New studio formed off the back of a BlitWorks-Larian Studios asset deal
The new Spanish studio consists of the former engineering team of BlitWorks, a
video game developer known for its console and mobile ports of acclaimed games such as Super Meat Boy, They Are Billions, FEZ, Spelunky, Bastion, Sonic CD and Don’t Starve – not to mention Larian’s own Divinity: Original Sin 2, which it helped bring to life on Nintendo Switch in 2019.
Under this deal, Larian acquired the developer’s entire dev team while BlitWorks itself will continue working independently as a publisher.
“BlitWorks’ story with Larian goes way back. After porting most of the best indie games to console, we were challenged to port Divinity: Original Sin 2 to Nintendo Switch and without knowing, that was the start of a long-lasting relationship,” said BlitWorks co-founder Tony Cabello. “No need to say fitting DOS2 on Nintendo Switch was one of the most difficult projects we’ve ever done, but working with Larian was simple and straightforward, we felt at home.”
“In the end, we could deliver a port of the ‘utmost quality’, as initially required, and what we also require ourselves on every project we work on. After that, things flowed naturally and we can only say we’re excited to finally put all our focus exclusively on Larian’s projects moving forward, and help build Larian Barcelona!”
Larian Barcelona is now the 7th studio under the Larian umbrella, joining teams in Gent, Dublin, Quebec, Saint Petersburg, and recently announced offices in Guildford and Kuala Lumpur.
“The team at BlitWorks are one of the hidden gems of our industry. They have been nothing but excellent, have consistently delivered high quality, and share a deep passion for games. They’re a natural fit. I’m therefore doubly happy today. A place by the beach that features actual sun and a significant boost to our capacity,” adds Larian Studios founder, Swen Vincke.
About Larian Studios
Larian Studios is an independent RPG developer founded in 1996 in Ghent, Belgium. Over 300 people work between the seven worldwide studios in Ghent, St Petersburg, Quebec, Dublin, Guildford, Malaysia and Barcelona. Larian is best known for the Divinity universe, which they introduced to the world with Divine Divinity in 2002. In 2014, Larian launched Divinity: Original Sin, a classic CRPG that won over 150 awards and nominations. The company released its critically acclaimed sequel Divinity: Original Sin 2 on September 14, 2017, followed by the Definitive Edition in August 2018 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One to a 93 Metacritic rating. The Nintendo Switch version released in September 2019 featuring cross save progression between Nintendo Switch and Steam. Divinity:Original Sin 2 won a Bafta for Best Multiplayer Game. In October 2020, Larian Studios released the Early Access version of Baldur’s Gate 3.
