Police Raid Dark and Darker Developer Following Stolen Code Allegations

South Korean police have searched the studio of the game developer Ironmace, the team developing the upcoming game Dark and Darker, due to allegations that the game is being created with code and assets taken from games company Nexon. This move is apparently related to a complaint filed by Nexon with the Gyeonggi Southern Police Agency in August 2021. 

The Ironmace team, which includes former Nexon employees, describes themselves as "a merry band of veteran game developers disillusioned by the exploitative and greedy practices we once helped create." Nexon had been working on a similar project codenamed P3 but pulled the plug on development later that year, leading to the creation of Ironmace. 

In response to the allegation, Ironmace denied any wrongdoing, asserting that “absolutely no stolen assets or code were used to make our game.” They also described a lawsuit filed by Nexon against at least one ex-employee of the company who moved to Ironmace as “a separate personal matter.”

Dark and Darker was revealed earlier this year and quickly made a splash in the gaming community, becoming one of the top ten most-played games on Steam during the Steam Next Fest. Ironmace has announced that one more round of playtesting will take place before an early access launch scheduled for April 14-19. 

In conclusion, the search and seizure of Ironmace have raised many questions regarding Dark and Darker and Nexon’s complaints. It remains to be seen whether these allegations will impact the game’s development, but Ironmace has assured that all is in order. We can expect to hear more on the matter as the game nears its launch.