After The Game Awards 2025 lifted the veil on exciting new games like Larian Studios' big RPG, its upcoming Divinity entry, fans have been wondering when they'll be able to get their hands on it – but the wait might be shorter than many think, thanks to early access.
Baldur's Gate 3 and its monumental early access journey are still fresh on my mind, as a fan of all things Larian. Before that, though, there was Divinity: Original Sin and its sequel – two fellow RPG gems that shared a similarly successful early access release. It's no surprise, then, that the studio plans to do the same with its new Divinity game, hoping to first launch it into early access on Steam and collect feedback from dedicated players.
Larian founder Swen Vincke reveals as much during a recent interview with GamesRadar+. "We still want to do early access," admits the lead. "It's been the blueprint, especially the community participation with early access, which is what interests us. It was [with] Divinity: Original Sin 1, Divinity: Original Sin 2, Baldur's Gate 3 – they [the community members] were a large part of how we developed the games."
He continues, looking back at Larian's previous games' own roads through early access. "The games improved massively through early access. Players being invested in it increases the pressure and their participation in it, so you get something really cool out of that process – even if it's painful for the developer. So, we have to swallow our pride and say, 'Ok, you guys are right, we're wrong, we accept it, you've made your point.'"
Vincke concludes, "It causes extra development effort, but it leads to a better game, which is ultimately the goal of the entire exercise." I'd argue that he certainly isn't wrong to think so – after all, Baldur's Gate 3 is the most recent example of an early access success from Larian. The Dungeons & Dragons-inspired RPG first dropped in 2020, going on to fully release in 2023… and boy, what a release that was (seriously, just look at all its awards).
Here's hoping Divinity does indeed launch into early access first, so that we eager fans can get our hands on it as quickly as possible – I know I'll be counting down the days until the new Larian game arrives, anyway.
