Dark and Darker developer Ironmace has denied theft Dark And Darker Gold accusations in a declaration published to the sport's legitimate Discord server, asserting "ABSOLUTELY NO stolen property or code" were used to create the approaching myth-themed extraction shooter.

The rumors began last week when Korean gaming information site This Is Game wrote that the Korea-primarily based Ironmace consisted of former Nexon personnel who have been caught trying to scouse borrow assets and code for a canceled Nexon task called P3. That project was reportedly canceled in 2021, around the same yr Ironmace became founded.

Screenshots of the canceled P3 undertaking do appearance just like Dark and Darker, but Ironmace states that the assets, code, and game layout documents used inside the PvP-centered dungeon crawler were both built from scratch or purchased from the Unreal marketplace.

"This has already been audited with the aid of an out of doors enterprise," Ironmace's declaration on Discord broadcasts. "As some distance as we recognize you can not copyright a sport genre."

Korean information outlet YTN reported Nexon has sued Ironmace and that the studio is currently below research. According to Ironmace, the lawsuit is a "separate private remember claimed on one in every of our crew contributors," and that "no lawsuit has been filed in opposition to Ironmace."

"Building games is hard sufficient with out all the rumors and distractions in our enterprise," Ironmace's statement reads. "This is why we chose to handle topics privately, in appreciate to our friends in the enterprise. We've reached out via our back channels and do now not consider the current rumors have been intentional and trust they're likely due to a disgruntled 3rd party. For now this could be our final assertion on this count."

Ironmace's internet site describes its crew as "a merry band of sport developers dissatisfied by the exploitative and greedy practices we as soon as helped create." Developers at the studio have labored on some of the most important video games in Korea, the web site broadcasts, and visible "firsthand how company recreation companies sell their soul for the easy payday." In evaluation, Ironmace states its undertaking is to create "games with soul" that can result in "a renaissance of first-rate video games direct from Korea."

Dark and Darker's effective aggregate of Purchase Dark and Darker Currency dungeon diving, melee-heavy PvP combat, and extraction shooter elements propelled it to over a hundred,000 concurrent gamers as a part of its maximum current Steam Next Fest playtest. Ironmace in its Discord announcement mentions the studio has a whole lot of paintings ahead making ready the sport's next playtest, and that the studio will "allow our work do the talking." Dark and Darker does not currently have a release date.