Maple
Story Universe
Maple Story Universe Takes on the Metaverse with Polygon
The evolution of the gaming landscape has seen tremendous
innovation and advancement, as well as seismic changes. From the era that
birthed controller and handheld gaming to personal computer (PC) gaming, and
the immersive virtual world gaming, you can see that the change is monumental.
As Web3 came into existence, metaverse gaming was inevitable.
With copious number of games and gaming companies taking the
plunge into the metaverse, it is not surprising that one of largest 2D games is
also hoping to capitalise on some of that potential ─ MapleStory. Specifically,
Nexon, one of the largest game publishers across Asia, announced just last week
that is has selected Polygon as the blockchain ecosystem for MapleStory
Universe.
In a nutshell, Nexon is bringing this popular pixelated 2D
role-playing franchise into the world of Web3 gaming. This move marks an
exciting new chapter for the popular multiplayer online game.
Launched in 2003, MapleStory is one of Nexon's long-running
success stories. The company announced earlier this year that the game has
generated over $4 billion in revenue as well as amassed over 180 million
registered users to date. The game's Steam page displays an even larger tally
of more than 260 million players in total.
20 years in, MapleStory Universe, will be built on Polygon
Supernets, a blockchain development platform aimed at helping Web3 developers
create their own blockchain protocols. Polygon Labs is set to provide technical
and business support for the MapleStory Universe.
It was stated that, "While there are many benefits of
blockchain technology, Nexon has focused on three in particular:
Transparency, with all information recorded on-chain for anyone to see.
AN
open ecosystem, where anyone can contribute to the project and earn rewards for
their contributions.
Extended utility, through the free movement of in-game
assets.”
MapleStory Universe group leader Sun-young Hwang mentioned
in a press release, "We are looking forward to expanding the NFT ecosystem
envisioned by MapleStory Universe by building on Polygon, the top protocol for
Web3 gaming. It is the perfect choice to power the ecosystem.”
Nexon selected Polygon due to its high performance and low
transaction fees,a s well as its focus on scaling solutions for Ethereum. This
is significant, as scaling has been a major challenge for the blockchain
industry, and Polygon’s solutions offer a promising path forward. The
collaboration comes shortly after the company released a post explaining the
reasons for adopting blockchain technology, and named MapleStory as the best
candidate to introduce the new features.
MapleStory Universe posted on Twitter a pretty extensive but
succinct thread on the highlights of last week’s Game Developers Conference
(GDC), with regards to the game.
Poised to be an NFT-centric game, tokenised assets will play
a major role in MapleStory Universe and can be traded or transferred via the
game's marketplace. "We plan on issuing our unique coin, and specific
details about this will be revealed later with our tokenomics," Nexon
expressed.
Building with the idea of Reward Experience (RX), this means
that NFT game items will have utility value outside the game, and there will be
increased demand for rare items. Currently, players use the in-game currency to
buy, sell, and trade items with one another. But with the new NFT-based
ecosystem, NFTs can be earned through gameplay such as hunting monsters,
completing quests, and so on. In addition, in a blog post in DappRadar, it
pointed out that MapleStory Universe will be coming to both PC and mobile,
"MapleStory Universe is an overarching concept that feeds two games:
MapleStory N and MapleStory N Mobile. As the name suggest, the latter is a game
for tablets
and smartphones, while the former is a PC game. NFTs earned
in the PC game can be used in the mobile game as well.” The latest update from Nexon
was when they spoke about the game at GDC last week; no release date was given
yet. However, more details will be revealed during the year. It is safe to
expect at least an alpha version somewhere in the coming year though this has
not been confirmed by Nexon.
The journey towards MapleStory
Universe has been a long and exciting one for Nexon. In the recent years, the
company has been exploring the potential of blockchain and other emerging
technologies, with a focus on creating immersive and engaging experiences for
players.
In addition to traditional gameplay mechanics, the metaverse
will feature social and economic systems, allowing players to buy, sell, and
trade virtual assets and goods. This is a major step towards a fully realized
metaverse, and is sure to be a major draw for fans of the franchise.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eN630nVQ8sg
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