Baldur's Gate 3 Act 3 was split into two areas due to engine constraints.

Larian Studios announced Divinity at this year's Game Awards, and ever since then, everyone has been curious to know more about the studio's upcoming RPG. We've already received plenty of information about the upcoming title from studio head Swen Vincke.

Divinity is getting a new proprietary engine that Larian is developing alongside the RPG. In an interview with Jade King, Vincke revealed how excited everyone at the studio is about the new technology.

“We moved forward because we were already developing a new engine for Divinity, and you could immediately see the excitement coming back into the room because we had this freedom and all the new things we could do,” explains Vincke.

“So I think it was the right move for us as developers. And I'd like to think that if it's the right move for us as developers, it's going to be the right move for the players. They'll recognize the fun we had making this game. They'll see the fun we're putting into the game translated. That decision was made in early 2024, so not that long after Baldur's Gate 3 came out.”

In a separate interview with Restart, Vincke revealed that Baldur's Gate 3 engine actually holds the game back from a technical standpoint.

Larian was forced to compromise with Baldur's Gate 3

Baldur's Gate 3 opening screen showing the entire city.

“With [Baldur’s Gate 3]“When we discovered something wasn't working, it took a long time to react,” he explained. “Now we're building a new engine that allows us more flexibility in how we structure our rule sets. We will be able to do things faster. If you see something isn’t working, you can change things… hopefully, let’s find out.”

Vincke points out that Baldur's Gate 3's third act put a lot of strain on the engine and forced the team to make unwanted compromises to get the game to work properly.

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Larian Studios' Swen Vincke talks about Divinity following in Baldur's Gate 3's Early Access footsteps.

Following the global success of Baldur's Gate 3, we sit down with Larian Studios founder Swen Vincke to talk all things divine.

“We need to do something different, something new! This wasn't possible with our previous work. For example, with BG3, the city was split into two parts, because there was no streaming and you couldn't put it in memory. So BG3 had a lot of limitations, a lot of smoke and mirrors. Fortunately, it worked, but there are so many things that can be done better with better technology, so now the technology is coming into place.”

It's unclear which installment Vincke is talking about, as the legendary Upper City was dropped early in the game's development. He could be talking about the separation between Rivington and the Lower City, or perhaps about aspects of the Lower City being pushed underground.

This could also be seen as a soft confirmation that Divinity's map will be larger than Baldur's Gate 3, or at least have fewer loading screens (instances).