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Dark and Darker stole trade secrets but didn't break copyright, court rules

Published: 13 Feb. 2025, 18:49

CHO YONG-JUN
[email protected]

Ironmace's Dark and Darker [SCREEN CAPTURE]

The Seoul Central District Court ordered Ironmace to pay Nexon 8.5 billion won ($5.86 million) for leaking trade secrets but ruled that the Dark and Darker developer had not violated copyright law on Thursday.

Nexon, the developer of MapleStory, alleged in 2021 that its former staff members had brought source code and other assets from its in-development Project P3 when jumping ship to join Ironmance, which had then been used in the creation of Dark and Darker. The defendant argued that Project P3 and Dark and Darker were two games with different styles and that it had not used data from Project P3 in the development of its own title.

The court, while throwing out Nexon’s copyright claim, said Ironmace should provide Nexon 8.5 billion won of damage for infringing Nexon’s trade secrets by leaking the company’s data. Ironmace was also ordered to pay 80 percent of the lawsuit costs.

“It’s meaningful that the court had recognized the whole 8.5 billion won damage claim filed in relation to infringement cases that disrupt fair market competition,” Nexon said in a statement Thursday, adding that it planned to appeal the decision to throw out its copyright claim.

Ironmace said in a statement Thursday that it “respects the decision of the court,” adding that the developer planned to check in on details when it officially received the court decision.

Nexon reported on Thursday an 8 percent drop in operating profit over 2024 to 124.2 billion yen ($806 million). The company’s yearly net profit surged 91 percent on year to 134.8 billion yen, and revenue rose 5 percent.

The game developer recorded a quarterly operating loss of 15.8 billion yen for the fourth quarter of 2024, while Nexon’s quarterly net profit turned green, recording 32 billion yen.

BY CHO YONG-JUN [[email protected]]