MapleStory 20th Anniversary... From Game to Cultural Icon

Nexon's 'MapleStory' has celebrated its 20th anniversary. Launched on April 29, 2003, MapleStory captivated users of various age groups with its cute 2D graphic characters and easy, simple controls, establishing itself as a cultural icon.

In August 2011, MapleStory conducted a large-scale summer update called 'Legend,' achieving a simultaneous domestic user count of 626,000. In the summer of 2018, it experienced another heyday with the update of the final boss, the 'Black Mage.'

The popularity of MapleStory is ongoing. On the 20th, to mark its 20th anniversary, a large-scale event called 'Mapril Island' was unveiled. Thanks to various events and content, PC room market share and usage time rose significantly. It also ranked first in the RPG genre. Additionally, the 20th anniversary event 'Fan Fest,' starting on the 28th, demonstrated its popularity by selling out 6,000 seats in just three minutes.

The recently released MapleStory 20th anniversary commercial video has also received favorable reviews. The advertisement was produced as two live-action videos under the slogan '20 Years of Stories We Made,' including 'Our Name' and 'Adventure' editions. It evokes nostalgia by showing times when a MapleStory ID from childhood was called another name for the user.

Starting on the 28th, MapleStory will hold an offline 20th anniversary event, 'Fan Fest,' at Dongdaemun Design Plaza. All 6,000 tickets sold out within three minutes. On-site, visitors can enjoy the MapleStory worldview, story, music, and art accumulated over 20 years through various exhibitions and performances at a glance. On June 10, a showcase unveiling MapleStory's large-scale summer update will be held at the Jamsil Olympic Handball Gymnasium.

Kang Won-gi, the general director overseeing MapleStory development at Nexon, said, “We sincerely thank everyone for the support and affection shown for the 20th anniversary events and celebrations. We will do our best to maximize the completeness of various actions being prepared inside and outside the game so that the heroes can fully enjoy and be satisfied with the 20th anniversary.”