▲ This file photo shows Nexon's office building. (Yonhap)

 

▲ This photo, provided by Ironmace, shows the page from 'Dark and Darker.' (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

 

 

SEOUL, Mar. 11 (Yonhap) -- South Korea’s leading game company Nexon and budding game producer Ironmace are sharply at odds over allegations that the startup’s brand-new game "Dark and Darker" was produced by stealing Nexon's unreleased game project.

Nexon sued its former employee, identified simply as Leader A, for leaking the game powerhouse’s data and assets. The employee used to be in charge of developing the so-called " P3 Project" but was then fired from Nexon after getting caught unlawfully taking out the company’s data. Nexon claimed that Ironmace’s "Dark and Darker” was produced based on the assets that the then-employee had unlawfully leaked.

However, Ironmace claims that their brand-new game was not based on Nexon’s leaked assets and that Nexon is unfairly forming a public opinion that goes against the firm.

The Gyeonggi Southern Police Agency then raided the office of Ironmace on Tuesday morning and seized company material related to Dark and Darker.

The charges against Leader A are violations of the Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act and the Act on Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.

◇ Looking back on the precedent of leaving the company and leaking data

Many concerned with the game industry say that the current scandal reminds them of the so-called “Lineage 3 Asset Leakage Incident,” which caused a stir in the industry 16 years ago.

In 2007, a team in the local game company NCsoft, which was back then working on the next MMORPG "Lineage 3,” left the company and found Bluehole Studio, where they launched a new MMORPG "Tera."

NCsoft then filed a complaint on charges of violating the Unfair Competition Prevention Act, claiming that some people, including Lineage 3's then-chief, leaked some essential planning data and source codes during the resignation process.

The biggest issue in this scandal was whether the data leaked when then-developers left the company could be reckoned confidential business secrets.

Then in 2012, the Supreme Court ruled, "NCsoft invested considerable effort and money in the process of producing related program files, and if any other game company makes use of this data, it can have significant economic benefits such as shortening the game development period," considering the leaked data a confidential business secret. The court then convicted four suspects.

During a subsequent civil lawsuit, the court once again ruled that the officials of Bluehole Studio violated trade secrets and forced them to discard all of the data in question. However, the rulings said that the liability for damages due to collective resignation could not be held up against the four officials.

Article 2 of the Unfair Competition Prevention Act writes that both the act of acquiring business secrets by fraudulent means and also the act of using or disclosing the acquired business secrets are considered "an act of infringing business secrets."

That being said, in light of such legal codes and relevant precedents, the legal community believes that if Nexon’s assets were in fact leaked, it will be difficult for Ironmace to avoid punishment.

Lee Chul-woo, a lawyer who has specialized in game-related cases, said, "Game asset is undeniably a confidential business secret," adding, "However, whether Ironmade actually made use of such data while developing 'Dark and Darker' should be revealed and confirmed during the investigations and trials."

"Not only are source codes and assets likely to be categorized as business secrets but also every bit of details of a project," said another lawyer whose identity has been withheld. "In the case of asset leakage, records of data being exported to outside storage devices or external servers will be the key evidence."

◇ Game industry claims that the act of stealing projects after quitting simply destroys the trust

Within the game industry, the act of leaking project materials from the former workplace and using them in another game powerhouse is heavily considered immoral regardless of whether the accused eventually gets or escapes legal punishments.

A game developer in Pangyo said, "It is common for developers to retire and set up a new game company with teammates," but then pointed out, "however, if the project was initially developed with the support of the former company, even the smallest data should not be used for any other means."

Some developers also expressed their concerns that this scandal may adversely affect the entire industry.

Another developer claimed, "If an incident similar to this case happens too frequently, game companies will try to empower new projects planned by its developers," adding, "It is a matter of basic trust and commercial morality in this industry."

Meanwhile, Ironmace denied allegations through online posts and said that the company will continue to develop "Dark and Darker" even after suspicions of asset leakage have surfaced.

This legal battle over the authenticity of "Dark and Darker" is expected to continue until the game’s release date, at least before the police and prosecution investigations determine whether to indict or not. It may even continue until the final rulings are made.

(This article is translated from Korean to English by Ha eun Lee)

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