The claim that Dark and Darker uses Dark And Darker Gold stolen assets and code first appeared on Korean site This is Game (Google translated), which said that developer Ironmace includes former employees of Nexon who were "disciplined and fired" by Nexon, and are now building Dark and Darker using materials they worked on while at Nexon.

A Nexon project revealed in 2021 as "P3" was basically used as a prototype of Dark and Darker, according to the claim, and images from Project P3 definitely have a certain proto-Dark and Darker look to them.

Later in 2021, Nexon changed course to a different project, P7, a contemporary survival adventure. Around the same time, Ironmace was founded, at least in part by former Nexon employees. Ironmace's website suggests that they did not part on the happiest of terms.

"We are a merry band of veteran game developers disillusioned by the exploitative and greedy practices we once helped create," it says. "We are experts who have worked on many of the biggest hits in Korea.

"We’ve seen first hand how corporate game companies sell their soul for the easy payday. We are disappointed to see them doubling down on more and more exploitative practices, becoming more like casinos instead of bringing joy to gamers."

Developers leaving big companies to buy Dark And Darker Gold try their hand at indie development isn't at all unusual, but obviously swiping code and assets to use in a non-Nexon game is a very different situation. The report also alleges that former Nexon employees now working at Ironmace were caught trying to take other code, resources, and development documents from the company.