Darker and Darker’s attorney have accused Korean gaming company Nexon of “anti-competitive bullying tactics” in a letter to Steam owner Valve.
After a positive reception at Steam Next Fest earlier this year, Darker and Darker has experienced a troubled production. In March, developer Ironmace had its office searched after Nexon alleged that the studio had built its game with code stolen from Nexon’s own “P3” project (several members of Ironmace’s team previously worked on Was).
Shortly after these allegations, Nexon issued Ironmage with a cease and desist, and Darker and Darker was removed from Steam. Recently, after it was revealed that Darker and Darker developer is being sued by Nexon for “copyright infringement”, the Korean game publisher has sought a jury trial in the US.
Now, in order to bring the Ironmage game back to Steam, Darker & Darker’s attorney has contested the DMCA notice that led to its removal from the platform in a letter to Valve, as reported by GamesRadar.
Aaron Moss, attorney for Greenberg Glusker, wrote on behalf of Ironmesse, “The takedown notice is based on claims that are completely without merit and that Darker and Darker include information and material misstatements that infringe Nexon’s copyright interests.” Have done.”
In this letter, Moss stated that Nexon’s claims are “nothing more than an anti-competitive bullying tactic designed to put a small indie game studio out of business”. Moss argued that since the company’s claims pertain to “a game that Nexon never made” and therefore “does not exist”, the claims of copyright infringement are not valid.
Moss wrote, “Nexon claims it has created ‘unique concepts, style, plot, story line, characters and game plan’ – almost none of which are subject to copyright protection.” “While the actual expression of the plot, story line and characters may certainly be protectable, copyright does not protect concepts.”
Dark & Darker’s attorney addressed the similarities between the art for P3 and the characters in Dark & Darker (something Nexon also highlighted in his lawsuit). To this, Moss argued that these similarities are nothing more than what you would expect from fantasy sports in general.
The lawyer wrote, “The reality is that for every comparison Nexon might come up with, a half-dozen different games with the same features—and in some cases, the same assets—can be found.”
“What appears in Dark & Darker consists primarily of third-party assets legally acquired from the Unreal Engine Asset Store. To the extent that Nexon has used the same or similar assets, that does not give birth.”
Moss noted a fantasy game, as part of its nature, is likely to have similar elements to other games in a similar genre.
“Even if Nexon could cherry-pick a dozen similar properties between them, that’s only a drop in the bucket in terms of actual game design… The reality is that for each comparison Nexon’s Can come along, one can find half a dozen different games with the same characteristics – and in some cases, the same assets.”
In this letter, Moss asked that Valve restore Dark and Darker to Steam.
Moss concluded, “At best, Nexon has taken a handful of unsafe elements and cobbled them together to create the illusion of a copyright infringement claim.”
But really, the matter comes down to the fact that Nexon doesn’t want any of its former employees working at indie studios developing fantasy-themed extraction games. And Nexon is pushing copyright law well past its breaking point. Will turn the dark and keep the darker out of the hands of the public.”
Meanwhile, over on Dark & Darker’s Discord, the developer thanked fans for their ongoing support during this time, particularly in regards to its recent playtest (which had to be distributed via torrent).
“It’s been a long and difficult road for us this time. Knowing we had to keep our promise to our fans gave us the strength to endure,” wrote Ironmage.
The developer continued to admit to DDoS attacks, which plagued its most recent playtest. “We’re sorry this affected you,” IronMuse apologized before “investigating a solution” to reduce these issues from happening again in the future.
“Once again, it is only through the support of our fanbase that we remain afloat,” the developer closed. “Thank you from the bottom of our hearts and we’ll see you soon!”
