The Darkest Files Launches on 25 March
– 2 min read
Paintbucket Games announces the release of its historical investigation and court game The Darkest Files. The spiritual successor to their Nazi resistance game Through The Darkest of Times will be released on 25 March 2025, initially for PC and Mac.
The Darkest Files is a historical investigation and legal thriller (demo). As Esther Katz, a young aspiring prosecutor, players will investigate unsolved crimes from the Nazi era based on true events. Players will interview witnesses, search for clues, and ultimately bring the perpetrators to justice, where they will have to prove their theory of what happened. On her journey through post-war Germany in the 1950s, the protagonist joins the team of the historical figure Fritz Bauer, who actually investigated such cases when he was attorney general in Frankfurt.
"Above all, with The Darkest Files we want to make a gripping investigation and court game based on real cases that captivates gamers with its open deduction mechanics, its captivating story and its beautiful cell-shaded graphics in the style of pulp comics of the 1950s," explains Jörg Friedrich from Paintbucket Games. "But we also want to tell the story of Fritz Bauer, who, with his team of courageous prosecutors, against massive resistance fought for justice after the war. This story has become frighteningly relevant again today, at a time when the rule of law and democratic institutions are under unprecedented pressure. We hope that we succeed in both, because it is through the stories that grab and carry us along, that we are inspired to take action ourselves."
Paintbucket Games was founded in 2018 by Jörg Friedrich and Sebastian St. Schulz. Both have been developing games for over 20 years and played key roles in the development of AAA games such as Spec Ops: The Line or Dead Island 2 before founding their own studio. A team of around 20 developers are now working on The Darkest Files at their studio in Berlin. Paintbucket's first game, Through The Darkest of Times, was released worldwide in 2020 for PC, Mac, consoles and mobile devices.
Never miss anything from the German, Swiss and Austrian games industry again: subscribe for free to our Daily newsletter and get all news straight to your inbox.
Written by
