Dark and Darker is going through one of the roughest stretches in its history. Recent user reviews for the game on Steam have fallen to Overwhelmingly Negative, with only 11% of the 2,942 reviews posted in the last 30 days coming in positive. The slide started when Early Access Season 11 went live last week (October 9th), the first season built under Ironmace founder and CEO SDF since he took back the director role.
Ironmace teased the new season on X a couple of weeks before it launched. Check it out below:
SDF Takes Back The Director Role
SDF, who is listed on Ironmace's official site under his real name, Juhyun Choi, had stepped away from day to day work on the game earlier this year. Ironmace announced back in March (March 14th) that it was starting development on a new project. Terry took over as director of Dark and Darker with Paul as co-director, while SDF led the new game and stayed on as CEO and overall director of both.
That arrangement ended late last month (September 28th). In a post on the game's Discord, SDF told players he was coming back for good. "Starting today, I am officially returning fully as the director of Dark and Darker, and I'm going back to pursuing that damn vision again," he wrote. He explained that the team's push to make the game more approachable had gone too far, and that "we also weakened some of the unique identity and distinctive fun that made this game what it was."
He also warned that the October wipe would touch almost every part of the game, including items, movement, classes, matchmaking, dungeons, merchants, and loot. "This will not be a small balance patch," SDF wrote, later adding, "I am not doing this because it is safe. I am doing this because I believe this is the only way to make the game truly strong again."
The return came not long after SDF introduced Super Spicy, an experimental version built from Dark and Darker. At the time, he described it as a separate app and said it was "not a promise about the future direction of the live game." His return post put the live game itself on a new path instead.
What Season 11 Changed
The Season 11 patch notes call the update "a major turning point for Dark and Darker." The biggest change for most players is matchmaking. Solo, Duo, and Trio queues have been merged into a single pool for parties of one to three players, and Gear Score brackets and entry requirements are gone. Ironmace wrote that "reducing the fragmentation of matchmaking pools is essential to creating a more populated, unpredictable, and engaging dungeon experience."
A lot of older systems came back with it. The Dark Swarm returns to every dungeon in Normal Campaign and High-Roller, and light sources like torches, lanterns, and campfires now protect players from its damage, although anyone standing near an active light can no longer hide. Fog of War, traditional treasure chests, solo escape stairs, and randomized dungeon layouts are back as well. Escape Stairs now close after one player uses them, and the Tavern has returned as a place for parties to gather before a run.
Other content was cut. Dungeon selection is now limited to Normal Campaign, High-Roller, and Arena, the Blue Maelstrom has been removed, and the Gathering Hall and Workshop menus are gone. Items no longer get primary attributes automatically from their rarity, which puts more weight on random modifiers. A new Ante system charges entry fees based on Gear Score, with a threshold of 256 and a cap of 10,000 Gold Coins in Normal Campaign, and players who pay it carry a bounty that opponents can claim.
Ironmace knew the update would split people. "We understand that these changes are significant and that not everyone will agree with this direction," the patch notes read. "We also recognize that our previous changes in direction have created uncertainty and frustration among our players."
Players Push Back
The numbers since launch have not been kind. According to SteamCharts, the game peaked at 10,878 concurrent players over the last 30 days, well below the 14,809 it hit in July when Season 10 started. Its 24-hour peak has already dropped to under 7,000.
The subreddit has been split, though most of the noise is negative. One player pointed back to the last time solo queues were removed and reverted, writing, "He talked about learning from the experiment, but has apparently learned nothing." Others are sticking around. "I'm sticking around because I've never cared about queue size, squires, or gear balance. I just love the pvp dungeon content and experience," another wrote.
SDF Responds On Solo And Duo Play
SDF answered the queue complaints in a follow-up post titled "Our Vision for Solo and Duo Players" in his Discord channel, SDF's Kitchen. "Removing dedicated solo and duo queues does not mean we're abandoning solo and duo players," he wrote. He said the team is considering preference-based matchmaking inside the single pool, such as pairing solos with solos and premade teams with similar premades, but that those systems will not arrive right away. He also said dungeon rules are being designed so that "A solo player should not have to defeat a trio to have a successful adventure."
The same post included an apology. "I should have explained more of this during Tavern Table, but my limited English and lack of experience with live broadcasts prevented me from communicating everything clearly," SDF wrote. "I know many of you love playing alone or with just one friend. I do not want to take that experience away from you."
Ironmace followed with Hotfix #128-1 yesterday (October 16th), which increased light source fuel, adjusted the Dark Swarm and portal timing, raised Gold Coin drops from monsters, and let players hide inside wooden barrels. The notes also said Quests, the Workshop, and other content that no longer fits the updated systems will be revisited and reworked. "We won't be able to accomplish all of this at once, but we will continue working to improve and refine the game, step by step," the studio wrote.
The Nexon Case Is Still Going
All of this is happening while SDF and Ironmace are still in court with Nexon. Prosecutors indicted Choi, two former Nexon artists, and Ironmace itself back in February, accusing them of taking files from Nexon's unreleased project P3 and using them to make Dark and Darker. At the first criminal hearing at the Seongnam branch of the Suwon District Court in June (June 15th), prosecutors said Choi moved 9,190 files from a Nexon server to a personal server in March 2021. Ironmace admitted that some data was taken but denied the charges, and the court set another hearing for September (September 3rd).
The civil side is already settled. South Korea's Supreme Court upheld a ruling that Ironmace infringed Nexon's trade secrets and must pay about 5.7 billion won in damages, while the courts rejected Nexon's claim that Dark and Darker infringed its copyright.
Are you heading back into the dungeon to see SDF's vision for yourself, or are you waiting for Ironmace to bring back dedicated solo and duo queues?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.