Yesterday, the "unofficial Christmas party" of the German games industry came together in Cologne to celebrate the end of the year, but most importantly, the best games and game makers of Germany, Austria and Switzerland in 2025. While I knew that the German Developer Award was always a very special event, I have a confession to make: Since this year was my first one in attendance, I wasn't aware of how special and important the DEP truly is.

Especially when it came to its societal and political conscience, with clear words not just from the winners, but from the organisers as well.

EC Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen to Visit Gamescom
Henna Virkkunen, the European Commission's Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy and Commissioner responsible for digital and frontier technologies © Mikko Mäntyniemi

EC Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen to Visit Gamescom