《MapleStory N》, a chain game in the MapleStory Universe IP, announced on March 11th that it will be launching on the Avalanche network by the end of 2024, after originally planning to use the Polygon scaling network on Ethereum. This news caused a rapid increase in Avalanche’s token, AVAX, with a 24-hour surge of 11.24% on March 13th.
Avalanche’s custom blockchain subnet configuration was considered to be very developer-friendly, which played a role in the game’s decision to switch to Avalanche. Additionally, the highly anticipated and well-crafted 3A-grade FPS game, “Shrapnel,” built on the Avalanche network, further heightened the community’s expectations for Avalanche’s gaming ecosystem.
Polygon suffered a loss with the departure of “MapleStory N.” After Polygon Labs stopped supporting Polygon Edge, Nexon began looking for other solutions. Originally, Nexon planned to have its own dedicated application chain through Polygon Supernet. However, due to strategy adjustments, Polygon Labs announced in December 2021 that they would be focusing on Polygon CDK instead. This decision seemed to have an impact on the development progress of “MapleStory N.”
The MapleStory IP holds a special influence in the Chinese community. With its flagship game, “MapleStory,” released in 2003, it has a 21-year history and has accumulated 180 million users globally, with total revenue reaching $4 billion. Nexon’s transition to Web3 and the development of MapleStory Universe was driven by the decline in users of “MapleStory Worlds” and the setbacks faced by “MapleStory 2.”
Nexon aims to create a more sustainable service by expanding its game service and experience to a new level of IP universe, with the goal of sharing control over IP assets through blockchain. The newly established MapleStory Universe consists of four main components: the PC MMORPG “MapleStory N” based on blockchain, the mobile version of “MapleStory N Mobile,” the blockchain-based UGC game platform “MapleStory N Worlds,” and the API-level development toolkit “MapleStory N SDK” for developers. The ultimate goal of the MapleStory Universe project is to build an ecosystem collaboratively created by the community, moving away from the traditional model of game companies providing content unilaterally.
Avalanche’s advantages in Web3 gaming, along with its strong community influence, made it the preferred choice for MapleStory Universe. Avalanche’s subnets, which provide customized chains for each project, offer fast response times, low costs, customizable parameters, high reliability with no downtime, and compliance with local laws through the ability to create rules. Avalanche currently has 100 games being built on its platform, including popular titles such as “Shrapnel,” “Spellborne,” and “Providence.”
The collaboration between Avalanche and MapleStory Universe demonstrates the former’s good track record and security in Web3 gaming. Avalanche’s core team, Ava Labs, has been assisting MapleStory Universe in meeting its server and infrastructure needs. Furthermore, Avalanche has achieved significant growth, with over 6 million addresses and 1 billion transactions on its network. With ambitious plans for development in 2024, Avalanche aims to become a competitor to Ethereum by enhancing its protocol and reducing transaction finalization time.
MapleStory N is set to launch on PC by the end of 2024, operating on Avalanche’s subnet similar to “Shrapnel” and “Off the Grid.” The game will not have an NFT pre-sale, instead allowing players to earn NFTs through gameplay. MapleStory Universe will also issue its own token.
