Ironmace Ordered to Pay Nexon After Dark and Darker Lawsuit
Ironmace Ordered to Pay Major Fine to Nexon
The Conclusion of a Legal Battle Over Dark and Darker That Lasted More Than 5 Years
The long-running lawsuit between gaming giant Nexon and rising developer Ironmace has reached its conclusion in the civil case. The dispute, which centered on allegations involving stolen source code and digital assets connected to Dark and Darker, has been followed closely by gamers around the world.
Most recently, the Supreme Court of South Korea issued its official ruling on April 30, partially siding with Nexon and dismissing appeals from both parties. The decision has once again turned the case into a major talking point across the gaming community.
The Origin of the Dispute
The conflict began back in 2021, when Nexon filed a lawsuit against Ironmace. Nexon alleged that the development team had used important data and source code from an unfinished project known by the codename P3 to create Dark and Darker.
According to Nexon, some former employees, including the project lead of P3, allegedly transferred confidential data to an external server before leaving the company and establishing a new studio. Nexon argued that this was a serious violation of trade secrets and copyright, leading to years of legal proceedings.
Court Findings
During the earlier stage of the trial, the court recognized that Nexon’s P3 project was protected as copyrighted work. However, it also found that the similarities between P3 and Dark and Darker were not enough to determine direct copyright infringement.
That said, the court clearly ruled that Nexon’s source code and related files qualified as legally protected trade secrets. It also determined that Ironmace had violated those trade secrets during the creation of the game.
Ironmace Ordered to Pay Damages
The latest Supreme Court ruling upheld the previous judgment and ordered Ironmace to pay 5.7 billion won, or approximately 131,343,400 baht, in damages to Nexon.
Despite the large amount, the court did not order Dark and Darker to shut down. This means the game can continue operating normally, allowing players to keep exploring its dangerous dungeons as before.
Ironmace Plans to Keep Fighting
Ironmace appears dissatisfied with the result and has stated that it will continue fighting to prove its innocence in the still-ongoing criminal case.
The studio believes that the ruling on trade secret violations does not reflect the truth of the situation. It also claims there is important evidence showing that employees did not steal or use Nexon’s data, but that such evidence was not considered due to delays and procedural limitations in the legal process.
Dark and Darker Will Continue Operating
Even though the civil case has ended with damages worth more than one hundred million baht, Ironmace has promised to keep Dark and Darker running as smoothly as possible for the fans who have continued to support the game.
For now, the civil case has reached a major conclusion, but the future of the criminal case remains something to watch closely. Whether it will eventually affect the game’s service on PC remains uncertain.
Origin: Automaton-Media
