Krafton Ends Partnership with Ironmace, Dark and Darker Mobile to be Renamed

The mobile adaptation of the popular dungeon crawler, Dark and Darker, is facing a significant change. Krafton, the game's publisher, has announced it's terminating its agreement with developer Ironmace Studio, resulting in a name change for the mobile version.

While Krafton claims this decision is unrelated to Ironmace's recent $6 million court loss to Nexon, the timing is highly coincidental. Nexon's lawsuit alleges Ironmace, founded by former Nexon employees, misused trade secrets from a cancelled Nexon project (codenamed P3) to develop Dark and Darker.

Despite the termination, Krafton intends to proceed with the global launch of the mobile game, albeit under a new name. This makes the mobile title a fully independent release, separate from Ironmace's involvement.

The situation presents an interesting ethical dilemma. Ironmace initially sued Nexon for copyright infringement, and now, despite the severed partnership, Krafton appears poised to continue development, effectively removing the original branding. This development opens the door for similar releases within the genre.

For players anticipating Dark and Darker Mobile, the news isn't entirely negative. The planned global launch remains on schedule, though this may be subject to change. We'll provide updates should any further developments occur. We remain hopeful the final product maintains the high quality observed in our previous review.