What is “MapleStory N”?
The South Korean game giant Nexon recently held a press conference in Taiwan to introduce the blockchain game “MapleStory N” developed by MapleStory Universe. Dominic Jang, the Chief Commerce Officer of MapleStory Universe, took this opportunity to explain to Taiwanese media and players the differences between this classic IP and the original version of “MapleStory” after entering the blockchain world.
“MapleStory N” is one of the core games in the MapleStory Universe ecosystem, which consists of multiple applications including a wallet, trading platform, and the game itself.
Image/MapleStory Universe X
“MapleStory N” is built on the Arbitrum blockchain and is a MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game). It inherits the classic style of “MapleStory” but incorporates blockchain elements into its economic system and player experience. The game allows players to own in-game items and characters in the form of NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) or FTs (Fungible Tokens), and trade these digital assets.
These transactions are not limited to servers and can be conducted in trading markets outside of the game. There is no “cash shop” in “MapleStory N” as the developers aim to maintain a free economy between players. Additionally, the items in the game are different from the original “MapleStory” as they have quantity limitations, which helps maintain their value and resist inflation.
As for the “token economy” that many players are concerned about, currently “MapleStory N” has two currencies, including $NESO (similar to the original Mesos) and utility token $NXPC. In the future, the developers will release a detailed whitepaper and announce the method of converting $NESO into $NXPC.
The classic MapleStory IP can also be seen in “MapleStory N”.
What can we expect from “MapleStory N”?
Dominic Jang revealed that “MapleStory N” is expected to be launched in the first half of 2025, and features such as the costume system and trading market will be introduced simultaneously.
Regarding the target users of the game, he divided them into three categories. The first category is the loyal players, especially long-term players who resonate with and have nostalgic feelings for “MapleStory”. They may be interested in the new version of the game and participate again.
The second category is content creators and developers who will enter the game and contribute to the expansion of the ecosystem. For example, developers can introduce the default shoe item NFT from the game into other “earn while running” games (such as STEPN), allowing players in these games to earn more points with the same NFT item.
Lastly, there are players who have never played “MapleStory”, especially Web3 users who are attracted by blockchain technology.
Although the economic model of the game is not yet clear, Dominic Jang stated that the game hopes to reward players who contribute to the game community. These contributions can be in the form of content creation, community development, etc., and different rewards will be given based on the level of contribution.
“The development team values every feedback, question, and interaction from players,” said Dominic Jang. He added that in the future, “MapleStory N” may introduce more interactive experiences to allow players to play a more important role in key game decisions. Additionally, “MapleStory N” remains open to collaborations with other well-known Web3 IPs. However, the team’s current focus is on successfully launching and stabilizing the game system.
(Left) Dominic Jang, Chief Commerce Officer of MapleStory Universe.