Larian’s Next RPG: Beaches, Divinity, and Life After Baldur’s Gate 3

Larian Studios has gone from a niche CRPG developer to one of the most influential RPG studios on the planet. With Baldur’s Gate 3 showered in awards and critical acclaim, eyes are now fixed on what comes next. The studio has confirmed a new game set in the Divinity universe and begun teasing development with playful references to beaches and new worlds, signaling a fresh chapter after its time in the Dungeons & Dragons sandbox.

This article explores what Larian’s post–Baldur’s Gate 3 future might look like: why it’s returning to its own IP, what early hints may reveal about the new RPG’s tone and setting, and how the studio’s history suggests where its design ambitions are heading.

From Cult Favorite to Genre Standard-Setter

To understand why Larian’s next project is so closely watched, it helps to look at the arc that brought the studio here.

Slow-burn rise of Larian Studios

Larian was founded in the mid-1990s and spent years building RPGs that were beloved by a relatively small but passionate audience. The breakthrough came with the Divinity: Original Sin series, which revived classic isometric RPG traditions while modernizing them with:

• Turn-based combat focused on environmental interactions
• Cooperative play that allowed shared storytelling
• System-driven quests with multiple solutions

These games were funded in part through crowdfunding and Early Access, enabling the developers to iterate with community feedback and refine their approach over time.¹

Baldur’s Gate 3 and mainstream success

Baldur’s Gate 3 pushed Larian into the mainstream. Built under license with Dungeons & Dragons owner Wizards of the Coast, it translated the complex fifth edition ruleset into a digital format while offering a highly reactive story with extensive player choice. Its success was reflected in both sales and awards, including multiple Game of the Year honors from major outlets.² In the process, it helped redefine expectations for narrative RPGs:

• High production values on par with blockbuster action games
• Extensive voice acting and cinematic story scenes
• A vast web of branching possibilities shaped by player decisions

After such a milestone, the natural question was whether Larian would remain in the Baldur’s Gate universe, move to other licensed properties, or return fully to its homegrown worlds.

Why Larian Is Returning to Divinity

Larian has confirmed that the studio’s next major RPG is set in the Divinity universe rather than continuing the Baldur’s Gate series. This decision has several implications for creative control, scope, and long-term strategy.

Creative freedom away from licensed IP

Working with Wizards of the Coast meant that Baldur’s Gate 3 needed to respect existing lore, races, classes, and cosmology. Returning to Divinity gives Larian back full ownership over:

• World-building and lore direction
• Rules and systems design, unconstrained by tabletop equivalents
• Long-term franchise decisions without external approval

From a business standpoint, owning the IP also means deeper control over future adaptations and cross-media projects, a consideration that many modern studios factor into flagship game development.³

Fan expectations and continuity

For many players, Divinity is synonymous with Larian’s identity. The studio can build on:

• Established deities, histories, and magical systems
• Familiar tones of dark comedy, moral ambiguity, and high fantasy
• Existing fanbases invested in unanswered lore questions

At the same time, Larian has signaled that the upcoming game is not simply Divinity: Original Sin 3 but an ambitious new entry that may stand apart structurally and tonally from past titles. That duality—continuity and reinvention—is a key tension shaping anticipation around the project.

What the “Beach” Teases May Suggest

In the wake of the new Divinity-era RPG reveal, Larian leadership has teased fans with references to going “back to putting beaches in games.” The remark is playful, but it also serves as a window into the studio’s design sensibilities.

Beaches as a shorthand for exploratory spaces

Beaches in RPGs are often used as introductory spaces: visually striking, geographically open, and naturally guiding players inland. In Larian’s past projects, shoreline areas have frequently served as early-game zones where players learn core mechanics and experiment with environmental interactions. Returning to this motif may imply:

• Another focus on systemic environmental play (water, elevation, terrain)
• A strong sense of physical exploration and discovery
• A tonal contrast between tranquil vistas and the chaos that lies beyond

It also signals a desire to move away from the more urban and subterranean tone that dominated much of Baldur’s Gate 3, suggesting more varied and possibly brighter locations early in the adventure.

World-building implications

Shorelines often hint at broader themes:

• Seafaring and islands: maritime trade, pirates, or naval conflicts
• Frontier landing zones: colonization, expeditions, or refugees
• Liminal spaces: symbolizing transitions between worlds or states

While early teases are intentionally vague, framing the next RPG through a coastal lens hints at a world where borders—physical and metaphorical—are central. That could mean characters whose stories revolve around displacement, travel, or encounters between very different cultures.

How Big Could the New Game Be?

One recurring point in coverage is that Larian’s new Divinity-era game is expected to be enormous, potentially even larger in scope than Baldur’s Gate 3. But “bigger” can mean several things in RPG design, not just a larger map.

Historically, Larian has tended to expand on multiple axes at once: Original Sin 2 was not just larger geographically than its predecessor, but also more reactive and systemic. If the new project follows that pattern, “bigger than Baldur’s Gate 3” may indicate an even more intricate web of choices and outcomes.

Design Lessons Carried Forward from Baldur’s Gate 3

Whatever shape the new Divinity-era RPG takes, it will likely build on lessons learned from Baldur’s Gate 3’s long Early Access period and final release.

Commitment to reactivity and player agency

One of Baldur’s Gate 3’s defining achievements was its responsiveness: players could approach quests in unexpected ways and still receive bespoke outcomes. This required an enormous amount of bespoke writing and design work but generated intense word-of-mouth praise and contributed to its critical reception.²

Going forward, we can expect Larian to:

• Continue designing quests with multiple intended and unintended solutions
• Offer significant narrative divergence based on choices and party composition
• Lean into emergent problem-solving rather than purely scripted paths

Balancing cinematic storytelling with systemic freedom

Baldur’s Gate 3 introduced fully cinematic scenes and extensive voice acting across almost all dialogue. This raised production costs and complexity dramatically, but it also broadened the audience by making the game more approachable to players unaccustomed to text-heavy CRPGs.⁴

The new game will likely continue cinematic presentation, but Larian may look for ways to better balance:

• High-fidelity scenes for key moments
• More flexible, system-driven interactions for smaller events
• Tools that allow designers to reuse animation assets efficiently

That balance is crucial for sustaining both scope and polish without overextending the studio.

Technical and Production Challenges Ahead

Delivering another expansive RPG at the level of Baldur’s Gate 3 presents significant technical and organizational challenges. Large games increasingly require robust pipelines, tooling, and cross-disciplinary coordination.

Complexity of modern AAA development

Contemporary high-budget games often involve hundreds of developers across multiple studios and time zones, making process management as critical as design. Research on large-scale software projects has repeatedly emphasized the importance of modular architecture, rigorous testing, and clear communication structures to avoid delays and quality issues.⁵

For Larian, this likely translates into:

• Improved internal tools to script quests and cinematic moments more efficiently
• Automated testing around branching narrative logic and combat systems
• Iterative builds that allow writers, designers, and QA to collaborate closely

Platform and performance considerations

As hardware generations progress, players expect more detailed worlds and smoother performance. Balancing demanding systemic simulations with accessible hardware targets—especially if the game launches on PC and consoles—requires prioritization and optimization throughout development, not just in the final months.

Given Larian’s prior experience shipping across multiple platforms, the studio is likely to invest early in:

• Scalable graphical settings and performance profiles
• Design decisions that avoid overly fragile physics or AI systems
• Accessible control schemes that work across different input devices

What This Means for the Future of RPGs

Larian’s next move has outsized significance for the RPG genre. The impact of Baldur’s Gate 3 has already prompted broader conversations about narrative depth, player agency, and expectations from big-budget games.

Raising expectations for narrative richness

When a game demonstrates that deeply reactive storytelling can succeed commercially, it sends a signal to the rest of the industry. Players may increasingly expect:

• Multiple distinct ways to resolve major story beats
• Consequences that meaningfully alter subsequent content
• Companions with complex arcs and long-term payoff

As more studios experiment with similar ambitions, we could see a new wave of narrative-forward RPGs and hybrid titles that borrow from Larian’s approach.

The role of Early Access and community feedback

Larian’s success has also reinforced the value of Early Access for complex RPGs. By involving players in the development loop, studios can refine mechanics, catch narrative issues, and gauge interest in different systems before release. Game industry analyses have increasingly highlighted the role of iterative, community-driven development in managing risk for ambitious projects.¹

Whether or not the new Divinity-era RPG uses Early Access again, its predecessors have helped normalize the model for large, system-heavy games.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the new Larian game a direct sequel to Divinity: Original Sin 2?

Larian has confirmed that its next major RPG is set in the Divinity universe, but it is positioned as a new era rather than a simple numbered sequel. That leaves room for new characters, themes, and structures while still drawing on existing lore.

Will the new game use turn-based combat?

The studio is strongly associated with turn-based battles, and its recent projects have refined that model considerably. While no final system details have been publicly locked in, it would be surprising if Larian abandoned turn-based design entirely, given how central it is to both Divinity and Baldur’s Gate 3.

Will it be as long as Baldur’s Gate 3?

Early commentary has suggested that the new game is very large in scope. That said, length is only one part of scope. The studio may focus more on replayability and branching paths rather than raw hour counts, especially after feedback from players who found Baldur’s Gate 3 nearly overwhelming in size.

Is Larian working on Baldur’s Gate 4?

Current public statements indicate that Larian is moving away from Baldur’s Gate and back to its own IP. While the Baldur’s Gate franchise could continue under different developers in the future, Larian’s focus is on its new Divinity-era RPG.

Will the new RPG feature beaches as a major setting?

The references to “putting beaches in games” are intentionally light-hearted teases. They strongly suggest coastal and shoreline environments will appear, possibly early in the game, but do not by themselves confirm the broader shape of the world or story.

Looking Ahead

Larian’s return to Divinity after the enormous success of Baldur’s Gate 3 marks an important inflection point for the studio and for RPGs as a whole. Early hints—beaches, a new era of Divinity, and promises of a vast experience—paint a picture of a team eager to push further into systemic, reactive storytelling within a universe it fully controls.

For players, the takeaway is clear: the next few years are likely to bring another sprawling, meticulously crafted role-playing adventure where choice, experimentation, and exploration take center stage. The exact contours of that journey remain under wraps, but if Larian’s recent history is any indication, the beaches at the edge of its new world are only the beginning.