A 12 months after being faraway from Steam, Darkish and Darker is coming to the Epic Video games Retailer

The extraction-dungeon crawler Darkish and Darker nonetheless is not out there on Steam, however developer Ironmace is on the point of convey it again into the general public eye by the use of a unique digital storefront: The Epic Video games Retailer.

“With elevated confidence within the high quality of our recreation, we have now began preparations on introducing Darkish and Darker to a wider viewers,” Ironmace introduced on the Darkish and Darker Discord. “As a primary step, we’re glad to announce the launch of the Darkish and Darker retailer web page on the Epic Video games Retailer.

“It is a huge preparatory step for us in our journey to ship a sophisticated product to our followers. When you have an Epic account, we encourage you to indicate your enthusiasm and wishlist the sport.”

The Epic web page for Darkish and Darker is stay now, though there is no launch date listed at this level.

Darkish and Darker made an enormous splash in February 2023, changing into one of many greatest video games on Steam regardless of being an alpha construct with some fairly tough edges. However it rapidly bumped into hassle with Nexon, which accused the studio of utilizing “stolen” code and different property to construct the sport: Ironmace’s places of work had been raided by police, and the Steam delisting adopted shortly after.

Ironmace earned goodwill with players by urgent forward with Darkish and Darker playtests by way of torrents, however that is not likely a sensible technique in the long term: Being on an easily-accessible storefront is crucial if Ironmace hopes to return to the degrees of recognition Darkish and Darker loved a 12 months in the past. 

The best way ahead might have been partially cleared by a authorized win for Ironmace in January: A South Korean court docket dismissed Nexon’s preliminary injunction towards the studio, saying (by way of Google Translate) that Darkish and Darker “can’t be seen as infringing on Nexon’s copyright or commerce secrets and techniques.” The lawsuit itself continues.

There is not any phrase at this level on whether or not Darkish and Darker will even return to Steam at any level within the close to future, though Ironmace stated it “will proceed working with varied companions to present our followers the most effective choices and correctly develop the group to foster an extended and wholesome recreation.” I’ve reached out to the studio for extra data and can replace if I obtain a reply.