Defining Duke, Episode 259 | The AI Conversation Has Reached A Breaking Point... (Patreon)

As Lord Cognito long predicted, the AI conversation reached a breaking point online when people saw one of the industry's golden children announced that they'll be using generative AI for their game's development. That team is Larian Studios who is responsible for the Divinity franchise alongside the incredible Baldur's Gate 3. The CEO of Larian, Swen Vincke, said that it will be used for mostly pre-production stuff along the lines of whiteboxing or even company e-mails. However, he also let it slip that concept art ideation will be part of that process as an optional tool. Well, social media did not like this at all. It has turned into one of the most split topics to round out 2025. So, where do the Dukes stand? Matty, a longtime critic of AI's usage in development beyond a tool, happens to be a massive Larian fan. Does he bend the knee? What of Lord Cognito who always expected this? Does he blink at such a revelation? Perhaps, it's all overblown. There is a reality where we're years down the line and Larian is on a long list of developers who are all doing the same thing. Time shall tell, but let's chat about what we know for now. Timestamps:0:00:00 - Intro

0:06:25 - Health Is Wealth

0:26:41 - The Xbox Bowl

0:30:12 - Backlog games we want to play in 2026

0:35:09 - Games we missed during The Game Awards

0:38:23 - It’s actually Mega Man 12

0:43:23 - Clearing up some Warhammer nonsense

0:47:26 - Katsuhiro Harada leaves Bandai

0:55:58 - Elder Scrolls VI update

1:12:30 - John Romero’s Xbox game survived cancellation

1:14:55 - New Call Of Duty sub series inbound?

1:23:30 - Exodus gets new leadership

1:33:34 - Expedition 33 gets a new update

1:35:37 - Marathon gets a March 2026 release window

1:44:30 - Phantom Blade 0 is a timed PS5 exclusive

1:45:16 - Dead Island 3 is a long, long ways away

1:46:00 - Star Wars: Fate Of The Old Republic arrives before 2030

1:59:58 - Mega Man Star Force Collections arrives early 2026

2:00:41 - Resident Evil is about to be stacked for a few years

2:01:47 - Updates on Persona 6

2:06:24 - What We’re Playing

2:27:04 - Larian Studios is using generative AI

3:19:35 - Forza Motorsport is done

3:23:10 - Xbox teases Developer Direct