Why is Dark and Darker no longer on Steam?

Ever since players got a taste of Dark and Darker during its early access period on Steam earlier this year, they’ve been hooked. So much so, in fact, that there have been a few more playtests since—all of which have been just as popular as the first.

But in an interesting turn of events, the title appears to have been removed from the Valve-owned platform, leaving players wondering what happened and if it’ll be back.

It’s a bizarre situation that doesn’t happen often, especially on a title with so much hype and interest. But alas, here we are. The good news, however, is we have some answers.

Why was Dark and Darker removed from Steam?

Dark and Darker was removed from Steam due to a cease and desist followed by a DMCA takedown by Nexon, who is suing its developers, IRONMACE, over claims some members in its team who previously worked for Nexon used stolen assets in Dark and Darker.

IRONMACE devs moved to shut down the claims, describing them as “distorted.” They also assured players they will be working with their legal team to resolve the issue as quickly and efficiently as possible.

In the meantime, it seems Valve has removed the game from Steam. The community discussion board is still active, but the store page itself has been disabled.

When will Dark and Darker be back on Steam?

At this stage, it’s unclear when Dark and Darker will be back on Steam. Another public playtest was supposed to happen between April 14 and 19, but it seems like that might not happen. Depending on how the legal dispute plays out, there’s also a chance it might not be back on Steam at all and will slip into development purgatory.

The devs seem confident that won’t happen, but we’ll have to wait and see.