GDC's schedule gave each speaker an hour.
Fury Games' Leo Finch and a Korean studio director earlier burned the full hour, with no new projects to show.
WindyPeak? Different vibe.
Gus Harper brought A Way Out, so his speech was short, leaving room for a live demo.
This "cinematic co-op game" was a fresh genre, unseen in this world.
Like Gus said, words alone couldn't sell it.
Let the demo do the talking!
Boom!
As Gus finished, applause and whistles erupted!
Gaming folks knew WindyPeak's rep. Small studio, big waves.
And the buzz about Gus (aka Sam Harper) and Zoey Parker? Legendary.
That To the Moon music video, with their cozy photo, had fans buzzing.
No clarifications, no denials—just vibes.
So when Gus announced Zoey as his demo partner, the crowd lost it!
Flashes popped, cheers rolled, and good-natured hollers echoed!
The livestream chat went wild:
"Yo, my OTP! Gus and Zoey!"
"I'm freaking out—they're playing together!"
"Worth the wait from 7:30 to 10!"
"Hope Zoey keeps it chill at this global gig."
"Gus's shamelessness probably pushed her buttons (lol)."
"Gus: I'll take the L, but I'm living for this!"
"Haha, Gus and Zoey breaking out together? Iconic!"
"Here comes Zoey!"
Under the lights, Zoey Parker strutted out, rocking a milky-white Chanel-style lace dress, her hair in cute twin buns.
Sweet yet sharp, she owned the stage, gave Gus a quick hug, and grabbed the mic.
"Morning, everyone. I'm Zoey Parker, CEO of WindyPeak Games," she said. "It's an honor to join GDC, swap ideas, and share wins with the world's best studios."
"WindyPeak's keeping it real—pushing boundaries with grit, passion, and a never-quit spark. We're here to shake up the global gaming scene."
"Now, I'm teaming up with Sam for a live demo of our latest project."
She locked eyes with Gus, nodding.
They turned, pointing to the massive screen:
"WindyPeak presents—A Way Out!"
Whoa!
Polished, poised, and dripping with charm!
Zoey's come a long way from her nervous IndieVibe Fest days.
Gus's genius and WindyPeak's growing clout gave her unshakable confidence.
Applause thundered as Gus and Zoey stepped into somatosensory cabins on opposite sides of the stage.
Lights dimmed.
The screen roared with airplane engines.
A cinematic scene faded in, looking more movie than game.
In a small plane's cockpit, two guys faced off.
Right side: a younger dude, deep eyes, hooked nose, black hair with sideburns, in a bulletproof vest—Leo.
"Hey, Vincent, what's the plan after this?" Leo asked.
The camera pulled back, showing the left side: an older guy, forehead wrinkles, square beard, built like a tank—Vincent.
"No clue," Vincent said, shaking his head in a close-up. "Haven't thought that far."
"Don't play me, man," Leo laughed, not buying it. "A shady guy like you's got a plan."
"Shady? Nah, I'm just smart," Vincent shrugged.
Leo raised an eyebrow. "You calling me dumb?"
"You said it, not me," Vincent smirked, hands spread.
Leo, outtalked, rolled his eyes.
Options popped up:
[Choose your role]
Leo (right): 8 years for robbery, assault, car theft, cop-bashing; served 6 months. Cocky, quick-tempered, loves a joke.
Vincent (left): 14 years for fraud, corruption, murder. Sharp, cool-headed, strategic.
"Whoa!" the livestream chat exploded:
"All villains? Wild!"
"Jailbreak vibes—bet they pull it off."
"Never played a game this gritty."
"First Outlast, now this? Gotta bring a rap sheet to join WindyPeak!"
"Haha, too real!"
Zoey picked Leo, the lighter sentence.
Gus took Vincent.
The screen faded.
A prison van rumbled down a dusty suburban road, funk music setting a modern Western vibe.
Dust swirled, forming ochre text:
[Proudly produced by WindyPeak Games]
[Director: Sam Harper]
A Way Out
The van rolled through wilderness, slowing at a towering prison gate.
The camera soared, revealing Michigan State Prison, 1972—iron fences, barbed wire, searchlights, guards with rifles, prisoners in cliques.
Subtitles flashed:
[USA]
Michigan State Prison
[1972]
"Damn, this is cinematic!" the crowd buzzed.
In a minute-long intro, over ten frame switches screamed movie magic.
"This Phoenix engine's next-level! Looks real!"
"Nah, it's got Dream 5 vibes—bet there's action."
"WindyPeak's tech is leaping!"
"Heard Zoey's all-in on pushing tech limits."
"She's not scared of burning cash?"
"Guess not…"
The sky cam dove, zooming into a guy in a gray shirt on a bench—Leo, Zoey's character.
The CG flipped seamlessly to Zoey's first-person view.
Wow!
Never-before-seen CG-to-gameplay transitions!
The crowd cheered at the slick switch.
But before the hype died, Zoey's screen shrank to the right.
The left lit up—Gus's Vincent, stepping off the prison van under guard.
OHHH!
Gasps turned to roars!
To nail the dual-protagonist vibe, Gus kept A Way Out's split-screen setup.
Players in cabins got first-person views, but the audience saw both perspectives synced on-screen!
"Holy—!" Leo Finch, Fury Games director, blurted from the front row.
"Split-screen like this? Unreal…" he trailed off.
"Groundbreaking," Ethan "Zane" Holt, Zenith Studios founder, chimed in. "Gus's creativity gives me chills."
Zane was in awe. After Titanfall's design shattered ceilings, he knew Gus was on another level.
No clue how high Gus's ceiling was—just higher than his.
Like they say, talent doesn't care about age, and you can't measure the ocean with a bucket.
To Zane, Gus was Asia's top game designer, bar none.
"What's your take, Zane?" Leo asked, leaning over.
"It's not just split-screen," Zane said. "Gus is going full Hollywood with this."
"Like The Shawshank Redemption," Leo nodded. "Setting up for killer camera work."
Veterans like them couldn't match Gus's spark, but they could spot genius.
They weren't wrong.
Gus, as Vincent, stood at the prison gate, eyeing Zoey's Leo behind the exercise yard's barbed wire.
"Move it, punk!" a guard shoved Gus, making him stumble into the prison.
Zoey chuckled, steering Leo toward the inmate entrance.
Zoey's Leo drove the plot—witnessing prisoner fights, chatting with inmates for intel—her screen expanding.
Gus's Vincent took hits—water pipe to the butt, warden's insults—his screen growing.
The split-screen's clear focus and silky switches kept the action clean, delivering movie-grade visuals.
When Gus and Zoey crossed paths in the prison corridor, their screens merged for the first time, forming one seamless shot.
WHOA!
The crowd screamed!
Before, they'd held back, murmuring at A Way Out's fresh camera work.
But this merge? They lost it, turning green with envy:
Damn! This is straight fire!
Mind blown!
Pure flex!
Wild storyboards, genius ideas.
Vincent and Leo, locked in cells, one wall apart, showed off the game's visual swagger.
Asia's big three—Radiance, ThunderCore, Fury—breathed easy, glad they brought nothing to get smoked again.
Global devs? A mix of shock, envy, and hunger to learn.
Mad skills!
Players in the crowd felt the hype.
Zoey, in the demo, called the experience unreal!