Epic Games has announced that Dark and Darker, the PvPvE dungeon crawler developed by Ironmace, will be permanently removed from players’ libraries on the Epic Games Store on 1 November 2025. The decision comes months after the game was delisted from the platform in March.
In an email confirmed by Epic and shared with PC Gamer, the company said, “We removed Dark and Darker from sale on the Epic Games Store on 5 March in consideration of a court decision in Korea between Nexon and the game’s publisher, Ironmace. On 1 November 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 decision comes months after the game was delisted from the platform in MarchEpic Games
Refunds for some purchases
Customers who purchased the “Legendary Status” upgrade will be refunded. However, Epic clarified that it will not issue refunds for Redstone Shards, the game’s premium currency.
The step to revoke access entirely is highly unusual in the digital games marketplace. Typically, games removed from sale remain playable for existing owners. Epic has not elaborated on the reason for this extra measure beyond referencing the Korean court ruling.
Legal battle with Nexon
The court decision mentioned refers to a February 2025 judgment in South Korea. Although the court found that Ironmace did not commit copyright infringement against Nexon, it ruled that the studio had violated Nexon’s trade secrets. Nexon had accused Ironmace of using stolen assets and code from a cancelled Nexon project, codenamed P3, which was scrapped in 2021. The court awarded Nexon nearly $6 million in damages.
Still available on Steam
Despite its removal from the Epic Games Store, Dark and Darker remains available on Steam. Players can download and play the game for free and purchase the same “Legendary Status” upgrade previously offered on Epic’s platform.
Some Steam users have voiced concerns that the game may also be pulled from that storefront, though there has been no official indication that such a move is planned. Given that the game is still live on Steam, a wider takedown appears unlikely at this stage.
Epic and Ironmace have yet to issue further comments.
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