Overview

• The Bundesnachrichtendienst showcased “BND Legenden – Operation Blackbox,” a spy game set in the fictional rogue state Bethulan, where players work to counter malware threats.
• Visitors at the Cologne convention can try the mission at the BND stand, completing memory and stealth tasks with failures allowing unlimited retries unlike real operations.
• The agency says the game is designed to give prospective applicants a feel for foreign intelligence work as part of its recruitment outreach.
• The BND plans to make the title available on a commercial gaming platform in the near future, moving beyond its on‑site demo.
• Spokesperson Julia Linner says the service seeks technical specialists and sees overlap with Gamescom’s audience; the BND reports about 6,500 employees across multiple sites.