In the latest step in the developer’s ongoing legal fight over its medieval multiplayer game Dark and Darker, lawyers for Ironmace have sent a letter to Valve asking for the game to be allowed back on Steam. Late last month Dark and Darker was removed from Steam following a DMCA takedown notice issued by Korean publisher Nexon which claimed that the fantasy-themed battle royale title was using stolen assets.
With its dark fantasy setting and a gameplay loop that blends elements of dungeon crawlers and battle royale games, Dark and Darker quickly caught the attention of some gamers looking for a break from the glut of military-themed shooters. Although the game’s Escape from Tarkov-influenced action drew rave reviews from many players during alpha playtesting, developer Ironmace ran into legal issues when former publisher Nexon accused it of stealing assets from its canceled game P3. In a dramatic escalation of the dispute between the two companies, the Dark and Darker developer was raided by South Korean police in early March, with reports revealing that police confiscated materials from Ironmace as part of their investigation.
As part of the latest round of legal wrangling over the future of Dark and Darker, GamesRadar is reporting that lawyers for Ironmace have sent a letter to Valve disputing Nexon’s DMCA takedown notice and asking for the game to be allowed back on Steam. Echoing recent statements from the developer claiming that the Dark and Darker DMCA allegations are baseless, Ironmace lawyer Aaron Moss wrote in the letter to Valve that the notice was built on claims “that are entirely without merit and contains knowing and material misrepresentations that Dark and Darker infringed Nexon’s copyright interests.” The letter goes on to state that Nexon is engaged in “anti-competitive bully tactics” meant to put the Dark and Darker developer out of business.
Attempting to shore up Ironmace’s legal defense against the DMCA notice, Moss claims that claims of copyright infringement are meritless since P3 is “a game that Nexon never made and which does not exist.” The letter also restates Ironmace’s previous comments claiming that the majority of assets used in Dark and Darker’s creation were acquired legally from Epic’s Unreal Engine asset store. Ironmace’s lawyers further argue that, since the claim of copyright infringement involves only a single employee rather than the studio at large, Dark and Darker should be allowed back on Steam while the claims are resolved in South Korean courts.
The legal fight between Nexon and Ironmace over the future of Dark and Darker has already proven to be just as brutal as the combat in the game itself, and this latest volley from Ironmace’s lawyers shows that the brawl is unlikely to be resolved any time soon. And with Ironmace going as far as to ask fans of the legally troubled title to torrent Dark and Darker ahead of the latest playtest, it’s clear that this is a fight the indie studio is determined to win.
Dark and Darker is available now for PC.
Source: GamesRadar