Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 director defends Larian over AI "s***storm," says "it's time to face reality"

We've already seen the head of a studio responsible for one of the best RPGs ever get caught up in an AI-related tornado this week, and now another has entered the vortex. Following comments made by Larian Studios' CEO, Swen Vincke, about how the company lets employees use AI, there's been a barrage of criticism thrown its way online. Now, the co-founder of Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 maker Warhorse has come to Larian's defence, suggesting that the studio didn't deserve this "insanely crazy shitstorm" and that AI-powered game development is inevitable in the near future.

While Vincke and Larian's publishing lead, Michael 'Cromwelp' Douse, have attempted to set the record straight about the studio's approach to AI tools, it hasn't stopped swathes of disgruntled and disappointed gamers laying into the company, which just a few days ago was flying high on the back of its Divinity reveal. Now, Warhorse's co-founder and the director of Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, Daniel Vávra, has had his say.

"This AI hysteria is the same as when people were smashing steam engines in the 19th century," he writes in a lengthy post on X. "[Vincke] said they [Larian] were doing something that absolutely everyone else is doing and got an insanely crazy shitstorm."

While he plays down any claims that AI was used in building KCD2, Vávra adds: "I'm no fan of AI generated art, but anyway, it's time to face reality. AI is here to stay with us. As frightening as it may be, that's the way it is."

Later in the post, he bemoans the long production cycles and huge budgets required for ambitious games like Warhorse's, as well as "the fact that Tom [McKay, who plays KCD protagonist Henry] had to spend 500 hours in the studio recording completely generic heckling and generic bars."

"I have ideas for lots of games, but I'm fifty years old and so far it's taken me seven years on average to make one game," he adds. "If AI helps me realize those ideas faster, I'm all for it."

"If AI can help me make an epic game in a year with a smaller team like in the old days, I'm all for it," Vávra also says. "That game will still have an art director, writers, programmers, graphic designers, but they won't have to do the tiresome and boring tasks, they'll have to focus on the essentials." However, it's worth noting that later in the post, he says that "programmers have a problem. The work of most of them will probably not be needed very soon."

The Warhorse co-founder also speaks to how AI can create more believable and immersive NPCs. "Wouldn't it be nice if you could ask anyone anything in an RPG? Like, maybe someone for the road directions? Or what they think of their neighbors? We already have tools (11labs can do it) where you script a NPC, their character, their knowledge and opinions, and then they talk to you about anything. For non-story stuff, this is an absolutely revolutionary development from a player's point of view. And you can't record it with an actor because it has infinite variations. But what you can record are cutscenes and story dialogue. You don't need an Oscar-level performance when ordering a sausage in a pub or when asking how to get to the castle."

Despite Vávra's enthusiasm for AI technology, he also seems aware of the more scary implications it could potentially have. "The whole AI revolution may mean the demise of humanity, nobody knows now, but it may also mean that anyone, at a fraction of the current cost, will be able to implement virtually any grand idea."

While I thought we'd seen the worst of AI flashpoints this year - the use of AI-generated voicelines in Arc Raiders and Epic CEO Tim Sweeney's criticism of gen-AI disclosures spring to mind - this week has, if anything, been the most fiery and divisive moment of them all. Something tells me that things won't settle down in 2026 either.