Nexon expands MapleStory intellectual property to metaverse, blockchain

Nexon Co. runs a six-month training session using MapleStory World at Samsung Gangnam, a flagship store of tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. [Photo provided by Nexon]

South Korean game major Nexon Co. is going all-out to expand the intellectual property (IP) of its best-selling game “MapleStory” that marks the 20th anniversary of its release this year.

According to game industry officials on Wednesday, Nexon has recently integrated the software team of MapleStory World, a metaverse-type content creation platform, to its Live Headquarters.

The Live Headquarters is a division responsible for online MapleStory for PC and MapleStory M, a mobile version of the game. The integration is seen as a move to focus its dispersed IP development capacity.

MapleStory World is a user-experience platform that encourages players to create their own worlds and experience the worlds other users create.

The game targets young gamers that are familiar with metaverse-based platforms such as Geppetto.

Last year, Nexon signed an agreement with Gangnam-Gu Office in Seoul to run a coding and creative education program using the game at elementary schools in the district.

The local game maker also announced in July that it will run a six-month training session using MapleStory World at Samsung Gangnam, a flagship store of tech giant Samsung Electronics Co.

Nexon said its blockchain-based ecosystem MapleStory Universe has been making progress in development.

One of the in-development projects in MapleStory Universe is MapleStory N, a blockchain-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). The ecosystem is also made up of MapleStory N Mobile, a mobile version of the game MapleStory N World, where players can create and enjoy various contents based on non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and software development kit (SDK), a set of tools for developing applications.

To run such projects, Nexon set up a blockchain unit, Nexon Block Corp. in Korea and Singapore last year.

In March, Nexon announced its partnership with global blockchain platform Polygon at the Game Developers Conference held in San Francisco, the U.S., to accelerate the creation of a blockchain game ecosystem.

Launched in 2003, MapleStory has been a cash cow for the Korean game developer.

Nexon posted record-high sales of 1.19 trillion won ($916.9 million) in the first quarter. MapleStory was the top-selling game across its entire lineup in Korea and other markets.