Dark and Darker Lawsuit, Explained

Dark and Darker is a rogue-lite dungeon adventure where you and your party members will work through a deadly dungeon, attempting to escape with whatever weapons and gear you can find. Not only do you need to be careful of the monsters and undead wandering the halls, but there are other players potentially in your path, also attempting to escape.

Leading to its larger release, the Dark and Darker team has been hit with a significant lawsuit during its development. This lawsuit has led many to believe the team might be unable to release their game, and some players might not be able to play it again. Here’s what you need to know about the Dark and Dark lawsuit.

What is going on with the Dark and Darker Lawsuit?

The Dark and Darker development team, Irongate, is being sued by Nexon. The reason behind this is copyright infringement, which is after Nexon issued a DMCA takedown of Dark and Darker, which is why the game was taken down in March.

Nexon is comparing the similarities to the Dark and Darker game with their project, P3. Supposedly, several employees that previously worked at Nexon are now working at Irongate. These employees signed a one-year non-compete contract that would prevent them from taking Nexon’s trade secrets and using them in another project. The lawsuit was formally issued on April 14, 2023.

These similarities include players unlocking chests by rotating their hands in a circular motion and characters wearing glowing potions at their waists.

From what we can tell, this looks to be an extremely difficult situation for Irongate to find themselves in, especially because Dark and Darker has not yet officially. Despite not formally being released, it was beloved by fans because of its increasingly difficult complexity and group dynamics. The game featured unique classes players could select, offering a wide range of gameplay.

Will Dark and Darker still release on Steam?

We don’t know what will happen at the end of this lawsuit, but for now, Dark and Darker will continue to not be available on Steam. Although the game is unavailable on Steam, the developers have encouraged players to torrent their game and continue playtesting the program.