Divinity: Original Sin – post-release update from Larian’s Swen Vincke

Larian will be supporting the game for a fair while longer.

Larian’s Swen Vincke has written another of his semi-regular blog posts about the industry, expanding on some thoughts about the release of Divinity: Original Sin. He also includes a bit of information about continued support for the game and future updates.

Let’s start with those plans for continued, post-release support. Further improvements to stability for those playing on 32bit operating systems are promised, and this is acknowledged as one of Divinity: Original Sin’s “biggest issues.”

Larian’s goal is to support Divinity Original Sin “for quite some time.” Vincke says they’re currently fooling around with controller support, with a view to providing a “big picture” local co-op option. Extra additions like the big companion update (complete with voice acting) are still planned too.

Sales of the game are said to be “well over half a million,” with the majority of those sales on Steam. Larian have passed the “break even” point, all game debts have been paid and private investors have also got their return. Original Sin did well enough that the studio can “envision funding our next endeavors with it.” Which all sounds pretty successful to me.

“So much for turn-based fantasy RPGs not selling, crowdfunding not working and a developer like us not being capable of bringing a game to market without the help of seasoned publishers,” Vincke notes with a wry tone.

There’s more (a lot more!) to read, including insights into the crowdfunding process (game development is described as “enlightened despotism, not democracy,”) and the vital importance of making sure you have the right systems and polished mechanics in place.