Baldur’s Gate Director Had One Key Element Removed from Divinity: Original Sin 2’s Re-Release

Larian, the studio behind Baldur’s Gate 3, has just rolled out its highly praised previous title, Divinity: Original Sin II, on Switch 2. In a recent chat, studio head Swen Vincke revealed that he made a strong push to eliminate one particular character from this new version: the squirrel NPC, Sir Lora. When an interviewer expressed their fondness for Sir Lora, Vincke candidly shared his disdain for the character. “It’s funny that you like Sir Lora. I hate him. If there’s one thing I regret about Original Sin II, it’s bringing Sir Lora into the game,” he admitted.

Vincke explained that he attempted to remove Sir Lora from the Switch 2 release, but the QA team informed him it was “too late.” He elaborated that they “almost succeeded” in cutting the character, but encountered a technical snag where “it works in one region and not in another.” Despite their debugging efforts, they couldn’t figure out why “Sir Lora just wouldn’t die,” leading to several days of troubleshooting. Ultimately, they had to keep him in the game.

He also shared some backstory about Sir Lora, noting that the character was created as a joke in response to publisher requests for free DLC, which ended up adding little to the game. “Later we regretted bringing Sir Lora in because it only happened due to publisher pressure. And now we just want to get rid of him. But it’s okay; it makes me happy that you enjoy him. There are people who put a lot of effort into creating him,” Vincke said.

Divinity: Original Sin II has just launched on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Switch 2, with a free upgrade available for those who own it on PS4, Xbox One, or Switch. Looking ahead, Larian is working on a new Divinity title, which will not feature any AI-generated content, although they have utilized generative AI for concept art and other development tasks. “It’s something we are constantly discussing internally through the lens of making everyone’s working day better, not worse,” Vincke remarked, addressing concerns from the development community.