The extractive dungeon crawler Dark and Darker is not yet available on Steam, but developer Ironmace is preparing to bring the game back to the public through another digital storefront: the Epic Games Store.

"With growing confidence in the quality of our game, we have begun preparing to introduce 'Dark and Darker' to a wider audience," Ironmace announced on the Dark and Darker Discord. As a first step, we are pleased to announce the launch of the Dark and Darker store page on the Epic Games Store.

"This is a major preparatory step in bringing a polished product to our fans, and we encourage anyone with an Epic account to show their enthusiasm and add the game to their wish list."

The Epic page for Dark and Darker is now live, but no release date is listed at this time.

"Dark and Darker" made a big splash in February 2023, becoming one of the biggest games on Steam despite a rather rough alpha build. However, it soon ran into trouble with Nexon, who accused the studio of using "stolen" code and other assets to create the game: Ironmace's offices were raided by police, and Steam's delisting occurred shortly thereafter.

Ironmace gained favor with gamers by promoting playtesting of Dark and Darker through torrents, but that is not a realistic strategy in the long run: if Ironmace wants to return Dark and Darker's popularity to the level of a year ago, an easily accessible storefront is essential.

The way forward may have been partially opened by Ironmace's legal victory in January: a Korean court rejected a preliminary injunction against Nexon's studio, saying that Dark and Darker "cannot be found to infringe Nexon's copyright or trade secrets." (according to Google Translate). The lawsuit itself is still ongoing.

While there is currently no word on whether Dark and Darker will also return to Steam in the near future, Ironmace will "continue to work with various partners to provide the best options for fans, properly grow the community, and foster a long and healthy game." He stated. We have reached out to the studio for more information and will update if we hear back.