Baldur’s Gate, Divinity CEO explains studio’s usage of AI for concept art: ‘We use AI tools to explore references’

The excitement for Larian Studios next title, the gory and visceral Divinity, was hijacked by some AI-related rage on social media today, because not even the Baldur’s Gate 3 studio is immune from it.

Larian Studios CEO Swen Vincke was caught heat online earlier today after a Bloomberg interview was published this afternoon, stating how “Larian has been pushing hard on generative AI, although the CEO says the technology hasn’t led to big gains in efficiency.”

Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier noted that “the use of generative AI has led to some pushback at Larian,” but Vincke explained that “at this point everyone at the company is more or less OK with the way we’re using it.”

“Holy fuck guys we’re not ‘pushing hard’ for or replacing concept artists with AI,” he said in a post on X/Twitter several hours after the article went live. “We have a team of 72 artists of which 23 are concept artists and we are hiring more. The art they create is original and I’m very proud of what they do.”

Vincke went further, saying how Larian uses generative AI “to explore things” in concept art, like “references, just like we use Google and art books,” and “at the very early ideation stages we use it as a rough outline for composition which we replace with original concept art.”

It feels like this is quickly becoming the norm in game dev. For example, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 caught a lot of flak earlier this year for what many view as AI-generated art in cosmetics like calling cards. At that time, Activision put out a statement, and it sounds similar to this Larian situation.

“Like so many around the world, we use a variety of digital tools, including AI tools, to empower and support our teams to create the best gaming experiences possible for our players,” Activision said. “Our creative process continues to be led by the talented individuals in our studios.”

Honestly, it seems like this has become a standard in game development. And I don’t think it’s going anywhere. The demon has been let out of its cage and it’s here to stay, for better or worse, since there’s little to no regulation on it in general.

If GenAI is used to help creatives with mundane tasks rather than replace them, then it’s likely going to continue for the foreseeable future. As it advances, however, the latter seems to become a potential issue, and that’s what’s scariest about all of this technology.

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You better watch out, you better not die (in Call of Duty), you better not pout, I’m telling you why: Black Ops 7’s Naughty and Nice event is here.

The latest seasonal holiday event for BO7 is bringing the gifts, or maybe the lumps of coal, depending on how bad you’ve been in CoD this year. But the Naughty & Nice event in BO7 is mostly nice, as it brings along a new free weapon and animated camo for gamers to unlock along the way.

Here’s the full list of challenges and rewards you can get by playing Naughty & Nice.

Black Ops 7 Naughty & Nice event

There are 10 total challenges to complete in Naughty and Nice, and the two main rewards are the Sokol 545 LMG and Snowfall animated camo. Five challenges are Naughty (sacks of coal) while five are Nice (holiday gifts), and completing the associated challenge allows you to open up whatever is inside (a mystery, for now).

Naughty challenges are for the naughtiest CoD players who only chase down kills and don’t care about wins or objectives, while Nice challenges are for those of you who play for the team and not just the individual accolades. But hey, both are needed and necessary!

All 10 challenges can be completed in either BO7 multiplayer, Zombies, Endgame, or Warzone. Just finishing one of the tasks listed below will unlock the reward for it, including everything from emblems, weapon charms, and a blueprint like the Sweet Tooth Peacekeeper Mk1 blueprint and more.

Several of the challenges have to do with playing limited time modes like Snowfight in multiplayer or Holiday Rush in Warzone, so make sure to be in the holiday spirit before logging on.

Naughty challenges and rewards

Completing all five Naughty challenges unlocks the Sokol 545 LMG.

• Naughty Challenge 1
  • Multiplayer: Get 200 eliminations
  • Zombies: Eliminate 500 zombies in holiday modes
  • Endgame: Get 500 eliminations
  • Warzone: Get 20 eliminations in Holiday Rush
• Naughty Challenge 2
  • Multiplayer: Get 10 snowball kills in Snowfight
  • Zombies: Eliminate 500 zombies in holiday modes
  • Endgame: Use snowballs or Cryo-Freeze to freeze 25 zombies in holiday modes
  • Warzone: Get 3 kills with lethals in Holiday Rush
• Naughty Challenge 3
  • Multiplayer: Get 10 kills with scorestreaks acquired from Care Packages
  • Zombies: Get 50 zombie kills using scorestreaks from present boxes in holiday modes
  • Endgame: Get 50 kills with scorestreaks
  • Warzone: Get 10 kills with killstreaks in Holiday Rush
• Naughty Challenge 4
  • Multiplayer: Get 25 eliminations using weapons stolen from other players
  • Zombies: Steal Loose Change Essence by going prone in front of a Perk machine 5 times
  • Endgame: Use vehicles to run over and kill 25 enemies
  • Warzone: Get 2 eliminations without dying 5 times in Holiday Rush
• Naughty Challenge 5
  • Multiplayer: Get 20 kills with fire damage
  • Zombies: Kill 50 zombies with fire damage
  • Endgame: Perform 5 finishing moves
  • Warzone: Get 5 eliminations in a single match 3 times in Holiday Rush

Nice challenges and rewards

Completing all five Nice challenges unlocks the Snowfall animated weapon camo.

• Nice Challenge 1
  • Multiplayer: Earn 40,000 score in Sleighjacked
  • Zombies: Earn 100,000 Essence in holiday modes
  • Endgame: Earn 25,000 Power
  • Warzone: Pick up 4 regular presents in Holiday Rush
• Nice Challenge 2
  • Multiplayer: Earn 25,000 Holiday Cheer score in Holiday Havoc
  • Zombies: Contribute to 25 Door Buys in holiday modes
  • Endgame: Complete 7 assignments
  • Warzone: Purchase a golden present in Holiday Rush
• Nice Challenge 3
  • Multiplayer: Win a match in Sleighjacked and appear in the Winner’s Circle
  • Zombies: Open 10 present boxes in Holiday Modes
  • Endgame: Clear 5 Guild Strongholds
  • Warzone: Purchase 5 Advanced UAV killstreaks from buy stations in Holiday Rush
• Nice Challenge 4
  • Multiplayer: Get 25 objective kills in objective modes
  • Zombies: Drop a Mystery Box item for a teammate by meleeing it
  • Endgame: Use the Supply Link ability to resupply 15 armor plates for your squad
  • Warzone: Deploy 10 utility boxes in holiday modes
• Nice Challenge 5
  • Multiplayer: Call in 10 UAV, Counter UAV, Care Package, or HARP scorestreaks
  • Zombies: Revive or heal yourself or a teammate 5 times
  • Endgame: Use the Crash Cart ability to revive yourself or a teammate 5 times
  • Warzone: Revive or buy back 5 squadmates

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