Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s AI Implementation Sparks Debate, Divinity Lead Assures Fans of Strong Quality Assurance Measures

Larian Studios’ CEO Swen Vincke recently stirred up quite a conversation online by revealing that the team has started incorporating AI into their production process. However, he was clear that the final version of the game won’t include any content generated by AI. In response to fans concerned about the potential for AI-generated elements in Divinity, especially after incidents with other titles, the studio’s publishing lead addressed these worries.

To provide some background, the producer of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Francois Meurisse, mentioned in a recent interview that while they “used some AI, but not much” during development, the game ended up shipping with what appeared to be AI-generated art. This issue was later fixed with a patch, despite game director Guillaume Broche asserting that the team had opted against using AI in creative processes.

This led to questions for Divinity’s publishing director, Michael Douse, about how the developers of Baldur’s Gate 3 plan to avoid similar pitfalls if they are using AI in early development stages. Douse responded by comparing it to the use of photo-bashing, a technique where digital artists blend 3D assets with real photographs or textures. He recalled an incident involving a Hitman game that mistakenly included a photo of a deceased individual, emphasizing the importance of quality assurance and strong leadership in the development process.

Douse’s reference may have been to a notable mistake from Telltale’s Batman: The Enemy Within, which launched with an image of a real Russian ambassador who had been killed in 2017. While photo-bashing is a common practice in game development, it rarely results in such controversial outcomes. This raises questions about whether Larian’s only options are between serious ethical dilemmas and the use of AI technology.

The director of Baldur’s Gate 3 and Divinity has stated that he isn’t “pushing hard” for AI, emphasizing that the studio is actively seeking talented artists and expressing skepticism about AI’s ability to speed up the development process.