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.
— MapleStory Universe (@MaplestoryU) March 5, 2024
Soooo...marketplace (special thanks to all the fans out there, your likes have brought us here ). What's new? pic.twitter.com/gVY8lRaYrM
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.
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