MapleStory, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed by South Korean video game publisher Nexon with over 400,000 daily active users, will expand its gaming experience to the Avalanche blockchain.
According to a March 11 announcement dubbed “MapleStory N,” the game will be powered by an Avalanche subnet on the namesake blockchain’s cloud network “to proceed without a separate implementation partner, providing greater convenience, more support options, and quick time to market” and offer users new content-generating opportunities. “Users can build out enticing new worlds, extending gameplay, and adding their footprint to the MapleStory Universe,” a spokesperson for Avalanche wrote.
The game is scheduled to launch later in 2024. “Our partnership with Ava Labs will allow us to build a stable and complete blockchain ecosystem, enabling us to securely service various dApps along with MapleStory N to amplify our competitiveness,” commented Angela Son, MapleStory Universe’s partnership lead.
Created in 2003, MapleStory has immense popularity in the Asia-Pacific region and has surpassed 180 million registered players. Its Web3 venture, MapleStory Universe, uses various nonfungible tokens (NFTs) to enhance the in-game experiences.
Similarly, on March 22, 2023, its parent Nexon selected the Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution Polygon to power its blockchain ecosystem. According to Nexon, a Polygon supernet created by Polygon Labs will be deployed within Maplestory to allow players to earn and collect in-game items as NFTs.
Yes yes, I know it’s been a while, took my vacation anyway. Crucify me.
Soooo…marketplace (special thanks to all the fans out there, your likes have brought us here ). What’s new? pic.twitter.com/gVY8lRaYrM
— MapleStory Universe (@MaplestoryU) March 5, 2024
The Avalanche network has been gaining traction in 2024, partly due to traditional financial heavyweights, such as JPMorgan and Citi, partnering with the Avalanche Foundation for their real-world asset tokenization initiatives and new technological deployments on its blockchain.
On Jan. 15, Cointelegraph reported that Avalanche inscriptions drew record user interest amid a hype of Bitcoin BRC-20 inscription tokens. Over 100 million Avalanche inscriptions have been minted since their creation in 2023.
Related: Justin Sun vs. SEC, Do Kwon arrested, 180M player game taps Polygon
