Dark and Darker will hold one more playtest in April

Dark and Darker artwork — (Image credit: Ironmace)

The subterranean extraction hack-and-slasher Dark and Darker was a huge hit during the latest Steam Next Fest—in fact, it was one of the biggest things on Steam. I didn't get to spend as much time with it as I wanted (I was distracted by the excellence of Weird West) and so I'm very happy that developer Ironmace will give me, and everyone else, another shot at it in April.

After thanking players for their help, Ironmace said the most recent playtest gave the studio "a lot of clues on how to proceed with development," but also raised "some important questions that need to be answered." As a result, it has decided to do another round of playtesting before a planned launch into early access.

"We hope to test some pretty substantial additions for this playtest that requires a bit more development time than in the past," the studio said. "Therefore, the next playtest is scheduled for April 14-19th. We know the extended down time between the playtests may be disappointing to our fans but we will work our hardest to make the next one even better than before."

The April session will actually be Dark and Darker's fifth playtest. An early access launch date hasn't been announced.

Many adventurers thought the Early Acces would come on April but @IronmaceGames need more development on the game so its gonna be a new playtest. The next playtest will be scheduled for April 14-19th.#DarkAndDarkerFebruary 24, 2023

Based on its Steam performance, and our own enthusiasm for it, Dark and Darker has a bright future. But it's also facing allegations that the game is based on a cancelled Nexon project called P3, and actually makes use of assets and code stolen from that game. Ironmace CEO Terence Seung-ha recently denied those claims, stating that "absolutely no stolen assets or code were used to make our game" and that, to the best of his knowledge, "you cannot copyright a game genre."

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.