A stack of printed pages taller than a man
In the long human tradition of storytelling, the question of how much is enough has never had a satisfying answer. Warhorse Studios, a Czech developer, has reportedly written a script of 2.2 million words for Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 — a figure that, if verified, would surpass Baldur's Gate 3's Guinness-certified record and stand as the most expansive narrative ever committed to a video game. What is perhaps most telling is not the number itself, but that the studio currently holding the record responded not with rivalry, but with genuine celebration — a reminder that in creative fields, one person's achievement can enlarge the horizon for everyone.
- A photograph of a man dwarfed by a physical printout of the game's script has become the defining image of KCD2's staggering narrative ambition.
- Warhorse Studios corrected an earlier undercount in January 2025, reaffirming the script exceeds 2.2 million words — a number director Daniel Vávra had already disclosed months prior.
- Baldur's Gate 3's Guinness-verified record of 2 million words now faces a credible challenger, though official verification of Warhorse's claim is still pending.
- Rather than defending their title, Larian's publishing director publicly cheered KCD2's achievement, signaling a culture of mutual respect at the frontier of narrative game design.
- The game launches February 4, 2025 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S, bringing its record-scale script to players in a matter of weeks.
A photograph has been circulating that captures the ambition of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 more vividly than any press release could. A man stands beside a printed stack of the game's entire script — and the stack is taller than he is. That stack represents 2.2 million words, a figure Warhorse Studios reaffirmed on social media in January 2025 after an earlier report had understated it. Director Daniel Vávra had already disclosed the same number back in August 2024.
Baldur's Gate 3 currently holds the Guinness World Record for the longest video game script, verified at just over 2 million words — a number that stunned the industry when it was announced. Warhorse appears to have surpassed it, though Guinness has not yet formally weighed in on the claim.
What gives this moment its particular texture is the response from Larian Studios, the developer that holds the existing record. When asked whether Larian would try to reclaim the title, publishing director Michael Douse replied with warmth rather than defensiveness: 'I hope THEY do! Cannot wait for KCD2.' It is the kind of response that says something generous about how the people making these games think about each other's work.
The scale of these scripts is not vanity — it reflects how modern RPGs are built. Branching dialogue, player choice, and multiple quest outcomes mean writers must account for dozens of conversational paths for every interaction. The script does not tell one story; it holds all the stories the game might tell.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 launches February 4, 2025 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. The first game was celebrated for its historical authenticity and rejection of fantasy clichés. The sequel appears to be deepening that commitment, using sheer narrative volume as one instrument in the effort to make medieval Bohemia feel genuinely inhabited.
There is a photograph making the rounds that tells you everything you need to know about the ambition behind Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. A man stands next to a stack of printed pages—the entire script for the game, rendered in physical form. The stack is taller than he is. This is not metaphor. This is 2.2 million words, bound and stacked, a monument to narrative excess in an industry that has largely learned to be efficient with dialogue.
Baldur's Gate 3 currently holds the official record for the longest video game script ever written. Larian Studios' epic fantasy RPG clocked in at just over 2 million words, a figure verified by Guinness World Records. It was a staggering achievement when it landed, the kind of number that made people pause and do the math: that's longer than most novels, longer than most people read in a year. But Warhorse Studios, the Czech developer behind Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, appears to have gone further. Their script exceeds 2.2 million words—a figure the studio reaffirmed on social media in January 2025, correcting an earlier report that had understated the count. Director Daniel Vávra had already disclosed the same number back in August 2024.
What makes this moment interesting is not just the raw number, but the response from the studio that currently holds the record. When asked whether Larian would attempt to reclaim the title, publishing director Michael Douse replied with genuine warmth: "I hope THEY do! Cannot wait for KCD2." There is no defensiveness here, no corporate territoriality. Instead, there is something closer to professional admiration—a recognition that if another studio has pushed the boundaries of narrative scope in games even further, that is simply good for the medium.
The scale of these scripts reflects a fundamental shift in how ambitious RPGs approach storytelling. These are not games designed around a single narrative path. They are designed to accommodate choice, consequence, and the kind of branching dialogue trees that require writers to account for dozens of possible conversational directions. Every NPC can be approached differently. Every quest can unfold in multiple ways. The script does not just tell one story; it contains multitudes, all the stories the game might tell depending on what the player decides to do.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is scheduled to release on February 4, 2025, across PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. Whether Guinness will formally verify the script length remains to be seen—the organization has not yet weighed in on Warhorse's claim. But the number itself, whether it ultimately holds the record or not, signals something about where the studio's priorities lie. This is a game built on the premise that narrative depth and historical authenticity matter, that the world of medieval Bohemia deserves to be rendered with the kind of textual richness that allows players to inhabit it fully. The first Kingdom Come: Deliverance was praised for its commitment to historical detail and its rejection of typical fantasy tropes. The sequel appears to be doubling down on that vision, using sheer narrative volume as one tool among many to create a world that feels lived-in and consequential.
Citações Notáveis
I hope THEY do! Cannot wait for KCD2.— Michael Douse, Larian Studios publishing director
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does the word count matter so much? It's not like players read every line.
They don't, but the script count is a proxy for something else—it's a measure of how many different conversations the game can have. Every branching path, every way a character might react to you, that's words in the script.
So it's really about player choice?
Partly. But it's also about depth. A 2.2 million-word script means the writers had room to develop characters, to let conversations breathe, to make NPCs feel like they have lives beyond what you immediately need from them.
Baldur's Gate 3 already had that, though. Why does Warhorse need to go bigger?
They don't need to. But Kingdom Come is set in a real historical place—medieval Bohemia—not a fantasy world. That specificity demands more dialogue, more cultural detail, more ways for characters to talk about the world they actually inhabit.
And Larian's director actually wants them to win?
That's the striking part. He's not defensive. He seems genuinely excited that another studio is pushing the boundaries. It suggests these developers see themselves as part of something larger than competition.
What does this mean for other RPGs?
It sets a new ceiling. Other studios will look at this number and have to decide: do we match it, or do we find a different way to create depth? The record itself becomes less important than what it represents—a commitment to narrative as a core pillar of game design.