The alpha:
- In an article published last week (March 12, 2023), global video game publisher Nexon announced that it was launching a blockchain-based iteration of maplestoryone of his star games.
- maplestory It was first launched in 2003 in South Korea and currently has over 180 million registered players worldwide. Thanks to this massive user base, Nexon’s move could increase the speed of blockchain game development and the widespread adoption of NFTs.
- The new release will be titled MapleStory Universeand Nexon has chosen Polygon, a scalable Ethereum network, to support its Web3 expansion and provide technical and business support for the game.
dive deeper
Web3 gaming continues to be one of the most prospective NFT use cases out there. With the size of the global gaming market Reaching over $200 billion by 2022, the industry is brimming with potential. And it looks like Nexon is hoping to capitalize on some of that potential with one of its most beloved titles.
maplestory is a treasured and storied name in the gaming community. One of Nexon’s top intellectual property deals, the game has generated more than $4 billion in revenue and secured 180 million registered players, according to a recent earnings report.
The blockchain-based iteration, MapleStory Universewill be built on polygon supernets, a blockchain development platform aimed at helping Web3 developers create their own blockchain protocols. Polygon supernets perform a similar function to avalanche subnets, to which they are often compared. These networks allow developers to build and use a blockchain subnet for individual projects, protecting them from slow performance issues on the main networks of which they are a part.
Polygon Labs, which is a development and growth team for the Polygon protocol, is set up to provide technical and commercial support for the MapleStory Universe.
“We look forward to expanding the NFT ecosystem envisioned by MapleStory Universe by building on top of Polygon, the superior protocol for web3 games. It is the perfect choice to boost the ecosystem.” MapleStory Universe the group’s leader, Sun-young Hwang, said in the press release. “We will work closely with the Polygon Labs team to develop and commercialize the game.”
What this means for players
in a article explaining why Nexon decided to turn to blockchain technology, the company noted that its goal is to create an ecosystem focused on NFTs that allows players to have a complete view of decision-making, participate in the development of IP and have real ownership of their assets.
“While there are many benefits of blockchain technology, Nexon has focused on three in particular: (1) Transparency, with all information recorded on the chain for anyone to see. (2) An open ecosystem, where anyone can contribute to the project and earn rewards for their contributions. (3) Extended utility, through free movement of in-game assets,” they wrote.
To this end, the team noted that users will have a clearer view of the decisions and changes being made, as developers’ design and decision-making processes will now be fully visible on-chain. And since the entire process is logged on the chain, it will be more difficult for developers to change the rules on a whim, since they are fully visible to all users. “The transparent governance of blockchain and the decentralization of power it provides makes developers’ design and decision-making processes fully visible and trustworthy. In this way, users can more easily immerse themselves in the virtual world,” the team explained.
Also, Nexon will no longer act as an administrator with full control of the server. Instead, you will be a developer participating in an open ecosystem. As a result, other taxpayers will be on a more equal footing and it will be easier to identify these other taxpayers. The company explains that this “allows for more proactive contributions and ensures that contributors are fairly rewarded for their work.”
This increase in transparency and decentralization certainly sounds like a good thing. But unfortunately, would-be players will have to wait a bit to see exactly how this all plays out, as the game currently has no release date.
