MapleStory Universe IP’s online game “MapleStory N” in the MapleStory series has switched from the Ethereum scaling network Polygon to the veteran public chain Avalanche, which has aroused more anticipation for the future development of Avalanche’s ecosystem.
On March 11th, the public chain Avalanche announced that the Korean game developer Nexon’s online game “MapleStory N” is expected to enter its network subnet at the end of 2024. With this announcement, Avalanche’s token AVAX quickly surged in price, reaching $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 March, the online game “MapleStory N” in the MapleStory Universe IP originally chose Polygon, the scaling network of Ethereum, and Polygon Labs will also cooperate with MapleStory Universe in development and marketing.
However, according to insiders, the temporary switch to another blockchain may be related to the termination of Polygon Edge, a modular framework for scalable kits, by Polygon.
From the final choice of Avalanche, the subnet configuration of its “custom blockchain” is considered to be very friendly to game developers. In addition, in November last year, the 3A-level FPS game “Shrapnel” built on the Avalanche network was officially launched. This highly anticipated and well-made game further deepened the community’s expectations for Avalanche’s gaming ecosystem.
Polygon loses “MapleStory N”
According to an insider who spoke to the media, after Polygon Labs stopped supporting Polygon Edge (a modular framework for developing Ethereum-compatible networks), Nexon chose to look for other solutions.
In the original plan, Polygon Supernet would allow Nexon to have its own “dedicated application chain”. Polygon’s Supernet is similar to Avalanche’s Subnet, providing dedicated subnets for each project, and providing customization options for creators.
However, due to strategic adjustments, Polygon Labs announced on December 12th last year that it would stop supporting Polygon Edge. The company stated that it will focus on Polygon CDK, which aims to build an Ethereum Layer 2 ecosystem with interoperability and a single liquidity pool. This decision seems to have had an impact on the development progress of “MapleStory N”.
The MapleStory IP has a special influence in the Chinese community. Its origin, “MapleStory”, was first released in 2003 and is a free-to-play side-scrolling MMORPG. It is a 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 worldwide and total revenue of $4 billion.
In 2015, Nexon released “MapleStory 2”, a 3D MMORPG, and launched “MapleStory World” in September 2022. However, the user base of “MapleStory World” gradually decreased, and “MapleStory 2” also faced commercial setbacks. Therefore, after careful consideration, Nexon turned to Web3 to find potential solutions, which ultimately led to the development of MapleStory Universe.
As a game company that has provided game services for more than 20 years, Nexon hopes to further create more sustainable services. Therefore, Nexon expands the boundaries of game services and game experiences to a new level of IP universe, with the goal and core of “controlling the ownership of IP assets through blockchain”. Nexon hopes to transition from the traditional “MapleStory” IP to building 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 called “MapleStory N Mobile”, a blockchain-based UGC game platform called MapleStory N Worlds, and a development toolkit for developers called MapleStory N SDK. It empowers users and provides rewards to drive the creation of user-generated content (UGC) and mod games. The ultimate goal of the MapleStory Universe project is to build an ecosystem created collectively by the community, breaking away from the traditional model of game companies providing content unilaterally.
Avalanche’s growing gaming ecosystem
A series of factors led to MapleStory Universe ultimately choosing Avalanche. The latter 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 latency, and scalability.
To address these challenges, Avalanche has launched an effective solution called Subnets. Subnets are independent and autonomous networks that allow each project to build customized chains based on their specific requirements.
Avalanche’s Subnets have several characteristics:
1. Fast responsiveness: In-game operations can be confirmed and processed at lightning speed, eliminating annoying lags and delays.
2. Low cost: By customizing the blockchain, game developers on Avalanche can provide gas-free transactions.
3. Customizable parameters: Subnets allow game studios to customize according to the specific needs of their games, providing unprecedented flexibility.
4. High reliability and zero downtime: With the help of Subnets, games can be conducted continuously, and this reliability is crucial for maintaining a seamless gaming experience.
5. Compliance: By freely formulating rules (such as KYC requirements), Subnets can operate globally to comply with local laws.
With these features, Avalanche has gained an advantage over Polygon in the competition. Currently, there are 100 games being built on the Avalanche platform. Some of the popular ones include “Shrapnel,” a retro-style MMORPG, “Spellborne,” and “Providence,” a third-person survival game.
In November 2023, Avalanche launched the highly anticipated game “Shrapnel”. The game is the first fully shooting game (FPS) in the GameFi field, accompanied by the launch of the related token SHRAP. GameFi projects have boosted the Avalanche 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 shows that the choice of Avalanche is based on its good track record and security in Web3 games. MapleStory Universe hopes to achieve seamless integration with blockchain, so it adopts 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 solving server and infrastructure needs to ensure its smooth operation.
In addition to 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 independent wallets, and 1,700 network validators.
According to a report by CryptoPotato, in November 2023, the number of Avalanche addresses exceeded 6 million. 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 real-time subnets and expects to launch more than 80 subnets within this year.
Avalanche’s ambitious development plan for 2024 aims to become a competitor to Ethereum, including technical updates to the Avalanche protocol, reducing transaction finalization time from 2 seconds to below 250 milliseconds. 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 released on PC at the end of 2024. Nexon will operate the game using Avalanche subnets, following a similar pattern to the launch of games like “Shrapnel” and “Off the Grid”.
The game will not have an NFT presale, but instead, players will be able to earn items as NFTs by playing the game. Nexon also stated that MapleStory Universe will issue its own token.