Sounds like it would make Larian to replace half of their devs just to make it happen

only because it would be a completely different vector of the game development in my opinion. Most of their recent games are turn-based by design and they mastered by now, but this would be a fresh start. Not saying they can't or it won't be successful, just saying it would be a significant shift.
Since you mentioned, try Divine Divinity. You can pause the game in real time which is handy.