Larian has other interests. I highly doubt they’ll be chained to DnD, there’s a significant faction that wants them to return to Divinity for instance.
If they don’t plan on any further DnD games, it’d be an argument to not bother putting in the effort to overhaul their engine in order to have it handle reactions, for instance.
Meanwhile the Solasta devs are new and their entire history is based on DnD, and probably would be open to an acquisition or direct partnership rather than licensing. Safer bet than Larian for the future.
This is a good point. Personally, I would prefer a new IP from Larian if not a DnD product. I don't
hate Rivellon, but I don't find it to be the most
compelling world at its lore bones and DNA. I think DOS2 tried (so did Dragon Commander), and I appreciate that, but I worry that's the furthest they're willing to stretch the world and its lore. Rivellon has always seemed so surface-level, without a universal world map that expresses physical, political, and demographic geography, without a firmly established history of its races' cultures and subcultures from beginning to end, without a greater description of the theology or theologies of the world, without having greater written works establishing the background of the world.
Since DnD as a brand on its own is getting stronger, it would make sense for
a studio to take over the license as a whole and as its identity. Perhaps it should be Tactical Adventures, while the Larian gang get to continue making whatever games they feel like making.
