Gaming on the Go: Dark and Darker and Krafton Collaborate for Mobile Release

There is no way of knowing when the sleeper-hit PvP dungeon crawler Dark and Darker will be reinstated due to the legal disagreement between Ironmace, the game’s developer, and Nexon. Therefore, it is a little concerning to learn that Krafton, the publisher of PUBG: Battlegrounds, is in fact working on a smartphone version of the game.

It seems that Krafton would be an excellent choice for this undertaking: It has already a variety of mobile games to its credit, the most notable of which is PUBG Mobile. This is a game that has some overall parallels with Dark and Darker, so it makes sense that it was developed by the same company. Despite this, the deal comes as a pleasant surprise because of the legal issue surrounding Ironmace, which, to put it mildly, is not straightforward.

“We’ve been watching Dark and Darker’s potential and distinct creativity with great interest. From the genre to the setting of the overall IP, Dark and Darker tapped into something compelling with its existing PC release. Here at Krafton, we can’t wait to share these exciting dungeon runs with a whole new community of fans on mobile”, Krafton senior head of publishing Rafael Lim said.

Since the start of 2023, when the publisher accused Ironmace of building the game using elements stolen from a scrapped Nexon project, the two companies have been at odds over Dark and Darker. The game was removed from Steam in March due to legal action taken by Nexon; in response, Ironmace used BitTorrent to disseminate a playtest client, which became something of a PR victory for the developer. A major issue for a new game is that it is still unavailable on Steam, despite an early access version having been distributed through the studio’s website and a digital marketplace called Chaf Games in August.

That’s a tricky position for an outsider to get into; if Nexon wins in court, I wonder if Krafton will lose both the license and the money it invested to acquire it. Krafton might be so desperate for the license that it’s eager to take a chance, especially in light of Ironmace’s recent legal victory: This month, a judge in the United States ruled that South Korea would be the more appropriate venue for adjudicating a copyright claim brought by Nexon. Nexon contended that the case should take place in the United States “because Korean courts are powerless to compel the production of certain evidence”.

Krafton did not comment on the timing of the license purchase, but it did state that it is well aware of the legal precarity in which Ironmace finds itself. As a third party, Krafton is keeping an eye on the legal rulings.

Therefore, it’s quite doubtful that Dark and Darker will be available on Steam. However, why not give it a shot on your phone? There hasn’t been any word on when the smartphone version of Dark and Darker will be made available to players.

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