I've sat through a lot of tech demos in my career. One that still lives in my head, an absolute classic of the form, is an old Uncharted showcase that Sony trotted out back when we were still wowed by video game water that looked mostly like water rather than freshly microwaved aloe vera gel. And if Nathan Drake fell into this distinctly watery water, you could watch his clothes dry in real-time. You obviously wouldn't because you'd be too busy playing a video game, not stalking tech features, but the tech was there and Nate's sweater was wet. Truly, video games had peaked.
I had this demo in the back of my mind during a recent appointment with Pearl Abyss, which came to GDC 2025 to showcase its BlackSpace Engine, the proprietary open-world game-making tech and tools behind more than just the upcoming RPG Crimson Desert, which was the vehicle for the showcase. In the best way, it felt like an hour-long tour of a sausage factory, but instead of sheep knees or pig lungs or whatever sausages are made of, I saw wind vectors and hurtboxes and physics toggles.
