It appears that Dark and Darker Mobile, the eagerly awaited smartphone version of the popular hack 'n slash extraction dungeon crawler, is poised for a name change and more significant shifts. Recent reports suggest that Krafton is not only abandoning the current branding but also ending its partnership with Ironmace Studio.
This development is particularly challenging for Ironmace, especially after being mandated to pay $6 million in damages to Nexon due to a lawsuit. The lawsuit claims that Ironmace, founded by former Nexon employees, utilized trade secrets from a canceled project codenamed P3 to develop Dark and Darker.
Despite Krafton's assertion that the name change is unrelated to the lawsuit, they have also announced the termination of their global licensing agreement with Ironmace. This means that Dark and Darker Mobile (or its future name) will launch as a completely standalone game.
The irony of this situation is palpable, as Ironmace initially sued Nexon for copyright infringement. Now, even after ending their partnership, Krafton seems poised to rebrand and proceed independently. This move suggests that the genre's market is expanding, regardless of Nexon's actions against their new rival.
For fans eagerly anticipating Dark and Darker Mobile, this news isn't necessarily negative. Krafton has confirmed that they will adhere to the planned global release schedule. However, should there be any changes or further developments, we will keep you informed.
We hope that the full launch of Dark and Darker Mobile will uphold the high quality we commended in our review.
