The offices of Ironmace, a development studio in the Korean city of Seongnam, were raided by police earlier this week after allegations that the company’s upcoming game, the MMO, was in play Dark and darkernot only stole assets of the publishing giant Nexon, but also the employees working on a project there.
As the Korea Joongang Daily (the English language version of Koreas Joong Ang Ilbo Newspaper) reportsthe story begins in August 2021, when a former Nexon developer was caught releasing “thousands of files including the source codes and builds” for a game with the working title of P3.
Nexon’s legal team says: “We found that too [theaccused] had suggested P3 project teammates leave the company and work together on a P3-like game, citing outside sources of investment and more.”
This employee was quickly fired by Nexon, but two months later, in October 2021, Ironmace was founded. The KJD reports that “half of the 20-person P3 team left Nexon and joined Ironmace”, including the developer who was originally caught and fired for leaking the files, and the team began work Dark and darker.
That’s what Nexon’s lawyers say Dark and darker has “striking similarities with the concept for P3 in great gameplay, rules and arts that could not have been made independently” and that as a result of the alleged theft their own game “could not see the light of day due to unethical actions of former colleagues”.
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While Nexon clearly believes this is a criminal proceeding, this should be noted The Ironmace Studio website opens with:
We’re a happy group of veteran game developers disillusioned with the exploitative and greedy practices we once helped create. We are experts who have worked on many of the biggest hits in Korea
We’ve seen firsthand how gaming companies sell their soul for easy payday. We are disappointed to see them double down on more and more exploitative practices and become more like casinos instead of bringing joy to players
We fight to win back the hearts of players around the world. We believe that by making games with soul and by respecting our users, we can usher in a renaissance of great video games straight from Korea.
And this Ironmace has already answered and said
Don’t worry too much about what you hear about Nexon. Most of what you see on the internet is incorrect. There will be no delay in development and you don’t have to worry.
legal proceedings pending, Dark and darker Is allegedly Entering Early Access in April, with a full release later in 2023.
