New reports have revealed that South Korean Police have raided IRONMACE and seized company materials related to Dark and Darker.
This information was published by Korean media JoongAng Daily (via GamesIndustry). If you’re interested in the state of the video game industry, you can check out our other articles here.
IRONMACE was raided by South Korean police, why?
Korea JoongAng Daily reported that South Korean police had raided IRONMACE and seized materials related to Dark and Darker. The incident took place in Seongnam, Gyeonggi on March 7, 2023.
A user claiming to be an IRONMACE employee wrote on Discord saying that the process went quickly and also that the South Korean police did not find what they were looking for.
This raid follows Nexon’s accusation that IRONMACE stole game assets and even personnel. IRONMACE has denied the allegations.
IRONMACE has been founded in October 2021 by Park Sueng-ha, a former Nexon employee who worked on the project known as P3.
The person in charge of the project, identified only as Leader A, was fired in July 2021 for leaking thousands of files related to P3.
According to Korea JoongAng Daily, half of the 20-person team that worked on P3, including Leader A, is now working at IRONMACE.
According to Nexon, Dark and Darker is said to have “striking similarities to the P3 concept in terms of gameplay, rules, and art, which is impossible to make independently”.
Korea JoongAng Daily also shared a message from Nexon issued to employees saying that they have verified Leader A leaked thousands of files, including source code and builds.
We also discovered that Leader A had suggested to teammates from the P3 project that they quit the company and work together on a game similar to P3, citing outside sources of investment and more.
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