The Darkest Files is a game about investigating Nazis long after WWII has ended in order to deliver justice for their victims. And in an unusual moment that punctuated the evening’s typical industry hype, its director, Jörg Friedrich, appeared on stage at Gamescom 2025’s Opening Night Live showcase to highlight why games like his are important.
“[The Darkest Files] shows we cannot simply stand by and watch, we must take action,” Friedrich said. “Games are more than entertainment; like any great form of art they reflect our concerns, our fears, our hopes, and what preoccupies us. Democracy is under attack right now. Minority rights are being violated.”
He continued, “The world is becoming increasingly interconnected. So games are a powerful medium for addressing these issues and they have the potential to inspire change. I am glad that not only are many people in the video game industry engaging in projects like this but also more and more institutions like the European Commission or the United Nations.”
Friedrich’s appearance, and The Darkest Files being highlighted at the showcase, are part of the event’s Gamescom Cares initiative, which includes trying to give a platform to “responsibility projects.” Others included Glasshouse, a “feudalpunk” CRPG about people trapped in a house during a world war by developer FLAT28, and Compensation Not Guaranteed, a sort of Papers,–Please-meets-Animal–Crossing point-and-click sim about reviewing land documents in a post-colonial country where the government is taking people’s land for urban development.
The brief Gamescom segment was the most overtly political that host Geoff Keighley has ever let one of his showcases get, even if it stopped short of any direct calls to action. While Glasshouse and Compensation Not Guaranteed haven’t been released yet, The Darkest Files released earlier this year on Steam to positive reviews.
