As far as popular genres go nowadays, it’s pretty safe to say that the extraction PvP genre is at the top of the food chain. If the ultra-success of titles like Fortnite and PUBG serves as any merit to go by, it seems that the majority of modern gamers can’t resist playing “just one more round” in those beautifully rendered multiplayer arenas.
But, what if there was a game that combined the military-themed approach of most Battle Royale titles with a “Lord of the Rings”-like aesthetic? Instead of guns – you’d have spells, and instead of looting weapon mods and skins – a various assortment of medieval trinkets and wizard hats! Not too shabby of an idea, is it?
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A Medieval Battle Royale
That exact premise is at the core of the upcoming PvPvE-oriented extraction game called Dark and Darker. Unsurprisingly, the game already has a loyal fanbase due to early access, as South Korean developer Ironmace Games made it available for sampling on Steam during the month of June 2022. Soon after that, the game enjoyed a rising wave of popularity, with as many as 100,000 concurrent players populating the servers at one point.
However, such a stride drew the attention of more than just merely curious gamers. In a surprising turn of events, the Dark and Darker early access release got pulled out of the Steam store on March 26, 2023, following a DMCA notice filed by the South Korean conglomerate Nexon Co., Ltd.
A “David vs Goliath” Legal Dispute
Turns out, the game was allegedly created using stolen assets from a previously canceled, Nexon-helmed project known internally as “P3”, and shortly after the said project was scrapped, several of the team’s key members left to create the company today known as Ironmace Games.
The Nexon Corporation covered several legal fronts to ensure its claims resulted in proper damnification: around the same time when Dark and Darker was delisted from Steam, there was a police-led raid at the Ironmace’s office. The goal of the raid was the potential acquisition of suitable evidence for an ongoing criminal case initiated by Nexon against one of its former employees, now part of Ironmace.
But, while the subsequent ramifications of that criminal case (if any) will be limited only to the country of South Korea, Nexon soon expanded the legal crusade against Ironmace in the USA as well. On April 14, 2023, Nexon filed a copyright infringement lawsuit that could prevent the publishing of Dark and Darker on the market entirely. Understandably, that action blocked many of the go-to routes a developer would utilize to promote an upcoming title nowadays.
Ironmace’s and the Public’s Voice
However, it actually didn’t deter Ironmace’s willingness to see the project through in the slightest. In fact, on the very same date the civil lawsuit was filed, Ironmace opted to simply continue testing the game, only this time – the online test was carried out with the aid of BitTorrent links!
Such out-of-the-box measures proved fruitful indeed, as Dark and Darker’s fifth official public test yet again climbed to almost 100k players participating at the same time. Plus, players continued to be vocal about their satisfaction with the game, expressing their anticipation to play the full release one day on various video game forums.
The Aftermath
This further enticed Ironmace to hold its own in the “David vs Goliath” legal match, and on April 20, 2023, the indie developer formally requested that Steam reinstate the early access version of Dark and Darker, alluding that the ongoing civil case will soon end. Less than two months later, on the 7th of August 2023, Dark and Darker re-appeared on the Steam platform where it is still available today.
Mere ten days later, the copyright infringement case was dismissed, thus freeing up the path for Ironmace to finish the development of the much-anticipated title and release it as intended. For more fun gaming news and stories, view now at U7BUY Blog. Trust in U7BUY for a seamless and reliable Dark and Darker gold-buying experience, and let the adventure unfold with newfound strength and prosperity.