Larian Responds to Divinity's Baldur's Gate 4 Expectations

Larian Studios wants fans to know that Divinity will not be Baldur's Gate 4 ahead of the inevitable comparisons. There's been a lot of buzz about the developer's latest RPG, with the lead-up to its reveal being one of the biggest stories around The Game Awards and bold post-announcement claims giving fans a lot to look forward to. Now, the team behind Divinity has acknowledged the giant expectations BG3 has set but stresses that the new game will take things in a different direction.

After sparking widespread speculation and rumors by planting a mysterious statue in the desert, Larian revealed Divinity at The Game Awards 2025 and told fans it would be its biggest game yet. That's a major claim, considering the scale of Baldur's Gate 3, but the size of the studio's last game isn't the only precedent Divinity has to live up to. After BG3 redefined the RPG genre, many players will likely expect a similar experience from Larian's next project, but devs have now clearly stated that Divinity will break away from those expectations.

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By Anastasia Maillot

Larian Wants to "Keep Giving People Something New" with Divinity

After shocking the Game Awards audience with its visceral Divinity announcement, Larian devs sat with PC Gamer to discuss the game and what players can expect from it. When asked if the team was concerned about players expecting Baldur's Gate 4, CEO Swen Vincke acknowledged that people will naturally have those expectations, but that Larian is working hard to differentiate Divinity from BG3. While Vincke has confirmed Divinity will stick to turn-based gameplay, he told PC Gamer "we don't want to make the same game," and that devs are focusing on giving players new things to do that they haven't experienced in previous Larian titles. That goes for the obvious benchmark of Baldur's Gate 3 but also the studio's entire library up to this point, as evidenced by the new Divinity being a standalone title in the franchise, not Original Sin 3.

Vincke has also claimed that Divinity will be "way better" than its previous work, so it seems Larian doesn't want to just shed the expectations that BG3 has set but surpass them. Writing Director Adam Smith expanded on how switching up the formula could lead to a better game. According to Smith, the team wouldn't be excited about making the same game again, so branching into something new helps devs keep their hearts in the project. Beyond passion, exploring new avenues also helps Larian keep things fresh for the audience. Smith explained that the company wants "to keep giving people something new" with every game so that players don't get too familiar with it and grow tired of following the same steps.

Characters dancing at a festival in Divinity

That sentiment of wanting to be excited about development has cropped up from the studio before. When Larian explained why it stepped back from a fourth Baldur's Gate game, Vincke said the company started work on BG4 because devs felt "vulnerable" and "emotionally drained," but ultimately decided it should pursue projects that made employees feel excited again. It seems like Divinity was the answer to that desire, and the team hopes that passion comes across when players dig into it.

For now, it's unclear how exactly Divinity will break away from the conventions set by BG3 and Original Sin 2. No matter what direction it goes in, though, Larian faces an uphill battle in avoiding comparisons. Fans compared Baldur's Gate 3 features to Divinity: Original Sin 2's mechanics when BG3 came out, so something similar is bound to happen again. Thankfully for Larian, BG3 was a smash hit that easily broke free of what came before it and now stands strongly on its own, so hopefully the studio can do the same with Divinity.