Clever database, but can it run Doom?

This piece is a playful but pointed reminder that modern databases can be pushed far beyond traditional transaction processing, with SQL-based rendering and game logic now capable of running a playable version of Doom. For CIOs and technology leaders, the strategic takeaway is that advances in database compilers and execution engines are expanding what’s feasible inside the data layer, which can unlock performance efficiencies and new architectural possibilities but also reinforces the need to evaluate cost, complexity, and whether workloads belong in the database at all. IT organizations should view this as evidence of the growing power of specialized data platforms and the importance of understanding where code execution is happening in the stack.