Due to a DMCA Takedown, Dark And Darker is No Longer Available on Steam

Dark and Darker was the ideal video game for players looking for a “hardcore fantasy first-person shooter dungeon PvPvE adventure,” to quote the game’s description. From the latter half of 2022, Dark and Darker have been progressing through the testing phases of their shift. Despite this, the developer of the game, IRONMACE, has removed all traces of the title from Steam, which was the sole platform housing it, in response to some incredibly negative news.

The weight of unpleasant news in recent weeks has caused Dark and Darker to suffer enormously. Dark and Darker is a game that offers a novel spin on the “extraction shooter” genre, which was made popular by Escape From Tarkov. The authorities raided the studios of IRONMACE after blistering allegations were made that the developer had stolen code from Nexon. This was the point at which the problems began to escalate significantly.

Dark and Darker Deleted and Gone Dark

Most importantly, Dark and Darker experienced consistent development with each new playtest. Figures from TwitchTracker reveal that the number of viewers during early access playtests held in October, November, January, and February continually increased throughout those months. The game reached its all-time peak viewer count of more than 265,000 people in February.

Dark & Darker is a punishing player vs. player and player versus environment video game whose primary objective is to stay alive in various hostile settings. In Dark and Darker, the objective is to enter a dungeon, loot as much as possible, perform missions, fight other players and AI opponents, and escape the map in one piece. This objective is similar to that of the game Escape From Tarkov.

The next playtest was set to take place in April, and the complete version of the game was expected to be available in the latter half of 2023 at the earliest. Even discussions about a console port of the game have taken place, which is nothing more than a pipe dream for Escape From Tarkov, which is likely the game’s most significant prospective opponent.

But, things went from bad to worse after a police raid was conducted on the studios of IRONMACE in response to a theft complaint made by Nexon, a studio based in Japan and South Korea. At this point, Steam has been thoroughly cleansed of any and all remnants of Dark and Darker.

It began with accusations and ultimately resulted in a DMCA lawsuit against IRONMACE. It was rumored that Nexon was developing a project called “P3.” In 2021, a staff member working on the team was responsible for the leak of “thousands of files relating to the game that was still in production.” The individual who established IRONMACE in 2021 also participated in the P3 project that same year.

It was alleged in a report revealed by GamesIndustry.biz that the employee who has now been terminated for leaking the P3 files encouraged his former teammates to leave Nexon and work on a ‘game comparable to P3’. Soon after that, the development of Dark and Darker began, and here we are today.

IRONMACE has deleted every ounce of Dark and Darker off Steam in the past few hours and has made the following statement over their Discord server:

About Dark and Darker, we wanted to let all of our fans know that we recently received a cease and desist letter and a DMCA takedown from Nexon due to distorted claims. We are now working with our legal team to find the most appropriate solution to this problem. Because of the delicate nature of this matter from a legal standpoint, we need to be very careful with our remarks so that we do not jeopardize our standing.

It has been suggested that Dark and Darker became so popular so fast because many players of Escape From Tarkov were looking into other chances in the wake of a significant problem involving hackers controlling the platform. No matter what the cause was, Dark and Darker likely had a prosperous future ahead of them, particularly when considering the genre’s ever-increasing popularity.

It is anticipated that IRONMACE will defend its stance against Nexon during the legal processes. Nevertheless, we will know if Dark and Darker will ever surface again.