Dark and Darker is an upcoming multiplayer fantasy video game developed by South Korean studio Ironmace.[1] The game was released into early access on August 7, 2023.[2]
| Dark and Darker | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Ironmace |
| Platform(s) | |
| Release | August 7, 2023 (Early Access) |
| Genre(s) | Action role-playing |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
Gameplay edit
Dark and Darker is a first-person hybrid between a dungeon crawler and an RPG game, with a dark medieval fantasy setting.[3] The game blends elements from role-playing systems such as Dungeons & Dragons,[4] roguelikes, to multiplayer video games such as DayZ, and has been described as belonging to the "extraction" subgenre of battle royales.[5] Players can select one of eight character classes (fighter, barbarian, rogue, ranger, wizard, cleric, bard and warlock).[4] The game features PvPvE (player versus player versus environment) gameplay,[6] where players engage in combat against monsters to obtain valuable items, all while remaining vigilant against potential threats from other players. The playable area gradually shrinks as the match progresses, forcing players to converge into encounters with each other. Surviving a match allows players to extract loot for future matches. If the player is killed, they lose all of their possessions and equipment.[3] If the player successfully navigates through the dungeon and survives, they can store their acquired loot in a designated storage area for future use or potential sale. The game allows players to exchange items amongst themselves using in-game currency or other valuable items.[7]
Legal issues edit
On February 16, 2023, it was reported the South Korean video game company Nexon alleged that Dark and Darker had similarities to an ongoing development of a game that was tentatively titled as P3 internally. It alleged that P3 assets were leaked onto an external server by Mr. Choi (also known as SDF on The Dark and Darker Discord), project team leader for P3 and the latter suggested to their teammates to quit Nexon and work on a game similar to P3.[8] Mr. Choi was fired in August 2021, and was part of half of the 20-member P3 project team who would subsequently join Ironmace. Ironmace was founded by Terence Park Seung-ha (also known as Terence[9][10] on the Dark and Darker Discord) in October 2021, who was also in the P3 project team.[11][12] Since the disbandment of the P3 development team, the core of the development work was reworked into another tentatively titled game, P7.[12] Ironmace denied the allegations, stating that the game genre could not be copyrighted and the game was created from ground up using Unreal Engine assets and handmade code.[13]
On March 8, 2023, the police raided Ironmace's office in Seongnam, in search of evidence over the allegations.[12] On March 24, 2023, Nexon issued a cease and desist notice to Ironmace to pause development of Dark and Darker in relation to the allegations.[1] On March 26, 2023, the game was delisted from the Steam online game store after Nexon filed a DMCA notice.[14]
However, on April 14, 2023, Ironmace announced its fifth public playtest of the game, with the game and subsequent patches distributed through BitTorrent links instead of Steam.[13] On the same day, Nexon filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Ironmace in the United States,[15] in response to which Ironmace claimed that the issue lies between Nexon and just one Ironmace employee and it should be settled in South Korea.[16]
On April 20, 2023, Ironmace requested Steam to reinstate Dark and Darker back on its store, claiming that that copyright infringement claims by Nexon were "meritless".[17]
On August 17, 2023, the American court case was dismissed.[18]
On January 4, 2024, The Game Rating and Administration Committee rated Dark and Darker as 19+ rating.[19]
References edit
- ^ a b Blake, Vikki (2023-03-25). "Dark and Darker has been removed from Steam following a cease and desist demand". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 2023-04-20. Retrieved 2023-04-14.
- ^ Rose, Danielle (2023-03-28). "Dark and Darker release date window, playtest, trailers, and gameplay". PCGamesN. Archived from the original on 2023-04-18. Retrieved 2023-04-14.
- ^ a b Purchese, Robert (2023-02-08). "Medieval extraction looter Dark and Darker is having a moment in Steam Next Fest". Eurogamer.net. Archived from the original on 2023-04-17. Retrieved 2023-04-17.
- ^ a b Migalla, Sean (2023-01-04). "Dark and Darker Looks Like the Perfect Video Game for D&D Fans". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on 2023-04-17. Retrieved 2023-04-17.
- ^ Good, Owen S. (2023-02-19). "The people behind PUBG believe the extraction shooter is the next big thing". Polygon. Archived from the original on 2023-04-17. Retrieved 2023-04-17.
- ^ Yaden, Joseph (2023-04-12). "Someone Is Trying To Remake Dark And Darker In Fortnite". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 2023-04-14. Retrieved 2023-04-17.
- ^ "How to Get Captured Mana Flakes in Dark and Darker? |". 2024-01-16. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
- ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJiolqvr4Po Archived 2023-05-25 at the Wayback Machine, https://www.polygon.com/23681805/nexon-dark-and-darker-lawsuit-steam-copyright-infringement-ironmace Archived 2023-05-24 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Dark and Darker Discord Server". Archived from the original on 2023-06-18. Retrieved 2023-06-18.
- ^ "Ironmace Has to Show up in Court SOON - Nexon's Order is GRANTED". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2023-05-25. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
- ^ 김재석 (2023-02-16). "화제의 스팀 게임 '다크 앤 다커', 넥슨 프로젝트였다". 디스이즈게임 (in Korean). Archived from the original on 2023-04-19. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
- ^ a b c "Police raid office of game developer accused of data theft". koreajoongangdaily.joins.com. 2023-03-08. Archived from the original on 2023-04-19. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
- ^ a b Koch, Cameron (2023-04-14). "Fans Will Need To Torrent Dark And Darker For Its New Playtest". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 2023-04-15. Retrieved 2023-04-14.
- ^ "PC Game Accused Of 'Asset Theft' Removed From Steam". Kotaku. 2023-03-26. Archived from the original on 2023-04-19. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
- ^ "Dark and Darker developer sued by Nexon for "copyright infringement"". Eurogamer.net. 2023-04-17. Archived from the original on 2023-04-29. Retrieved 2023-04-29.
- ^ Bailey, Dustin (2023-04-20). "Dark and Darker lawyers ask Valve to bring the game back to Steam in letter blasting Nexon for "anti-competitive bully tactics"". gamesradar. Archived from the original on 2023-04-29. Retrieved 2023-04-29.
- ^ Castellaw, Christopher (2023-04-21). "Dark and Darker Devs Ask Valve to Allow the Game Back on Steam". Game Rant. Archived from the original on 2023-05-05. Retrieved 2023-04-29.
- ^ "Judgment by Court – #58 in Nexon Korea Corporation v. Ironmace Co Ltd (W.D. Wash., 2:23-cv-00576) – CourtListener.com". CourtListener. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
- ^ Bergin, Lauren (2024-01-04). "Dark and Darker gets Korean rating, celebrates with huge sale". PCGamesN. Archived from the original on 2024-01-06. Retrieved 2024-01-06.