Темные и темные юридические вопросы, объяснил

When these issues first arose, Ironmace didn't engage with the media much. But the company did post statements to Reddit and the Dark and Darker discord. One statement (via PC Gamer) read:

“Our code was built from scratch. Most of our assets are purchased from the Unreal marketplace. All other assets and all game designs docs were created in house. This has already been audited by an outside agency. As far as we know you cannot copyright a game genre.”

The statement suggested the stolen code allegations stem from a “..disgruntled 3rd party”. In other words, they were refuting the allegations and pressing on with development. But then, in March of 2024, Dark and Darker was removed from Steam.

Why Was Dark and Darker Removed From Steam?

Nexon filed a DMCA takedown, which led to Valve removing it from the digital storefront in March. Ironmace also received a cease and desist and in response, issued another Discord statement. It also advised players to torrent its latest playtest.

Нексон утверждает, что, согласно их исследованию, «темный и темный, по -видимому, был построен и разработан с использованием торговых секретов и информации о авторских правах, скопированных и украденных из Nexon». We would like to show that these allegations are baseless. No copyrighted materials or misappropriated trade secrets from Nexon were used by IRONMACE.” However, the game is now back on Steam and the Epic Games Store, so you can download it from there. Problem sorted, right? Not quite.

Who Won the Dark and Darker Lawsuit?

The bulk of this legal drama happened in mid-2013, so what happened next? Dark and Darker is back on Steam, so we know that Ironmace Games wasn't forced to stop selling the game. Did this mean they won? Нисколько.

Как сообщает GamesRadar, южнокорейский суд постановил, что, хотя Ironmace не была виновна в нарушении авторских прав, разработчик нарушил коммерческие секреты Nexon. As a result, Ironmace has to pay the equivalent of nearly $6 million in damages. Dark and Darker isn't short on players, with tens of thousands of players diving into the online dungeoneering game. But is it profitable enough for them to eat that cost? We'll have to wait to find out.

Ironmace might have seen the back of this, either. Нексон подразумевает, что они предпримут дальнейшие действия (через PCGamer), и что «после тщательного рассмотрения решения мы планируем обратиться за дальнейшим юридическим решением через высший суд».

And those are the Dark and Darker legal issues, explained.

The above article was updated on 2/20/25 by the original author to include additional information about the legal issues.