It appears that Dark and Darker Mobile, the eagerly awaited smartphone version of the hack 'n slash extraction dungeon crawler, is poised for a significant transformation. Recent reports indicate that Krafton is not only planning to change the game's name but also to terminate its agreement with Ironmace Studio.
This development comes at a challenging time for Ironmace, who have recently been mandated to pay $6 million in damages to Nexon due to an ongoing lawsuit. The lawsuit centers on Nexon's allegations that Ironmace, founded by former Nexon employees, utilized trade secrets to develop Dark and Darker from a project codenamed P3, which Nexon had previously canceled.
Despite Krafton's assertion that the name change is unrelated to the lawsuit's outcome, they have also announced the termination of their global licensing agreement with Ironmace. This means that Dark and Darker Mobile (or its new name) will proceed as a completely standalone release.
Darkest of DungeonsThe ethical implications of this lawsuit are complex, and it's somewhat ironic that Ironmace initially filed a suit against Nexon for copyright infringement. Even after ending their partnership, Krafton seems intent on rebranding and moving forward independently. This situation suggests that the genre's floodgates are now open, regardless of Nexon's actions against Ironmace.
For fans eagerly awaiting Dark and Darker Mobile, this news isn't necessarily negative. Krafton has confirmed that they will adhere to the previously announced global release schedule. However, should there be any changes or further developments, we will keep you informed.
We remain hopeful that the full launch of Dark and Darker Mobile will uphold the high standards we highlighted in our review.
