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Larian Studios

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Larian Studios
Company typePrivate
IndustryVideo games
Founded1996;28 years ago(1996)
FounderSwen Vincke
Headquarters
Ghent
,
Belgium
Number of locations
7 (2024)[1]
ProductsDivinityseries
Baldur's Gate 3
Number of employees
470 (2024)[2]
Websitelarian.com

Larian Studiosis a Belgian independentvideo game developerandpublisherfounded in 1996 bySwen Vincke.[3]Headquartered inGhent, Belgium,Larian focuses on developingrole-playing video gamesbut has previously worked on educational games and casino games.[4]It is best known for developing theDivinityseries andBaldur's Gate 3.

Larian has studios in 6 other countries around the world:Quebec City(Canada),Dublin(Ireland),Kuala Lumpur(Malaysia),Guildford(United Kingdom),Barcelona(Spain), andWarsaw(Poland).[5]

History

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Swen Vinckefounded Larian Studios in 1996.[6][7]As a lead designer in the company, he contributed to all of Larian's early game projects, including the award-winningrole-playing gameDivine Divinity(2002) and its sequelBeyond Divinity(2004).[8][9]

Larian's first project was calledThe Lady, the Mage and the Knight,a game set in the world ofThe Dark Eye.[10]During that time they also developedThe L.E.D. Wars,a strategy game that was developed within 5 months and published by Ionos in 1997.[11]As a result,The Lady, the Mage and the Knightsoon evolved into a collaborative project between Larian Studios andAttic Entertainment Software,who release the previous The Dark Eye computer games (under the nameRealms of Arkania). Due to various problems between the two development studios and its publisher, the project was abandoned in 1999.[12]

In 2002, Larian completed work onDivinity: Sword of Lieswhich was published under the nameDivine Divinityby CDV.[13]In 2004,Beyond Divinity,the sequel toDivine Divinity,was published in two editions: the standard version by Ubisoft Entertainment GmbH[14]and the deluxe version by MediaMix Benelux which containedDivine Divinity,Beyond Divinityand a novella byRhianna Pratchettcalled "Son of Chaos".[15]

Also in 2004,KetnetKick,an educational game, was developed forKetnetand released by Transposia.[16]In 2006,Beyond Divinitywas re-released under Gold Games 9 by Ubisoft Entertainment which was a set of 10 games on 6 DVDs.[17]

In March 2008,Adventure Rock,[18]an online virtual world, was completed and released. This was followed by the release ofKetnetKick 2in October 2008 by VRT, the public broadcaster inFlanders.In March 2009,GulliLand[19]was published by Jeunesse TV, a French national broadcasting channel. In January 2010, Larian releasedDivinity II: Ego Draconis- the sequel toDivine Divinity- to the U.S. market onXbox 360and Windows[20]simultaneously, after releases in Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Poland, Russia andBenelux.Larian has also producedDivinity II: Flames of Vengeance,and built a Gold Deluxe version that holds allDivinity IIepisodes, calledDivinity II: The Dragon Knight Saga.

In August 2013 Larian releasedDivinity: Dragon Commander,a game mixing strategy and role-playing elements in theDivinityuniverse, before the events ofDivine Divinity.[21]The game has received an overall positive reception and gained attention thanks to its novel approach to strategy.

Larian releasedDivinity: Original Sin,a turn-based role-playing game set betweenDragon CommanderandDivine Divinity,in June 2014 after several delays. The game was funded partly thanks to aKickstartercampaign which pulled in $944,282, more than double its goal of $400,000.[22][23]Original Sinwas originally budgeted at €3 million, twice the amount of cash Larian had on hand, but by the time the game released Larian spent a total of €4.5 million on it; according to Swen Vincke, Larian delayed tax payments and pulled resources fromDragon Commander's development in order to fully fund and completeOriginal Sin,and the company would have gone bankrupt if the game had not been a success.[24]Upon its release,Original Sinbecame the fastest-selling game in Larian's history.[25]An enhanced edition was launched on 27 October 2015, including all formerly published downloadable content and several improvements. Larian began development of itsDivinity Enginealong withDivinity: Original Sin.

Divinity: Original Sin 2,a sequel toDivinity: Original Sin,was funded through Kickstarter as well, raising the necessary amount to create the game within hours, and reaching all of its stretch goals.[26]The game takes place 1200 years after the events inDivinity: Original Sinand retains many of the gameplay elements that were present in firstOriginal Sin.[citation needed]The game was released into Steam Early Access on 15 September 2016, with its full Version 1.0 release taking place just under one year later on 14 September 2017.[27][28]An enhanced version featuring various improvements was released on 31 August 2018. At some pointTencentacquired a minority stake in the company.[29]

Larian Studios developedBaldur's Gate 3,a role-playing video game for Microsoft Windows, macOS, Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5. It is the third main game in theBaldur's Gateseries,itself based on theDungeons & Dragonstabletop role-playing system. It released inearly accessformat on PC and Mac through Steam and GOG on 6 October 2020,[30]with a full release on 3 August 2023.[31]The game received universal acclaim and won many awards, including severalGame of the Year awardssuch as fromThe Game Awards[32]and theD.I.C.E. Awards.[33]

Following the release of Baldur's Gate 3, Larian began work on downloadable content for the title but canceled it. The studio considered making Baldur's Gate 4, but decided to instead work on a new project. When asked if the new project would be Divinity Original Sin: 3, Vincke could neither confirm nor deny. He did, however, say it will be "different than what you think it is" but that it's "still familiar."[34][35]

Technology

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Main article:Divinity Engine

Games developed

[edit]
Year Title Platform(s) Notes
1997 The L.E.D. Wars Windows
2002 Divine Divinity Windows,macOS
2004 Beyond Divinity Windows, macOS
2009 Divinity II: Ego Draconis Windows,Xbox 360 The Dragon Knight Sagareleased in 2010,Developer's Cutreleased in 2012
2010 Divinity II: Flames of Vengeance Windows, Xbox 360 Expansion packtoDivinity II
2013 Divinity: Dragon Commander Windows
2014 Divinity: Original Sin Windows,PlayStation 4,Xbox One,Linux,macOS Enhanced Editionreleased in 2015
2017 Divinity: Original Sin II Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, macOS,Nintendo Switch,iPadOS Definitive Editionreleased in 2018
2023 Baldur's Gate 3 Windows,PlayStation 5,macOS,Xbox Series X/S
Cancelled games
Year Title Platform(s) Notes
1999 The Lady, the Mage and the Knight Windows Developed in collaboration withAttic Entertainment Software
2019 Divinity: Fallen Heroes Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One

Educational games

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  • Ketnet Kick(2004)
  • Adventure Rock(2008)
  • Ketnet Kick 2(2008)
  • GulliLand(2009)
  • Superia(2009)
  • Monkey Labs(2009)
  • Monkey Tales(2011)

References

[edit]
  1. ^"Careers - Larian Studios".
  2. ^Tapsell, Chris (28 March 2024)."The big Larian interview: Swen Vincke on industry woes, optimism, and life after Baldur's Gate 3".Eurogamer.Retrieved30 March2024.
  3. ^"Larian company information".Gamasutra.com.Retrieved25 October2013.
  4. ^Larian Casino GamesArchived4 July 2008 at theWayback Machine.
  5. ^Domeradzka, Zuzanna (19 March 2024)."Larian Studios Now Officially Has Studio in Poland. Baldur's Gate 3 Devs Have Opened New Branch in Warsaw".Gamepressure.Retrieved20 March2024.
  6. ^IGN Staff (7 December 2003)."Riftrunner Interview with Swen Vincke at Gamatomic".IGN.Retrieved21 June2018.
  7. ^"About Me « Swen Vincke @ Larian Studios".Swen Vincke @ Larian Studios.Archived fromthe originalon 11 January 2012.Retrieved21 June2018.
  8. ^"Swen Vincke on the future of Divinity: Original Sin 2, and the pros and cons of open development".pcgamer.Retrieved21 June2018.
  9. ^Lenting, Tom (January 2019)."Een aanzet tot de gamegeschiedenis van België".Academia(in Dutch).Retrieved20 September2019.
  10. ^Paragraph 5, Lines 3-4: Publishing industry skepticalArchived18 July 2011 at theWayback Machine
  11. ^"Article about LEDWars at MobyGames".Mobygames.com.Retrieved25 October2013.
  12. ^The truth about LMK (by Lar also known as Swen)Archived15 August 2001 at theWayback Machine
  13. ^"Information about Divine Divinity at MobyGames".Mobygames.com.Retrieved25 October2013.
  14. ^"Information about Beyond Divinity Standard Edition at MobyGames".Mobygames.com.Retrieved25 October2013.
  15. ^"Information about Beyond Divinity Deluxe Edition at MobyGames".Mobygames.com.Retrieved25 October2013.
  16. ^"KetnetKick".Mobygames.com. 29 October 2004.Retrieved25 October2013.
  17. ^"Information about Gold Games 9 at MobyGames".Mobygames.com. 12 October 2006.Retrieved25 October2013.
  18. ^"AdventureRock".Bbc.co.uk. 1 January 1970.Retrieved25 October2013.
  19. ^"GulliLand".Larian.com. Archived fromthe originalon 29 October 2013.Retrieved25 October2013.
  20. ^ISM signs up Larian StudiosArchived14 December 2007 at theWayback Machine
  21. ^"GameStar: Voices of Igromir 2011. Swen Vincke:" It won't be bad, to have an army ".Gamestar.ru. Archived fromthe originalon 10 July 2012.Retrieved25 October2013.
  22. ^"Kickstarter Campaign".Kickstarter.Retrieved4 July2013.
  23. ^"Kicktraq: Divinity: Original Sin".Kicktraq.Retrieved14 October2020.
  24. ^"How Divinity: Original Sin almost bankrupted Larian Studios".PCGamer.3 March 2015.Retrieved14 October2020.
  25. ^"Divinity Original Sin is Larian Studios' fastest selling game ever".Eurogamer. 3 July 2014.Retrieved4 July2013.
  26. ^"Divinity: Original Sin 2".Kickstarter.Retrieved18 September2017.
  27. ^"Divinity: Original Sin II is coming to Steam Early Access on September 15".22 August 2016.
  28. ^"Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Definitive Edition - It's here! - Steam News".14 September 2017.
  29. ^"Mittelfinger an die AAA-Industrie: Baldur's Gate 3 war kein Zufall".gamestar.de.Retrieved4 December2023.
  30. ^"Baldur's Gate 3 Is Having A Very Successful First Day In Early Access".GameSpot.6 October 2020.
  31. ^"Baldur's Gate 3 has a sort-of release date, finally".eurogamer.net.9 December 2022.Retrieved9 December2022.
  32. ^Park, Morgan (7 December 2023)."'I didn't think we were gonna get it': Baldur's Gate 3 dominates The Game Awards with 6 wins, including GOTY ".PC Gamer.Retrieved9 December2023.
  33. ^"2024 Awards Category Details Game of the Year".interactive.org.Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences.Retrieved21 February2024.
  34. ^Bailey, Kat."Larian Started Work on Baldur's Gate 3 DLC, Then Canceled It: 'The Studio Was Elated'".IGN.Retrieved22 March2024.
  35. ^Stedman, Alex."Larian Studios Won't Make Baldur's Gate 3 DLC, Expansions, or Baldur's Gate 4".IGN.Retrieved22 March2024.
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