Larian Vows No AI‑Generated Art for Divinity, Using AI Only to Accelerate Development

Breaking: Larian Clarifies AI Role in Divinity While Baldur’s Gate III Spark Stays Strong

In a move that addresses growing concern over artificial intelligence in game progress, Larian Studios outlined a measured plan for its upcoming Divinity project. The studio says AI will be used to speed up development where appropriate, but will not be deployed to generate in-game art or other creative assets.

Speaking in a public AMA, the company’s chief executive explained that the goal is to accelerate experimentation and iteration across departments, with the ultimate aim of delivering a higher-quality game more efficiently. Creative resources and concept art will remain under human authorship, with clear emphasis on tracing training data origins and obtaining consent if any AI-assisted assets are used.

“There will be no GenAI art in Divinity,” the executive stated, clarifying that while AI may assist concept exploration, it will not replace the artists who shape the game’s visuals.To avoid ambiguity about art provenance, the team will refrain from using generative tools for concept-art development. The intent is to keep the origin of every asset obvious and auditable.

Beyond art, the studio envisions AI helping speed up testing, prototyping, and decision cycles. the idea is to reduce waste and shorten development times without compromising the role of human creators. Any AI-generated assets would be trained only on data owned by the studio or data for which it has secured permission.

Larian has long been lauded for its development culture and transparent interaction. the stance taken now reflects a broader industry debate: AI can streamline processes and unlock new capabilities, but creative leadership and consent-driven data use must remain central to product quality and ethics. As major AAA titles continue to evolve, studios like Larian argue that AI should augment, not replace, key talent.

Aspect	Details
GenAI Art in Divinity	Not planned. Concept art remains hand-crafted; AI not used to generate final artwork.
Concept art process	Humans lead; AI may be explored but without altering art provenance.
AI’s development Role	Aimed at speeding iteration, prototyping, and reducing waste across departments.
Training Data Integrity	Any AI assets would be trained on owned data or data with explicit permission.
Impact on Creative Staff	Intended to support, not replace, core creative roles.
Public Communication	Transparent about AI use and data origins to avoid confusion and build trust.

As Baldur’s Gate III continues to receive acclaim, Larian’s candor on AI signals a nuanced path forward for the industry—one that seeks efficiency gains while anchoring creative integrity and data ethics at the center of development. The company’s approach may serve as a template for other studios navigating the AI landscape in 2026 and beyond.

What’s your take on AI in game development? Should studios reveal how training data is sourced and used in any AI-assisted assets?

How do you weigh faster production against preserving traditional artist-led workflows in large-scale titles?

Share your thoughts in the comments and join the conversation: should AI be a behind-the-scenes ally or a visible co-creator in the next generation of games?

That all visual assets for the upcoming Divinity title will be hand‑crafted by their in‑house artists.

Larian’s Official Stance: No AI‑Generated Art for Divinity

• public declaration – In a March 2025 post on the official larian forums,the studio confirmed that all visual assets for the upcoming Divinity title will be hand‑crafted by their in‑house artists.
• Clear policy – “We will not use AI‑generated imagery for any final art,” the statement reads, emphasizing a commitment to artistic authenticity and brand consistency.
• Rationale – The decision protects the studio’s reputation, respects the creative labor of its art team, and aligns with community expectations for high‑quality, handcrafted visuals.

How larian Leverages AI to Accelerate Development (Without Replacing Artists)

Development Phase	AI Tool Used	Primary Benefit	Example in Divinity Production
1️⃣ Concept iteration	Text‑to‑image prompts for mood boards	Rapid visual brainstorming, 3‑5× faster than manual sketching	Artists generated 30 speedy mood boards for a new cityscape, then selected the strongest concepts for hand‑painting.
2️⃣ Asset optimization	Neural upscaling & texture compression	Reduces manual retouch time, maintains 4K fidelity while cutting file size by 40%	Background textures where upscaled from 2K to 4K with AI‑assisted tools, freeing artists to focus on detail work.
3️⃣ Animation smoothing	AI‑driven motion‑capture clean‑up	Eliminates jitter, speeds up rigging pipeline by ~30%	NPC walk cycles were refined using AI smoothing, allowing animators to allocate more time to expressive gestures.
4️⃣ QA testing	Procedural bug‑generation simulators	AI creates edge‑case scenarios, improving bug‑catch rate by 25%	early builds were stress‑tested with AI‑generated path‑finding anomalies, revealing hidden collision issues.

Benefits of AI‑Assisted Workflow for Larian Artists

• Time savings – Routine tasks like texture cleanup or lighting tweaks are automated, letting artists concentrate on creative decisions.
• Consistency – AI ensures uniformity across large asset libraries (e.g., repeating architectural motifs), reducing visual disparity.
• Scalability – As Divinity expands to larger open worlds, AI helps manage the exponential growth of assets without compromising quality.
• Enhanced collaboration – Real‑time AI suggestions in tools like Substance Designer foster quicker feedback loops between designers and artists.

Practical Tips for Integrating AI Without Compromising Artistry

1. Define clear boundaries – Use AI only for non‑final stages (e.g., concept sketches, texture upscaling).
2. Maintain artist oversight – Every AI‑produced output must pass a manual review checklist covering style, anatomy, and lore consistency.
3. Document the pipeline – Record AI settings, prompts, and post‑processing steps to ensure reproducibility and knowledge transfer.
4. educate the team – Provide workshops on AI tool capabilities and limitations to prevent over‑reliance.

Real‑World example: Asset pipeline for the “Aetherium Sanctum”

1. concept phase – Artists supplied a text prompt (“ancient crystal cathedral bathed in violet light”) to an AI image generator, creating 12 mood concepts in under 2 minutes.
2. Selection – The senior concept artist chose 3 promising images and annotated them with lore notes.
3. Hand‑crafted refinement – Using the AI drafts as reference, the art team painted final textures, adding handcrafted details like rune etchings and weathering.
4. AI‑enhanced upscaling – Final 4K textures were processed thru an AI upscaler, preserving hand‑drawn nuance while optimizing performance.

This hybrid approach cut the concept‑to‑final‑asset cycle from an average of 6 days to 4 days, a 33% efficiency gain documented in Larian’s internal post‑mortem (June 2025).

Community Reaction & Ethical Considerations

• Player sentiment – Forums and Reddit threads show a 78% approval rating for Larian’s “no AI‑art” pledge, with fans citing trust in the studio’s artistic vision.
• Industry perspective – Other studios (e.g., CD Projekt, Ubisoft) have announced similar policies, indicating a broader shift toward preserving human‑created visuals in AAA titles.
• Ethical guardrails – By restricting AI to non‑final outputs, Larian avoids potential copyright pitfalls associated with training data sourced from external artists.

Best Practices for Studios Considering AI‑Only Development Acceleration

practice	Description
Transparent policy	Publish an official statement outlining AI usage limits.
Robust QA	Implement a dual‑layer review: AI output followed by human artistic validation.
data provenance	Use proprietary datasets for AI training to circumvent licensing issues.
Feedback loops	Regularly collect artist feedback to fine‑tune AI tool parameters.
Legal compliance	Stay updated on emerging AI‑related legislation (e.g., EU AI Act).

Future Outlook: AI’s Role in Larian’s Ongoing Projects

• Procedural world generation – AI‑driven terrain synthesis will assist level designers in prototyping vast regions, while final terrain sculpting remains a manual craft.
• Dynamic narrative tooling – Machine‑learning models will help writers test dialog branching probabilities, but dialogue scripts will still be authored by human writers to preserve narrative depth.
• Continuous learning – Larian plans to train internal AI models on its own art repository, ensuring stylistic consistency and reducing reliance on external data sources.

By deliberately separating AI‑generated assistance from final artistic output, Larian sets a benchmark for responsibly integrating emerging technologies into game development while honoring the creative labor that defines the Divinity franchise.