Larian Studios has a habit of teasing their next project within their current release, something that animation giant Pixar does in every one of its films. While no players expected Larian to jump into the beloved-but-long-dead Baldur’s Gate franchise after a lifetime of Divinity titles, there are multiple teases for the game in Divinity: Original Sin 2.
In the latter title, players can find Mind Maggots, little bugs that are similar in nature to the Ilithid tadpoles that drive the plot of Baldur’s Gate 3. Additionally, the game’s epilogue mentions beings from “another world” that “feed on minds” while necromancer Tarquin brings up the hidden language of Gustavchen, a reference to Baldur’s Gate 3’s working title: Project Gustav.
While obvious in hindsight, only with the knowledge of what Baldur’s Gate 3’s main story actually is, these are all very vague references. However, Larian Studios CEO Swen Vincke revealed that the original incarnation of these teases were so “explicit” that players would’ve known exactly what the team was planning next.
“Originally the reference to BG3 was very explicit,” Vincke said during a recent playthrough of Divinity: Original Sin 2 (Thanks, PC Gamer). “We did it very last-minute because we actually, in the summer when D:OS2 shipped, we wrote the first draft of BG3 because we had a contract with Wizards of the Coast and we needed to do it then. It was very bad.”
As an early access title, Divinity: Original Sin 2’s teaser for Baldur’s Gate 3 wasn’t always in the game, of course. Larian senior communications developer Aoife Wilson explained that adding these types of hints towards the future are only possible with this form of development. “I love that we can now add things post-launch so much and add little references and things like that now,” they said.
This journey of teases has continued with Baldur’s Gate 3 which, according to Vincke, has numerous references to the team’s upcoming Divinity game. According to Vincke, no one has found—or at least made known that they have found—the references tied to the studio’s next adventure.
“One of the writers told me that she put something in there that was talking about our next game,” the CEO said in a developer interview on TGS. “And so the interesting thing is that we did the same thing with DOS 2 — Divinity: Original Sin 2 — we put in references to BG3 in there. Nobody found them. At least not that I’m aware. So I’m not sure if people found the one in reference to our next game in there.”
Right now, it’s not known exactly what the plot of Larian’s Divinity game will be, although judging by the trailer it will be a very visceral adventure. While many were shocked by the game’s grotesque reveal trailer, Larian has stated that the reveal was not intended to grab eyeballs by shocking players, but instead match the intelligence of its player base.
“It isn’t about trying to shock them,” publishing director Michael Douse said. “It’s about trying to match their powers of comprehension so that it resonates. We know people are capable of appreciating a three dimensional world.”
While many have their eyes peeled for Divinity, whenever that may actually release, Baldur’s Gate 3 is still going strong. Since the upcoming title’s reveal, sales have been incredibly strong for Larian’s prior release, and hundreds of thousands of players are still jumping into the RPG every day across PC and console.
Additionally, HBO has officially signed a sequel TV series for Baldur’s Gate 3 which will take place after the series. While Larian is not involved in the series at all, the studio has grabbed former Dungeons & Dragons game architect and story lead Chris Perkins to help guide the adaptation.
