Daba: Land of Water Scar returns at State of Play: PS5 window set for spring 2027

Daba: Land of Water Scar showed up again today during PlayStation’s State of Play. Sony shared fresh gameplay and pinned the game to a spring 2027 release window on PlayStation 5.

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More than anything, the presentation made it feel like moved past the early concept phase. The new footage gives a fuller look at Dark Star’s harsh fantasy setting: ancient ruins, frozen snowfields, prison-like interiors, bits of traversal, enemy encounters, and the overall rhythm of combat.

You can also see where Unreal Engine 5 is doing real work, especially in the density of the environments and the lighting. The trailer frames the story around a humanoid clay puppet trying to survive in a world falling apart under water scarcity, uncover what led to civilization’s collapse, and figure out its own identity along the way.

The combat, at least from what State of Play showed, looks fast and Souls-like, but with more emphasis on parries and counter-attacks than on dodge-roll timing. That gives it a more distinct angle. If you keep up with PS5 action RPGs, this is one to watch, especially because Daba: Land of Water Scar is part of PlayStation’s China Hero Project. Sony describes that program as a 2016 initiative to fund, mentor, and publish Chinese games worldwide, and the pressure on it is clearly higher now after Black Myth: Wukong and the mixed response earlier titles like Lost Soul Aside got.

For now, Sony has Daba: Land of Water Scar lined up as a PlayStation 5 exclusive for spring 2027.