"They were declined by Tips" - Sodapoppin provides details on why OTK rejected Dark and Darker at the Games Expo

On March 27, 2023, Twitch streamer Chance "Sodapoppin" revealed more details on why One True King (OTK) rejected dungeon crawler Dark and Darker at the 2022 OTK Games Expo. The revelation was first made by OTK co-founder EsfandTV during his broadcast on the same day.

Sodapoppin then elaborated on the situation, claiming that Tips Out was the one who turned down Dark and Darker to be featured at the annual gaming exhibition. He further claimed that he had no say in the decision. While watching the game's trailer, the Austin, Texas-based content creator stated:

"But yes, Dark and Darker applied to be at the OTK Games Expo and were f**king declined! Yes. They were declined by Tips. It did not cross my desk or anyone else. Yes."

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"If this is the one that Tips saw and declined, I'd be p*ssed at him" - Sodapoppin talks about Tips Out rejecting Dark and Darker for the OTK Games Expo

On March 27, Sodapoppin was seven hours into his broadcast when he reacted to EsfandTV revealing that Dark and Darker was rejected from the OTK Games Expo 2022. In the Twitch clip, the latter was heard saying the first-person title "didn't look good:"

"The game didn't look good, yeah. The game didn't look good. Now, here's the thing, if you're going to ask the Dark and Darker people, they would agree. In fact, they said not getting into the Games Expo was like a huge motivation for them."

Chance was slightly taken aback after hearing EsfandTV's remarks, calling it "interesting." He elaborated on the situation and mentioned that Tips Out received "a ton" of requests from indie game developers.

The Twitch star then explained what the game's developers, Ironmace, had allegedly sent to Tips Out:

"I didn't even get to see it. But from what Tip tells me, their trailer... that they sent us for the Games Expo, was essentially a guy hitting a skeleton. That's it. Nothing else. He literally didn't even like, put it to the wave, where we would look at it."

Sodapoppin decided to watch the trailer because he wanted to understand what Tips Out had seen of the game. He went on to say that he "yelled at" the latter because several OTK members enjoyed playing it.

Timestamp: 07:12:55

Fans suggested that the 29-year-old streamer should check out the trailer on Steam, speculating that Tips Out must have seen that trailer at the very least. Chance began searching through YouTube for the trailer and after watching it, he stated:

"This can't be it. This is the Steam one? I mean, if this is the one that Tips saw and declined, I'd be p*ssed at him. I'd be f**king mad. 'Asking Tips to judge games.' You're not wrong."

Sodapoppin confirmed that Tips Out made the decision to exclude Dark and Darker from the 2022 Games Expo. After examining the gameplay mechanics, the content creator claimed that he would not have "shoved it to the side:"

"'The trailer is bad.' It is trash. But even then, like, I don't know. If I saw this and I saw a co-op like, 'Oh, this is online co-op? You get to play with friends in this little dungeon thing. This actually could be good!' Is there a gear? Does it show gear in here? Look at this! Yeah, this... I would f**king; I would at least have not shoved it to the side and be like, 'Not worth even showing to the other guys.'" I would not have done that."

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Fans react to Sodapoppin's clip

Sodapoppin providing additional details about the indie game's rejection from the OTK Games Expo was the top post on the r/LivestreamFail subreddit. Here's what the online community had to say:

Fans on Reddit reacting to Sodapoppin's clip (Image via r/LivestreamFail)

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For context, Dark and Dark was recently removed from Steam after the South Korean publisher Nexon served Ironmace with a cease and desist letter as well as a DMCA takedown.