As Larian Studios, the developer behind Baldur's Gate 3 and the upcoming Divinity game, continues to face backlash following CEO Swen Vincke's thoughts on the use of generative AI, others are speaking up in support – including the Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 director.
For anyone out of the loop, it's been a wild week for Larian between The Game Awards 2025 reveal of the new Divinity project and subsequent controversy after Vincke's words on AI. In short, he admitted the studio does employ the technology in the very early stages of a game's conception – but not for any final art or element that makes it into production. Publishing director Michael 'Cromwelp' Douse concurred, saying the devs "don't use AI for art" at all.
As is usually the case when something spins out of control online, Larian is still very much under fire on social media – but fans and fellow developers alike are now speaking up in support of the award-winning studio, including Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 lead Daniel Vávra. In response to Vincke's own explanation on how Larian uses AI, he writes, "This AI hysteria is the same as when people were smashing steam engines in the 19th century."
This AI hysteria is the same as when people were smashing steam engines in the 19th century. @LarAtLarian said they were doing something that absolutely everyone else is doing and got an insanely crazy shitstorm. I've even seen someone accuse us of using AI in KCD2. I don't… https://t.co/l7pNbTxeITDecember 17, 2025
Vávra continues: "Larian said they were doing something that absolutely everyone else is doing and got an insanely crazy shitstorm." This sort of lines up with what others have been saying in replies – that "everyone" in the video game industry uses AI in one way or another to better streamline the work process or be more efficient, rather than to generate content that will actually make its way into the final version of any given project.
The Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 dev doesn't stop there, however – he goes on to discuss AI more broadly, first describing how he's "no fan of AI-generated art," but "it's time to face reality" as "AI is here to stay with us." Vávra also admits, "If AI can help me make an epic game in a year with a smaller team like in the old days, I'm all for it." He concludes that, no matter what direction the tech goes, "there's no stopping it" in the end.
AI, especially generative AI, has been quite the hot topic among developers and players alike recently. This doesn't come as much of a surprise, though – it's understandable that folks are concerned about their jobs and the authenticity of media, after all.
