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Via PCGamer
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Three months after removing Dark and Darker from sale, Epic Games is going a step further to erase any trace of its existence on the Epic Games Store: An email being sent to owners says Epic will remove the PvPvE dungeon crawler Dark and Darker from their libraries on November 1. Refunds will be issued to anyone who purchased the "Legendary Status" upgrade, but refunds for the Redstone Shards premium currency will not be offered.​

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"We removed Dark and Darker from sale on the Epic Games Store on March 5 in consideration of a court decision in Korea between Nexon and the game's publisher, Ironmace," the message states. "On November 1, 2025, we will be removing Dark and Darker from your library, at which point it will no longer be playable via the Epic Games Store."

The "court decision" in the message refers to a February 2025 finding that Ironmace did not commit copyright infringement against Nexon, but did infringe on Nexon's trade secrets. Nexon had accused the studio of building Dark and Darker on assets and code "stolen" from a similar project, codenamed P3, which it cancelled in 2021. Ironmace is now on the hook for nearly $6 million.​

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Epic confirmed that the email, which is being shared on Reddit and social media, is legit, and provided a copy of the message to PC Gamer.​

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Removing a game from sale is one thing, but pulling it from libraries of existing owners is something else entirely, and an unusual step: More typically, games on digital storefronts that are removed from sale remain available to owners. Epic didn't go into detail about why it's taking this extra step, only saying that the removal was prompted by Korea's court decision.

For now, Dark and Darker remains available on Steam, free and with the same "Legendary Status" upgrade option that was previously also offered on the Epic Store. Some Steam players have expressed concerns that Dark and Darker will be removed from libraries on that storefront as well, which I suppose possible (especially if the Epic takedown was the result of some new, as-yet-unannounced court ruling) but seems unlikely, given that the game is still up for grabs. I've reached out to Epic and Ironmace for more information and will update if I receive a reply.​

 

[Three]

What court decision prevents the game being sold in a specific store? What's the background story to that?

 

[Gojiira]

What court decision prevents the game being sold in a specific store? What's the background story to that?

The devs built the game using stolen assets and code. They were taken to court and it was proven. Court ordered they remove it from sale and pay damages. Pretty straightforward

 

[pudel]

The devs built the game using stolen assets and code. They were taken to court and it was proven. Court ordered they remove it from sale and pay damages. Pretty straightforward

Thats not true. As they were not charged for copyright infringement, they can still continue to work and sell Dark and Darker. The decision of Epic to take it off and even take it away from people who "own" the game already....is VERY questionable.

 

[RagnarokIV]

ALL DIGITAL FEWCHA

 

[pudel]

ALL DIGITAL FEWCHA

People can migrate the game from Epic to Ironmace. And its basically a multiplayer game. A physical medium wouldnt change anything, if servers are taken down.

 

[Rivdoric]

ALL DIGITAL FEWCHA

"Not if anything to say about it... i have"

 

[Herbspiceguy]

I was an early adopter and used to play it religiously near daily for more than 2 years and was one of the few/only GAFers championing/recommending this game. The concept of Escape from Tarkov meets Dungeons and Dragons is amazing and has huge potential, but the devs fumbled.
4 years down the line and the game hardly lives up to it's potential. It's in a mediocre state with the notorious back and forth balancing changes still going on and actual new content and features lacking. I think a root cause of the problem lies in making bad, knee-jerk decisions based on community input, changing the game, sometimes drastically, which did the game more harm than good. They didn't take a step back and consider what would actual be good and fun for the game/players, so it was headed into a direction moving further away from their original vision.
Now, they want to revert some of these big early changes, but this rubs against the players that are used to what the game turned into, and they've lost a big part of the OG player base already. It feels like they're stuck between a rock and a hard place, but it's hard to feel sorry since they created this situation themselves. Something like a 2.0 (or is it even 1.0?) re-launch could maybe save the game, but I've lost faith the dev team is able to turn things around. Also all the top streamers have dropped the game like a brick over the past year, which is quite a sign.

I'm very curious to see how the upcoming game Hunger turns out, as it looks very similar in concept. Dark and Darker should be a useful lessons learned/study case for it's dev team.

 

[Three]

The devs built the game using stolen assets and code. They were taken to court and it was proven. Court ordered they remove it from sale and pay damages. Pretty straightforward

So I guess it will be removed everywhere and Epic were just quicker to do so.

 

[Ceadeus]

I was an early adopter and used to play it religiously near daily for more than 2 years and was one of the few/only GAFers championing/recommending this game. The concept of Escape from Tarkov meets Dungeons and Dragons is amazing and has huge potential, but the devs fumbled.
4 years down the line and the game hardly lives up to it's potential. It's in a mediocre state with the notorious back and forth balancing changes still going on and actual new content and features lacking. I think a root cause of the problem lies in making bad, knee-jerk decisions based on community input, changing the game, sometimes drastically, which did the game more harm than good. They didn't take a step back and consider what would actual be good and fun for the game/players, so it was headed into a direction moving further away from their original vision.
Now, they want to revert some of these big early changes, but this rubs against the players that are used to what the game turned into, and they've lost a big part of the OG player base already. It feels like they're stuck between a rock and a hard place, but it's hard to feel sorry since they created this situation themselves. Something like a 2.0 (or is it even 1.0?) re-launch could maybe save the game, but I've lost faith the dev team is able to turn things around. Also all the top streamers have dropped the game like a brick over the past year, which is quite a sign.

I'm very curious to see how the upcoming game Hunger turns out, as it looks very similar in concept. Dark and Darker should be a useful lessons learned/study case for it's dev team.

I think I've seen another game quite like Dark and Darker. Maybe you know which one I'm talking about?

I think it was dungeonborne but it shutted down

 

[Herbspiceguy]

I think I've seen another game quite like Dark and Darker. Maybe you know which one I'm talking about?

I think it was dungeonborne but it shutted down

Yes, Dungeonborne and Greed is Good were considered the 'cheap Chinese knock-offs' that copied DnD.

Still in development are Dungeon Stalkers by Korean devs and Legacy: Steel & Sorcery made by ex WoW devs. Personally, due to the setting and hardcore vibe, I'm mostly interested in Hunger.

 

[Ceadeus]

Yes, Dungeonborne and Greed is Good were considered the 'cheap Chinese knock-offs' that copied DnD.

Still in development are Dungeon Stalkers by Korean devs and Legacy: Steel & Sorcery made by ex WoW devs. Personally, due to the setting and hardcore vibe, I'm mostly interested in Hunger.

I never knew about Steel & Sorcery, it looks so good. I love the art direction, even though it's not as dark as some other game.