The district court of the South Korean city of Suwon refused to issue an arrest warrant for Choi Ju-hyun, the managing director of the Ironmace studio. It was requested by the police as part of the proceedings with Nexon.
The court pointed out that the charges against Choi are controversial, and there is no fear that the developer will try to escape.
Choi is the former lead developer of Nexon’s cancelled P3 shooter. In June 2021, he was fired from Nexon after the company noticed that he had stolen assets and the source code of the game. Three months later, Choi, along with another former Nexon employee, Park Terence Seungha, founded Ironmace and started working on the Dark and Darker action game, which, according to Nexon, is created on the basis of stolen P3 developments. In April 2023, Nexon filed a lawsuit against Ironmace in a US court.