The prolonged legal dispute between Nexon and game developer Ironmace concerning the multiplayer action RPG Dark and Darker has finally concluded with a decision from South Korea’s Supreme Court. As noted by Korea JoongAng Daily and ThisIsGame, the court rejected appeals from both parties on April 30, resulting in a partial win for Nexon. (This pertains to the civil lawsuit involving Dark and Darker, separate from the ongoing criminal trial).
For context, the legal battle over Dark and Darker began in 2021, when Nexon initiated legal action against Ironmace, claiming that the developer utilized source code and assets from an unreleased Nexon project labeled “P3.” Nexon alleged that several former employees, including the project leader of P3, deliberately transferred the data to an external server prior to departing, subsequently misusing it to create Ironmace’s debut game, Dark and Darker. The company accused the studio of violating trade secrets and copyright laws.
In the initial and subsequent trials of this dispute, the courts acknowledged that Nexon’s unfinished P3 constituted copyrighted material, yet they did not find the resemblances between it and Ironmace’s Dark and Darker substantial enough to warrant copyright infringement. Conversely, the courts did rule that Nexon’s source code and build files were protected trade secrets, which Ironmace infringed upon while developing Dark and Darker.
In the most recent trial, the Supreme Court upheld these earlier rulings entirely, dismissing appeals from both sides and ordering Ironmace to pay 5.7 billion won in damages (approximately $3.84 million USD). Notably, the court did not mandate the developers to cease distribution of Dark and Darker. Dissatisfied with the civil trial’s outcome, Ironmace reportedly stated its intention to continue fighting to “prove its innocence” in the ongoing criminal trial while maintaining the smooth operation of Dark and Darker. The studio views the acknowledgment of trade secret infringement as “contradictory,” claiming it possesses objective evidence that its employees did not use Nexon’s trade secrets, which were not examined due to procedural constraints.