Dark and Darker, the fantasy-themed extraction shooter that recently released in early access, is receiving its first account wipe today, as developer Ironmace looks to even the playing field in an ongoing battle against in-game cheaters.

　　Account-wipes are par for the course for extraction-style games like Dark and Darker and Escape From Tarkov, which heavily revolve around players accumulating wealth and gear. But Dark and Darker's first one comes after only a few weeks of early access. As posted on the official Dark and Darker Discord server and on Twitter, Ironmace said the need for an account wipe came "much sooner than expected" as a result of challenges from "exploiters." The wipe will reset all character levels and delete all gold and items earned over the course of the past few weeks, including those who cheated their way to riches, making for a fresh, and hopefully more fair, starting point for players.

　　**Early Access Wipe #1**

　　Hi @everyone, The Early Access Wipe #1 Update will commence in 30min.

　　When the patch starts, you will not be able to login to the game and players in-game will not be able to enter the matchmaking pool during this time. Players in a match or in-game will…

　　— IRONMACE (@IronmaceGames) August 28, 2023

　　"We have learned from this experience and have updated the game and our services to be more robust against these adversaries," Ironmace said. "In the future, it is our hope to have more time between Early Access wipes and to give more ample notification."

　　A whole host of balance changes are coming alongside the account-wipe, including wide-ranging nerfs to the Bard class, a revert to recent spell attribute bonus ratio changes that heavily reduced the amount of damage and healing spells could do, and improvements to some of the game's lesser-used weapons. In-game VoIP is also making its return, something that was included in earlier playtest versions of the game but wasn't present when the game officially launched.

　　Ironmace said fans can more balance changes in the next few weeks, and that it will be looking to buff more unpopular weapons and while also taking a more "surgical" approach to adjusting some of Dark and Darker's spells.

　　"We will be doing frequent balance updates during the upcoming weeks as we adapt and learn from your feedback," Ironmace said. "We hope that together we can find the right sweet spot in supporting multiple paths of having fun."

　　Dark and Darker is currently not available on Steam due to an ongoing lawsuit from South Korean gaming giant Nexon but can be purchased through the game's official website or the Korea-based game platform Chaf Games. Nexon has sued Ironmace, accusing some of the developers who previously worked at Nexon of having stolen code and assets from a canceled Nexon project in order to create Dark and Darker. Ironmace has denied those allegations. Nexon's US-based lawsuit against Ironmace was recently tossed out, but a case in South Korean, where Ironmace is based, is still ongoing. Krafton, the creators of PUBG Mobile, recently acquired the rights to create a mobile version of Dark and Darker.