wfmag.cc \ 51almost 20 years managed to put Larian
on the map. Yes, Divine Divinity and the
sequels and spin-offs set in its narrative
universe were generally well-received –
even loved in some quarters – but the
audience was niche. Your hardcore RPG
fans, those hardly catered for through
the lean decade-and-a-bit following
Baldur’s Gate II and Fallout – they knew
they had something special, a studio
capable of building and refining in a very
real sense over the course of iterative
releases. The rest? Well, they were being
wowed by the surging popularity of the
FPS, bewildered by the lifelike animation
of Paul Scholes’ face in FIFA 20XX, and
generally building towards widespread
acceptance of the lifestealer itself,
Assassin’s Creed. But Larian continued on.
MASS EFFECT
It’s not that Vincke and his studio
actively avoided attempts to court the
masses – Divinity II: Ego Draconis made
its way to Xbox 360 in 2009, Larian
obviously keen to get a foothold in
the console market for the first time.
Elsewhere, it had made inroads towards
the educational market, teaming with
Belgian children’s TV channel Ketnet for
a kid-focused, branded tie-in. There was
even a re-dabbling in the RTS genre with
Divinity: Dragon Commander, with Larian
testing its mettle in yet more unfamiliar
territory for the studio. None of this was
a stubborn approach; it wasn’t a closed-
off one in which Larian only ever wanted
to appeal to the niche it had already
carved out. It was just that things hadn’t
exploded in popularity. Yet.
Kickstarter gets a lot of stick these
days, and a lot of it with good cause.
But at its heart, the attempt to use
crowdfunding to bypass publishers –
specifically in video gaming – meant
there was always a chance something
great could come of it. Larian took
full advantage of the platform and, in
2014, released Divinity: Original Sin.
A CRPG seemed a risky choice when the
campaign launched, given the genre had
been written off
as dead since
about the late
1990s, but the
reaction of the
crowd(funders)
said otherwise: a giant thumbs-up to
the tune of three-quarters of a million
pounds, and an instantly renewed
interest in the genre (alongside other
Kickstarter big hitters like Pillars of
Eternity, naturally).
Original Sin managed some
breakthrough, garnering as it did huge
amounts of praise for its atmosphere,
writing, and old-school RPG sensibilities(in a new-school skin). It was natural a
sequel would follow, and just a few years- and another Kickstarter later – Divinity:
Original Sin II launched. Then, like its
predecessor, an updated version hit
consoles. Then, not too long ago in
2019, it landed on Nintendo’s Switch.
If that’s not a mainstream breakthrough,
I really don’t know what is. It’s almost
an afterthought
here to point out
development
duties for the
upcoming
Baldur’s Gate
III – sequel to the series that was such
a huge influence on the studio – were
handed to Larian. After all, it just feels so
obvious – of course it’s making Baldur’s
Gate III.
It might have taken around 20 years to
really get noticed, but just like everything
else in Belgium, Larian has been quietly
making itself a central seat of power on
the world stage.
Larian’s games are known for their
smart writing and deep storytelling.
Pictured: a chap who probably isn’t
very happy.
In the centre we see Vincke, Larian’s
founder, probably not dressed how he
does every day for work. We hope.“A CRPG seemed a risky
choice, given the genre had
been written off as dead”Interface
Larian Studios \^ Developer Profile