MapleStory Universe IP’s chain game “MapleStory N” has switched from Ethereum’s scaling network Polygon to the established public chain Avalanche, arousing greater anticipation for the future development of Avalanche’s ecosystem.
On March 11th, the public chain Avalanche announced that the Korean game developer Nexon’s chain game “MapleStory N” is expected to join its network subnet by the end of 2024. With this announcement, Avalanche’s token AVAX quickly surged, reaching a price of $54.08 on March 13th, with a 24-hour increase of 11.24%.
According to the official announcement released at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) last year in March, the chain game “MapleStory N” in the MapleStory Universe IP originally chose Polygon, Ethereum’s scaling network. Polygon Labs was also set to collaborate extensively with MapleStory Universe in terms of development and marketing.
However, according to insiders, the sudden change to a different blockchain might be related to the termination of the scalable modular framework Polygon Edge by Polygon.
From the final choice of Avalanche, its “customizable blockchain” subnet configuration is believed to be very friendly to game developers. In addition, in November last year, the 3A-grade FPS game “Shrapnel” built on the Avalanche network was officially launched. This highly anticipated and well-crafted game further deepened the community’s expectations for Avalanche’s gaming ecosystem.
Polygon loses “MapleStory N”
According to an insider, after Polygon Labs stopped supporting Polygon Edge, Nexon chose to find other solutions. In the original plan, Polygon Supernet would enable Nexon to have its own “dedicated application chain.” Polygon’s Supernet is similar to Avalanche’s Subnet, providing dedicated subnets for each project and offering customization options for creators.
However, due to a strategic adjustment, Polygon Labs announced on December 12th last year that it would stop supporting Polygon Edge. The company stated that it would focus on Polygon CDK, which aims to establish an Ethereum Layer 2 ecosystem with interoperability and a single liquidity pool. This decision seems to have affected the development progress of “MapleStory N.”
The MapleStory IP holds a special influence in the Chinese community. Its original game “MapleStory” was first released in 2003 and is a free-to-play, side-scrolling MMORPG. It is the flagship IP of the Korean game developer Nexon and has a history of 21 years. According to official data, it has accumulated 180 million users globally and generated total revenue of $4 billion.
In 2015, Nexon released “MapleStory 2,” a 3D MMORPG, and in September 2022, “MapleStory World” was launched. However, the user base of “MapleStory World” gradually decreased, and “MapleStory 2” faced commercial setbacks. Therefore, after careful consideration, Nexon turned to Web3 to find potential solutions, ultimately leading to the development of MapleStory Universe.
As a game company that has provided game services for over 20 years, Nexon hopes to create a more sustainable service. Therefore, Nexon expanded the boundaries of game services and game experiences to a new level with the IP universe, with the goal and core of “controlling IP assets through blockchain sharing.” Nexon aims to transition from the traditional “MapleStory” IP to a community-based “Game Services.”
The newly established MapleStory Universe consists of four main parts: the blockchain-based PC MMORPG “MapleStory N,” a mobile version of “MapleStory N,” a blockchain-based UGC game platform MapleStory N Worlds, and a development toolkit MapleStory N SDK provided to developers.
It aims to empower users and provide rewards to drive the creation of user-generated content (UGC) and mod games. The ultimate goal of the MapleStory Universe project is to establish an ecosystem collectively built by the community, breaking away from the model of game companies providing content unilaterally.
With a series of factors, MapleStory Universe ultimately chose Avalanche. Avalanche supports three chains with different functions: Contract Chain (C-Chain), Platform Chain (P-Chain), and Exchange Chain (X-Chain).
As more traditional companies turn to Web3 game development, blockchain games bring innovation but also face technical challenges such as network reliability, transaction delays, and scalability issues. To address these challenges, Avalanche introduced an effective solution called Subnets. Subnets are independent and autonomous networks that allow each project to build customized chains according to their specific requirements.
Avalanche’s subnets have the following characteristics:
– Fast response: Operations within the game can be confirmed and processed at lightning speed, eliminating annoying lag and delays.
– Low cost: By customizing the blockchain, game developers on Avalanche can provide transactions without gas fees.
– Customizable parameters: Subnets allow game studios to customize according to the specific needs of their games, providing unprecedented flexibility.
– High reliability and zero downtime: With subnets, games can run continuously, which is crucial for maintaining a seamless gaming experience.
– Compliance: Through the freedom to establish rules (such as KYC requirements), subnets can operate globally to comply with local laws.
With these features, Avalanche gained an advantage over Polygon in the competition. Currently, there are 100 games being built on the Avalanche platform. Popular ones include “Shrapnel,” a retro-style MMORPG, “Spellborne,” and a third-person survival game called “Providence.”
In November 2023, Avalanche launched the highly anticipated game “Shrapnel.” It is the first-ever full-shooting game (FPS) in the GameFi field and was accompanied by the launch of its related token SHRAP. The GameFi project contributed to the growth of Avalanche’s ecosystem, with a 17% increase in Total Value Locked (TVL) around December 1st and an 80% token price increase in the previous 30 days.
The announcement of the collaboration between Avalanche and MapleStory Universe indicates that Avalanche was chosen based on its good track record and security in Web3 games. MapleStory Universe aims to achieve seamless integration with blockchain, thus adopting Avalanche subnets and AvaCloud services to simplify the process and enhance the gaming experience.
When asked why Nexon chose to abandon Polygon, Angela Son, the partner responsible for MapleStory Universe, emphasized the team’s belief in the advantages of using Avalanche. She stated that Avalanche’s core team, Ava Labs, has been assisting MapleStory Universe in addressing server and infrastructure needs to ensure smooth operation.
Besides the technical advantages, Avalanche also has a strong community influence, which seems to align with MapleStory’s desire to develop community influence. According to official data, Avalanche has facilitated 100 million transactions, has 25 million unique wallets, and 1,700 network validators.
According to a report by CryptoPotato, Avalanche’s number of addresses surpassed 6 million in November 2023. In an interview with Thinking Crypto Podcast, John Wu, the President of Ava Labs, emphasized the significant expansion of the network. He revealed that Avalanche currently operates 20 live subnets and plans to launch over 80 subnets within this year.
Avalanche has ambitious plans for 2024, aiming to become a competitor to Ethereum. This includes technical updates to the Avalanche protocol, reducing the finality time of transactions to below 250 milliseconds from 2 seconds. Currently, whether Avalanche can achieve its goals remains to be tested by the market.
According to public information and the collaboration announcement, “MapleStory N” is expected to be launched on PC by the end of 2024. Nexon will operate the game using Avalanche subnets, following a similar pattern to games like “Shrapnel” and “Off the Grid.”
The game will not have an NFT presale but will allow players to obtain items as NFTs through gameplay. Nexon also mentioned that MapleStory Universe will issue its own token.