Larian Studios became one of the most celebrated game developers on earth with the release of Baldur’s Gate 3 in 2023. But the Belgian company spent nearly three decades building toward that moment. Founded in 1996 by Swen Vincke, Larian started with a series of RPGs that were critically respected but commercially modest.
The studio’s breakout came with Divinity: Original Sin in 2014, funded through Kickstarter after traditional publishers repeatedly rejected the project. That game and its sequel, Divinity: Original Sin II (2017), proved there was massive demand for deep, turn-based RPGs with systemic gameplay. Original Sin II sold millions and is widely considered one of the best RPGs ever made.
Baldur’s Gate 3 launched into early access in 2020 and fully released in August 2023 to universal acclaim. The game swept nearly every major Game of the Year award and sold over 15 million copies within months. It demonstrated that a sprawling, choice-driven RPG with hundreds of hours of voiced dialogue could achieve mainstream blockbuster success.
Larian operates studios in Ghent, Quebec City, Dublin, Kuala Lumpur, Barcelona, and Guildford. The company has grown to over 600 employees, though Swen Vincke has been vocal about not wanting to get too large. Notably, Larian chose not to make Baldur’s Gate 3 DLC or a direct sequel, instead moving on to new original projects. The studio remains fully independent with no outside investors or publishers, which is increasingly rare at its scale.
