Dark and Darker has been removed from Steam, with its developer claiming that a cease and desist letter and DMCA takedown has resulted in its removal from the online store.
Ironmace, the game’s development studio, has been locked in a legal battle with publisher Nexon. The publisher claims that Dark and Darker has stolen gameplay, rules, and art from its own unreleased game, which has the working title of P3. Now Nexon seems to have upped the ante, with the game no longer available on Steam.
Dark and Darker’s Ironmace posts Discord message outlining DMCA takedown
Dark and Darker’s Ironmace outlined the issue in a post on the game’s official Discord server, claiming that Nexon had used “distorted claims” to issue the DMCA takedown, and that the studio was working to get the game live as soon as possible.
The message from the studio reads:
To all our fans, we have recently been served a cease and desist letter and DMCA takedown by Nexon regarding Dark and Darker based on distorted claims. We are currently working with our legal team to remedy this issue in the best manner possible. Due to the sensitive legal nature of this issue we must be careful with our statements so as to not jeopardize our position. We ask for your understanding as we work to get the game back up as quickly as possible. Please know that we will do all that is possible for our fans. Thanks!
Ironmace
Nexon’s lawyers have claimed (via Kotaku) that former team members working on P3 quit the company to create the game after a developer was allegedly caught leaking thousands of files from Nexon, including “the source codes and builds” for P3.
Dark and Darker was supposed to release in early access in April before its full release later this year, though with the legal troubles surrounding the game, this now seems unlikely.
