The Dark and Darker saga has taken another strange turn as the game has been removed from sale—this time from the Epic Games Store. The base game is no longer available, but the Legendary Status upgrade, which provides paid options for free accounts, remains purchasable, and developer Ironmace is uncertain about the reasons behind this.

“Epic Games has decided to delist Dark and Darker from the Epic Games Store,” Ironmace disclosed on Discord. This decision appears to stem from claims made by opposing parties in an ongoing legal dispute. We are currently working to understand the exact reasoning behind this removal.
(Translation: This decision seems to be triggered by ongoing legal issues.)

Ironmace did not specify the opposing parties involved, but it’s suspected they might be Nexon, which has been in a legal battle with Ironmace, alleging that Dark and Darker utilized copyrighted code and assets from a previous project it had cancelled. A recent ruling by a South Korean court exonerated Ironmace of copyright infringement but ordered a payment to Nexon for trade secret violations.

Despite the recent legal win, the conflict does not appear to be over. Nexon indicated it would pursue further legal judgments, and this delisting might relate to that ongoing issue. At present, Dark and Darker is still available on Steam, which is vital for Ironmace’s distribution of the game.

As discussions regarding the delisting continue, Ironmace has stated that it is exploring alternative solutions should Dark and Darker become completely unplayable on the Epic Store.