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 around Nexon's claim that Ironmace, founded by former Nexon employees, utilized trade secrets to develop Dark and Darker based on a cancelled project known as P3.
Despite Krafton's assertion that the name change is unrelated to the lawsuit ruling, they have also announced the termination of their global licensing agreement with Ironmace. This means that Dark and Darker Mobile (or its future rebranded version) will proceed as a completely standalone release.
The ethical implications of this lawsuit aside, it's somewhat ironic that Ironmace initially filed a suit against Nexon for copyright infringement. Now, even after ending their partnership, Krafton seems intent on rebranding and moving forward independently. This move suggests that the genre's floodgates are now open, regardless of Nexon's actions against their new rival.
For fans eagerly anticipating 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 hope that the full launch of Dark and Darker Mobile will uphold the high standards we highlighted in our review.
