Court rejects Nexon’s claims Dark and Darker was made with stolen source code

In a preliminary ruling, extraction RPG Dark and Darker has been cleared of Nexon’s copyright infringement claims, the developers shared on Discord. This could mean a significant step in the game’s return to Steam, but the lawsuit still has a ways to go.

Dark and Darker was removed from Steam following copyright claims made by Korean gaming giant Nexon in March 2023, with a formal lawsuit filed the next month. The game has since operated on its own launcher while the dispute brewed.

On Jan. 26, lead Dark and Darker developer SDF said on the game’s official Discord that “the court found that “Ironmace’s game does not infringe on Nexon’s copyrights or trade secrets” in a preliminary injunction. The court also “did not accept the allegations and suspicions that Dark and Darker was developed using Nexon’s trade secrets and infringing on its copyrights.”

SDF concluded that the court did not find sufficient evidence in Nexon’s claims to warrant a shutdown of Dark and Darker‘s services, which could prove a significant step in the right direction concerning the game’s return to official platforms such as Steam. This motion has been part of a preliminary injunction and Nexon is yet to submit P3 (the game it alleges was stolen from to create Dark and Darker) as evidence in the lawsuit. The preliminary injunction was necessary to launch a full evidentiary hearing set to take place at a later date and “will reveal the truth about the unfairness of Nexon’s claims and the innocence of Ironmace,” SDF said.

SDF thanked the Dark and Darker community for their support during the ordeal as the game continues to attract new players, no matter its unavailability in traditional stores.