Steam Shuts Down 'Dark and Darker' Page Amid Copyright Dispute with Nexon

The page for the game "Dark and Darker," which is suspected of being developed by leaking a project originally under development at Nexon, has been removed from the PC game platform Steam.

A representative from Ironmace, the developer of "Dark and Darker," stated on their official Discord channel on the 25th, "We have received a suspension order and a takedown notice under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) due to Nexon's distorted claims," adding, "We are working with our legal team to resolve this issue."

The DMCA is a U.S. copyright law enacted in 1998. It requires online service providers to remove content if the copyright holder proves that their work has been uploaded without permission, following a verification process.

Nexon reportedly requested Valve, the operator of Steam, to suspend the "Dark and Darker" page based on the DMCA, and Valve appears to have accepted this request.

In August 2021, Nexon filed a complaint with the police against Mr. A, a representative of Ironmace, on charges of violating the Act on the Prevention of Unfair Competition and Protection of Trade Secrets and the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.

Nexon claims that Mr. A, while working at the New Development Headquarters, leaked data of an unreleased game called "Project P3" without authorization, and that Ironmace developed "Dark and Darker," a game similar to P3, based on that data.

On the other hand, Ironmace has completely denied the allegations, stating that leaked assets were not used in the game's development.

The Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency, which is investigating the case, conducted a search and seizure at Ironmace's office in Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi Province on the 7th.