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Dark and Darker may have only just released in early access and is still embroiled in legal trouble, but it’s already getting a mobile game adaptation from the creators of PUBG Mobile.
Krafton, the studio behind PUBG: Battlegrounds and PUBG Mobile, has struck a licensing partnership deal with Dark and Darker developer Ironmace to bring the class-based fantasy dungeon crawler with intense, first-person PvP combat to mobile devices. Adventurers in Dark and Darker compete for treasure and escape portals, all while trying to survive against various monsters, traps, and other players in the game’s dungeons.
In a press release, Krafton said the game’s “innovative fusion of battle royale survival elements with dungeon crawler exploration” is a “perfect fit” for Kraton’s catalog. Krafton senior head of publishing Rafael Lim said Krafton has been watching Dark and Darker’s development 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,” Lim said. “Here at Krafton, we can’t wait to share these exciting dungeon runs with a whole new community of fans on mobile.”
Ironmace is based in South Korea, and consists of several developers who previously worked at Korean gaming giant Nexon. Krafton, too, is based in Korea.
There’s no word yet on when mobile-minded players might be able to get their hands on Dark and Darker, but the PC version saw a surprise early access release earlier this month. Pulled off of Steam due to a since-tossed-out US copyright lawsuit filed by Nexon against Ironmace, Dark and Darker still isn’t available on Valve’s platform and must either be purchased directly through the game’s official website or via Korean game distributor Chaf Games. It’s currently unclear when the game might return to Steam, where it reached more than 100,000 concurrent players during one of its free playtests earlier this year. Due to the game’s removal from Steam, Ironmace asked players to torrent Dark and Darker for its final playtest.
Ironmace and Nexon are still embroiled in a legal dispute in Korea, which could give Valve a reason to keep its distance from Dark and Darker until its legal troubles are completely over. Nexon has argued that Ironmace stole ideas, code, and assets from a canceled Nexon project in order to build Dark and Darker. Ironmace has denied those allegations and said no “stolen assets or code” were used in Dark and Darker’s development.
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