head of Design Nick Pechenin, when asked about the new mechanics, formulated the matter extremely evasively: “There was always something in the starting areas of DOS1, DOS2, and BG3 that irritated me. It’s literally glaring when you think about it. In Divinity, I can finally do what I wanted to do in all the previous games.”

Fans saw this as a nod to swimming and improved water physics. In these games, characters began their adventures near bodies of water but were limited to shallow water.

The camera in Divinity will use a hybrid setup familiar from BG3: an isometric view for exploration and combat, with zooming capabilities for examining fine details, admiring the scenery, and delivering cinematic dialogue and cutscenes. Van Semmertier specifically noted that the engine has no technical limitations on camera orientation—it could even point skyward, if the gameplay designers find a way to accommodate this.

The control approach will remain conservative. Like BG3, Divinity will not feature native support for WASD character movement on PC. Controls will remain point-and-click when playing with a keyboard and mouse, and the ability to implement alternative control schemes remains the responsibility of modders.

Combat system

One of the key gameplay changes in Divinity will be the abandonment of the physical and magical armor system used in DOS2.

In Original Sin 2, the separate physical and magical defense bars meant that most crowd control effects—stuns, freezes, and others—were only triggered after the corresponding armor was completely removed. According to the developers, this system often forced players to delay using abilities and made combat more drawn-out. Divinity has abandoned this approach: players will no longer be forced to “wait until they can use an interesting skill.”

Larian emphasizes that removing armor doesn’t mean eliminating protection against crowd control. The team is developing an alternative system of resistances and defenses that should prevent the indefinite crowd control of enemies, especially in boss fights and when using low-level skills. However, it won’t function as a hidden second health bar and won’t be directly tied to damage dealt. The main goal is to maintain tactical depth and clarity, making battles engaging even for those accustomed to action games.

Despite the talk of action, the game will remain a turn-based tactical RPG, but it will use its own ruleset rather than adapting the tabletop system, as was the case with BG3. This makes perfect sense: it’s Larian’s own universe, but not everyone knows what Divinity is. Therefore, Sven Vincke had to specifically explain that, unlike BG3, the team can design combat, abilities, and other key elements without regard for the limitations of the tabletop system.

In this context, Nick Pechenin noted that the “battle balance” and character progression system for Divinity were reworked, drawing on previous developments and audience feedback. This isn’t just a matter of spot balancing, but rather a redesign of the combat logic—it concerns how many meaningful decisions the player makes per turn, how quickly the battle unfolds, and how often they encounter “empty” actions like pointless movement or waiting.

Research and Rewards

In Divinity, Larian finally abandons random loot generation in favor of manual item placement—as in BG3. While in DOS2, chest and corpse contents were scaled based on player level and drawn from a random pool, in the new game, every significant item will be located in a predetermined location.

Lead game designer Nick Pechenin explained that the team had considered implementing this approach back in the days of Original Sin, but opted for randomness to save time. In practice, this decision didn’t work: random generation required a complex system of rules and exceptions and often confused players.

The problem, however, wasn’t just one of balance but also of narrative. Random loot undermined the integrity of the world, as a common chest could contain an item completely unrelated to the location, character, or situation. Divinity decided to abandon this approach entirely.

Now, every artifact, weapon, or armor is a conscious design decision, integrated into the context of the location or story. This allows for tighter control over the pace of progression and enhances the value of exploration: discoveries are no longer the result of a “virtual dice roll” but a reward for attention and curiosity.

Races, companions and romances

In Divinity, Larian intends to significantly overhaul its companion and party relationships system. According to narrative director Adam Smith, one of the key lessons of BG3 was the realization that companions too often built relationships solely through the main character. In Divinity, this aspect is being given much more attention.

Companions should feel more like a living group with their own internal dynamics than a collection of individual characters. This applies not only to dialogue, but also to reactions to events, conflicts, alliances, and situations that can unfold without the player’s direct involvement. Particular emphasis is placed on how the companions’ personal stories intersect with each other, side quests, and the main plot, creating a denser, more layered narrative structure.

A key role in this is played by dialogue—the background conversations between party members as they travel and explore the world. Senior writer Kevin Van Ord emphasizes that such dialogue is not seen as decorative elements, but rather as a key tool for developing characters and their relationships. Through conversations between companions, the player should understand who is in conflict with whom, who supports whom, and how the party as a whole is reacting to events.

Romance options will also be reworked. According to Van Ord, the player’s relationship will develop more gradually, so that it feels natural, rather than the result of quickly performing the “right” actions.

Larian confirms that romantic options will remain, including relationships between characters of different races, including “exotic” ones. Sven Vincke noted wryly that romances with lizardmen are likely to be particularly popular. The developers are deliberately keeping the full list of races represented in the game under wraps. Obvious options include humans, elves, dwarves, lizardmen, and possibly imps—with each race having more distinct characteristics and individual traits than in DOS2.

To develop these relationships, the game will introduce a camp-like environment—a separate social space not directly connected to the resource recovery mechanics. According to Smith, the camp is designed primarily as a place for key conversations, conflicts, and bonding between characters. It is there that important moments in the companions’ personal stories unfold and the dynamic within the party is formed.

Character customization

Art director Alena Dubrovina confirms that Divinity plans to make the character editor more flexible than BG3. The studio’s key formula for this approach is simple: more colors, more options, more control.

This primarily concerns visual customization—appearance, hairstyles, costumes, and overall freedom to customize one’s appearance. Larian Studios is closely studying community mods for Baldur’s Gate 3 related to character appearance. According to Dubrovina, such work helps understand which customization elements are truly important to players. The specific list of new options is not yet being revealed and will be developed as development progresses.

Co-op and modifications

Divinity was designed from the ground up with co-op play in mind. As in DOS and BG3, co-op is not initially considered a secondary option, but a full-fledged way to play, which directly influences the approach to content creation.

The developers haven’t yet announced the exact party size. In previous Larian games, groups of four characters have been the standard, but for Divinity, the team is exploring various options. Swen Vincke emphasizes that party size affects not only balance but also the narrative—the pacing of scenes, dialogue, and world reactions. This is why the studio is hesitant to commit to a final number.

Technically, there are no hard limits on the number of players. According to van Semmertier, the Divinity engine doesn’t “break” when the number of characters increases, and all limits are purely for design reasons. This means that even with the canonical party size, modders will be able to expand it—as they did in BG3.

Accordingly, it’s worth separately mentioning another obvious fact: mod support in Divinity has been officially confirmed. Artem Titov stated that modding tools will be available, but whether they will appear at launch or later has not yet been decided. At the same time, Larian understands that modding is an important part of the ecosystem, so mod support is being built into the system design process.

The studio aims to provide cross-platform mod support, including consoles, in the future. The developers acknowledge that this is a complex and long-term goal, but they consider it realistic, especially given the experience of BG3, where mods eventually appeared on consoles, albeit in a limited form.

Use of AI

Larian Studios specifically emphasizes that it does not use generative AI for artistic or narrative content in the creation of Divinity. According to Sven Vincke, this is a fundamental position for the studio: the developers want players to have no questions about the origin of assets and the authorship of the game. Visual materials and concept art are created by hand, without the use of neural networks.

Narrative Director Adam Smith confirms that all dialogue, descriptions, and quest texts are written by humans. Generative models are not used, even at intermediate stages. The studio acknowledges that experiments with language models were conducted in a research setting, but their results were weaker than even the screenwriters’ early drafts and were not developed further.

At the same time, Larian isn’t abandoning machine learning as a supporting tool. It’s used exclusively in technical and production processes to reduce routine workloads, such as processing and adapting motion capture. These tools aren’t involved in the creation of creative content and don’t replace the work of artists, screenwriters, or actors. It’s also been confirmed that neural networks are not used for voiceover generation: contracts with actors explicitly prohibit training AI using their voices.

It remains to be hoped that this Q&A session has finally clarified Larian’s position and will allow us to close the door on a topic that has increasingly devolved into a pointless witch hunt in recent months. It was important for the studio to state its position as openly as possible, put an end to speculation, and focus on what matters most—because there’s still a lot of work to be done on Divinity.

Release date and platforms

There’s currently no approximate release date. The only certainty is that the game won’t be released in any format in 2026. The project is in active development, but the release date is still a long way off.

Currently, only a PC version has been officially confirmed. However, it’s almost certain that the game will also be released on the current-generation consoles—the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S—and possibly even the next generation, if it’s released by then.

This confidence stems from statements by Larian’s technical director, who confirmed that the studio is at least considering releasing Divinity on the Nintendo Switch 2. Furthermore, Larian specifically notes the success of Baldur’s Gate 3 on Steam Deck and will strive to ensure the game is optimized and verified for Valve’s portable console from launch.

What should we wait for?

Larian Studios has earned a tremendous amount of trust. Over the past thirty years, the studio has grown from niche projects to global acclaim, so there’s little doubt about the quality of their next game.

However, returning to Divinity presents a challenge. The studio must re-introduce its universe to an audience that came for Dungeons & Dragons and Baldur’s Gate. Larian no longer has the support of a world-renowned license, but it has its own ambitions, budget, and technology.

So far, the project looks like a dark, mature fantasy where mechanics and player freedom take precedence over scripted content. The developers promise to raise the bar in everything from physics and combat to companion development. If Larian succeeds in realizing the “controlled chaos” Vincke envisions, the new Divinity could become not just a successor to Baldur’s Gate 3 but a new benchmark in the genre.