Nexon is suing Dark and Darker creator Ironmace for copyright infringement

Nexon is suing Dark and Darker developer Ironmace. According to Nexon, developers behind that game, who previously worked at Nexon, violated their non-competition clause. The game was previously removed from Steam at the request of Nexon.

Nexon filed suit recently filed in a Washington courtLike this noted Eurogamer. In it, Nexon accuses the studio of copyright infringement. In the lawsuit, Nexon argues that former employees violated their non-competition clause when they started working at Ironmace. It prohibits employees from working “in the same industry that may infringe Nexon’s trade secrets” without permission from Nexon. The employees in question would have signed such a one-year agreement.

Nexon wants Ironmace to stop developing Dark and Darker and is seeking damages. “To condone the defendants’ conduct would be a threat to Nexon, the video game industry and all consumers who enjoy playing high-end video games,” the lawsuit reads. “Game developers wouldn’t be able to invest years of man-hours into game development if their employees could simply transfer their employer’s project files to their own personal servers and start a new business.”

Ironmace was previously accused of copyright infringement by Nexon. According to the South Korean developer, the Ironmace team used “assets and materials” from their time at Nexon. This specifically concerns work on P3, a game currently under development at Nexon. The company shared comparative screenshots of P3 and Dark and Darker in its lawsuit, also reports YouTube channel Onepeg. Ironmace allegedly copied several in-game actions, such as the way characters “move their hands over chests in a signature circular motion without physically touching the chest” to open those chests.

Dark and Darker was previously pulled from Steam following a cease-and-desist request from Nexon. Ironmace then said the takedown was “based on twisted allegations” and that it is working with its legal team to “fix the matter in the best possible way.”

Dark and Darker is a battle royale game in which players have to escape from a medieval dungeon. Gradually, the playing field becomes smaller, forcing players to meet and fight. The game revolves around a combination of pvp and pve combat, similar to games like Escape from Tarkov. Users can bring their own equipment into a dungeon and lose it when they die.

Update, 16.08: The article initially talked about the developer ‘Irongate’. However, this had to be Ironmace. The article has been adjusted accordingly.

A comparison of P3 next to Dark and Darker