Dark and Darker, an extraction-shooter-style game with a fantasy twist, has gone through a tumultuous development cycle. In my recent memory, I don’t recall a single game going through development hell like Dark and Darker.

Shortly before Dark and Darker’s release, Nexon Corporation sued developer Ironmace Games for misappropriation of trade secrets and copyright infringement. Those lawsuits are still ongoing.

Against all odds, the team at Ironmace Games has crossed another major milestone and released the game as Early Access.

Dark And Darker Officially Launches Early Access

After a long wait, Ironmace Games team finally announced that Dark and Darker has officially launched Early Access on August 7, 2023. Players no longer have to wait for Betas or week-long Steam demos.

If you want to play an extremely unique Dungeons and Dragons-style extraction game, now is the time to try it.

But legal issues with Nexon Corporation mean players can’t pre-order Dark and Darker on Steam. However, you can still get the game from both stores. The official Dark and Darker website was the obvious choice. Another channel is an independent marketplace called Chaf Games. But Onepeg has confirmed that no matter which platform you pre-order the game on, the launcher will be the same.

Ironmace’s official announcement states that the launch in Korea has been delayed as the team awaits a rating from that Korea Game Rating Board. Also, in-game VOIP is temporarily unavailable. Because the legal team is taking the time to make sure there is nothing wrong with the plans in terms of user data processing and third-party partners to safeguard the gaming experience for players.

Dark And Darker Monetization & New Edition

Plus, developers have always been open to the current state of game monetization, but that doesn’t mean they also want to exploit the player base in this way. There is an in-game shop in Dark and Darker where players can use Dark and Darker Gold to get other goodies they want.

The team wanted to avoid random loot boxes and FOMO items. They try to provide a fair way for players to support the game while enjoying it.

This time, Dark and Darker will provide two different Editions, namely: regular Standard Edition and Founder’s Edition. Onepeg briefly outlines the differences between the two editions, but the major additions to Founder’s Edition are:

• Pale White Skeleton Skin
• Hold The Line Emote
• Blue Torch Item Skin

Dark And Darker Is Temporarily Unavailable On Steam

Finally, the announcement notes that this is still a work in progress and issues are bound to arise. As for how Dark and Darker is going, and why it took Ironmace Games so long to release it to Early Access. It’s all down to some ongoing legal issues.

Another cease and desist order from Nexon Corporation resulted in the removal of the game from Steam. There are also allegations that former employees stole code and assets from Nexon Corporation and used them to create Dark and Darker.

As a result, Dark and Darker are still not officially living on any major platform, but Ironmace managed to host another demo weekend of its own. The user has to get a string of numbers from Ironmace and decode it using a hex tool. This provides them with a magnet link to download the game via the torrent.

This roundabout way of accessing the game is because they do not accept torrent links on official channels. In this punk game test, Dark and Darker released some patches due to a DDoS attack. They also distributed these patches via the torrent.

No one knows for sure when or if Dark and Darker will return to Steam, as that will probably depend on the outcome of the lawsuit. Ironmace has managed to release Dark and Darker as Early Access despite still being in the middle of a legal battle with Nexon. It looks like the season of dark fantasy games is upon us.