Despite Legal Woes, Dark And Darker Finally Launches Into Early Access

Republished By Plato

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Dark and Darker, the mediaeval extraction looter from Ironmace Games, has – after a turbulent few months and amid ongoing legal troubles – launched into early access, but not on Steam.

Dark and Darker, you might recall, received a hugely positive reception when it featured as part of Valve’s Steam Next Fest earlier this year. Soon after, though, Korean game publisher Nexon accused Ironmace of copyright infringement, claiming members of the development team had used “materials and assets they worked on during their time” at Nexon to create Dark and Darker – an accusation Ironmace has repeatedly denied.

Ironmace’s woes continued when a cease and desist demand from Nexon forced the game off Steam, and, despite successfully getting Dark and Darker’s recent playtests into players’ hands through some creative problem solving, the game’s early access launch – which was originally planned for late April to early May this year – has seen several delayed.

Dark and Darker alpha playtest teaser.

As of today, however, Dark and Darker’s early access is finally here, with Ironmace having opted to create its own launcher, known as Blacksmith, and sell the game directly from its own website and via digital storefront Chaf Games. Iron Mace says this initial early access build is missing “many key features” that will be added in the coming months, and notes that, “Although we’ve been putting both the game and launcher through their paces internally, we know that there are bugs that may have slipped through the cracks. We ask for your patience and understanding as we do our best to respond and resolve these issues.”

For those unperturbed, Dark and Darker’s early access release is available as a standard edition, featuring the full game and early access, plus a more expensive founder’s edition, which throws in a few extras including cosmetic items and something referred to as “test access”.

Dark and Darker’s early access release also brings an in-game shop, which Ironmace calls “the elephant in the room” in its announcement. “Our assumption when we started this company was that you could still build a lucrative business while being true to your fans,” it explains. “The in-game shop is our attempt at being realistic with the business of running an online game but trying to find a way to do it without resorting to random loot boxes and FOMO items.”

It’s unclear what might happen to Dark and Darker’s early access release should the ongoing legal dispute not work out in Ironmace’s favour, but for now, it remains available to purchase. The developer also continues to eye up a return to Steam, telling PC Gamer it wants to get back onto Valve’s storefront “as soon as possible”.