Divinity Will Be Better Than Baldur’s Gate 3 “On All Fronts” Says Larian CEO

Quick Overview

Larian CEO Swen Vincke confidently stated that Divinity: Original Sin 3 will be better than Baldur's Gate 3 "on all fronts," citing the lessons learned from BG3's complex class rule-sets and emphasizing that their new game will be built on a different, non-tabletop-derived skeleton, allowing for greater innovation and surprising the player base with the level of agency possible in a purely video game context.

Key Points: Larian CEO Swen Vincke claims the next Divinity game (Divinity 3) will surpass Baldur's Gate 3 "on all fronts." A key lesson from Baldur's Gate 3 was the importance of a solid ruleset, allure, and a well-solidified world, which required a lot of work. Vincke confirmed that Larian chose to return to Divinity rather than continue with Dungeons & Dragons projects because they weren't excited about the latter path. The development of Divinity 3 is benefiting from the continuity established in previous Divinity entries, ensuring players can understand the lore even if they missed earlier games. One of the biggest struggles in BG3 was integrating every single D&D class rule-set, which was complicated, but Vincke was surprised it worked as well as it did. The new Divinity title aims to offer player agency at every level—in systems, character development, identity, narrative, and choices. The team wants players to be surprised by the depth of things they can do in a game that is not derived from a tabletop system, like BG3 was.

Context: The video discusses the future of Larian Studios' flagship RPG series, Divinity, specifically focusing on the development of the unannounced 'Divinity 3' following the massive success of 'Baldur's Gate 3' (BG3). The discussion centers around interviews with Larian CEO Swen Vincke and Adam Smith, who compare the development approaches and lessons learned between their established Divinity universe and their recent work adapting the Dungeons & Dragons system for BG3.

Detailed Analysis

The video confirms Larian Studios is working on a new Divinity title, which CEO Swen Vincke believes will be superior to Baldur's Gate 3 "on all fronts." Vincke explained that the team initially intended to make more Dungeons & Dragons content but ultimately decided to return to Divinity because they were not excited about the D&D path. He highlighted that BG3, while successful, presented challenges due to adapting every single D&D class rule-set, which was very complicated. For the new Divinity game, Larian is leaning on the established lore and continuity of the previous games, ensuring new players can still understand the narrative. Vincke emphasized that the next Divinity will focus heavily on player agency at every level—systems, character development, identity, narrative, and choices—and will be built on a foundation derived purely from video game design, not tabletop rulesets, which he believes will allow them to create something far better and more surprising for players. The video juxtaposes footage from Divine Divinity (2002), Divinity II (2009), and Divinity: Original Sin II (2016) to illustrate the series' evolution, contrasting them with BG3 (2023) gameplay to emphasize the shift in design philosophy towards non-tabletop derivation for the next installment.