Nexon Officially Files A Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Against Dark And Darker’s Devs

Nexon has taken its ongoing copyright dispute with Dark and Darker developer Ironmace to court as it officially files a copyright infringement lawsuit against its fellow South Korean studio. The lawsuit makes the same accusations as its earlier copyright complaint which claims that Ironmace stole codes and assets from a scrapped Nexon game codenamed Project P3 for use in their own game.

The copyright infringement lawsuit also cites a non-compete clause in Nexon’s employment contract that prevents previous employees from working in the same line of business for a year without the company’s express consent as it could “potentially infringe on Nexon’s trade secrets.”

For context, Ironmace’s founders previously worked on Project P3 before they left the company and start up a new studio. Nexon also accused Ironmace of shopping for investors while they were still working on the unannounced game.

“Condoning the Defendants’ conduct would threaten Nexon, the video game industry, and all of the consumers who enjoy playing sophisticated video games,” Nexon stated in the lawsuit. The South Korean developer and publisher is seeking monetary damages for the cost of developing Project P3 and the immediate

Nexon initially filed a DMCA complaint against Ironmace late last month for allegedly using stolen codes and assets from a scrapped Nexon game called Project P3 that resulted in the game being de-listed from Steam. Nexon also served Ironmace with a cease-and-desist letter and reportedly had the South Korean police raid the studio in search of items related to Project P3.

Meanwhile, Ironmace is determined to fight the copyright complaint and has even come up with a sneaky way to get Dark and Darker out to players ahead of its fifth alpha playtest that the studio called “Plan Z.”