At last night’s The Game Awards, Larian Studios returned with a massive announcement. The studio’s next project is a return to the series that Larian was known for before the release of Baldur’s Gate 3: the fantasy role-playing series Divinity.
Divinity is a series with a long history, though Divinity: Original Sin and its sequel Divinity: Original Sin 2 are likely the best-known entries in a series that began all the way back in 2002. According to Larian, the simply-titled Divinity will continue the story of Divinity Original Sin 2.
Withers Knew
Now, cast your mind back to November 2023 when Larian added the epilogue party into Baldur’s Gate 3 following player complaints about the game’s abrupt ending. You may recall that you can find a letter during the epilogue, a letter that contains a cryptic hint about Larian’s next project.
“A missive in Withers’ hand, addressed to some unknown entity,” the description of the letter reads. “Though you understand the alphabet, the script, and the words themselves, the meaning eludes you. You glean only the impression of a dark sun in a white sky, and an offer. Perhaps a warning?”
Larian Studio Head May Have Leaked Divinity’s Starting Area
As per Larian’s tradition.
At the time, the separation of Larian and Hasbro wasn’t publicly known and people were still speculating that Larian would continue to create games in the Dungeons & Dragons setting. This led to speculation that the note was referencing Dark Sun, a post-apocalyptic setting that takes place on a desert world or perhaps Cyric, one of the gods of the Forgotten Realms.
However, as pointed out by Annepackrat, the note was most likely referencing Divinity the entire time. In the announcement trailer, during the sacrifice, we can see a dark sun rising in the background. The warning likely references a warning against what the people of Rivellon did to summon the corruption in the trailer, i.e. sacrificing someone important, perhaps Lucian.
There’s precedence for Larian teasing its next game in its previous game. There are references in Divinity: Original Sin 2 to face-eating squids and octopi that will take over the world, which was foreshadowing the illithid threat in Baldur’s Gate 3.
