Surprise hit Dark and Darker disappears from Steam – Struggles with serious allegations

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The dungeon crawler Dark and Darker was a real surprise hit on Steam with its first playtests. Now the game is no longer available and continues to struggle with serious allegations.

What is Dark and Darker?

  • Dark and Darker is a PvP focused dungeon crawler developed by indie studio Ironmace. The title is to be released on Steam and has already offered some play tests on the platform, which have delighted thousands of players.
  • Dark and Darker’s gameplay is reminiscent of extraction shooters like Escape from Tarkov – but without the shooter. Within a match you fight in teams of 3 for loot. If you die in a running round, you lose your loot.
  • Dark and Dark on a medieval fantasy setting. In addition to magic and sorcery, you can use swords and shields as well as ranged weapons such as a crossbow.

    • If you want a more detailed idea of ​​Dark and Darker, we include the gameplay teaser here:

    Dark and Darker: Gameplay Teaser

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    Why is Dark and Darker no longer available on Steam? On March 25, the developers announced on the game’s Discord server that they are fighting a cease and desist and a DMCA warning.

    To all our fans: We recently received a cease and desist letter and DMCA warning from Nexon regarding Dark and Darker based on distorted claims. We are currently working with our legal team to resolve this matter as best we can.

    Due to the sensitive legal nature of this matter, we must be careful in what we say so as not to jeopardize our position. We ask for your understanding while we work to make the game available again as soon as possible. Please be assured that we will do everything we can for our fans. Thanks very much!

    Dark and Darker via Discord

    Some Reddit users also noticed that the game can no longer be found on Steam (via Reddit). The Dark and Darker official website that hosted a Steam link now states that the content could not be found.

    Serious allegations against Ironmace and Dark and Darker

    What are the allegations of plagiarism? As Ironmace confirmed on their Discord server, the allegations come from the South Korean developer studio and publisher Nexon.

    According to a South Korean magazine, the Ironmace founder previously worked at Nexon, where a project was unveiled back in 2021 that’s pretty much what Dark and Darker is (via n.news.naver.com).

    Even though the project was discontinued by Nexon, the publisher accuses Ironmace of stealing the idea and using parts of the code and assets that belong to Nexon. In early March, there was even a police search of Ironmace’s office.

    Effects on the next playtest Dark and Darker had actually announced another playtest for April 2023, but it is not yet known how the current problems of the game will affect this test. However, it is to be expected that the test may be postponed indefinitely.

    All information about the announced playtest in April can be found on MeinMMO:

    Dark and Darker: The date for the next playtest (5) has been set

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