A lawyer representing Darkish And Darker developer Ironmace has reportedly despatched a letter to Valve, asking the corporate to return the sport to Steam amid a lawsuit alleging theft.
Over the previous couple of months, MapleStory writer Nexon has alleged that Ironmace’s multiplayer fantasy recreation Darkish And Darker was created by former Nexon staff with stolen code and supplies.
Whereas the allegations led to developer Ironmace’s workplaces being raided by Korean authorities, a DMCA takedown filed by Nexon additionally resulted in Darkish And Darker being faraway from Steam final month.
As reported by Gamesradar, Greenberg Glusker lawyer Aaron Moss has since issued a letter to Valve asking it to let Darkish And Darker return to Steam.
Moss alleged that Nexon’s DMCA was “primarily based on claims which might be completely with out advantage and incorporates understanding and materials misrepresentations that Darkish and Darker infringed Nexon’s copyright pursuits”.
Moss went on to label Nexon’s actions as “nothing greater than anti-competitive bully ways designed to place a small indie recreation studio out of enterprise”.
“At greatest, Nexon has taken a handful of unprotectable components and cobbled them collectively to kind the phantasm of a copyright infringement declare,” wrote Moss. “This case comes all the way down to the truth that Nexon doesn’t need any of its former staff to work at an indie studio creating a fantasy-themed extraction recreation. And Nexon will bend copyright legislation effectively previous its breaking level with a view to hold Darkish and Darker out of the general public’s fingers.”
Final week, Nexon filed a lawsuit in the USA that accused two Ironmace staff of stealing “supply code, audiovisual, and different supplies that Nexon developed by a considerable expenditure of money and time”.
The Darkish And Darker lawsuit claimed the defendants’ alleged actions threaten “the online game trade, and the entire customers who take pleasure in taking part in subtle video video games,” although Ironmace has repeatedly denied allegations it created Darkish And Darker with stolen supplies.
Playtests for Darkish And Darker are presently ongoing, although the sport was lately focused by “subtle” server assaults.