MapleStory

MapleStory is a free-to-play, two-dimensional side-scrolling massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed by Wizet and published by Nexon. First released in South Korea in 2003, it became one of the most widely played MMORPGs of its era and a defining example of the early free-to-play, cash-shop business model. The game is set in the Maple World, where players create a character, fight monsters, complete quests, and progress through a branching job (class) system.

This wiki primarily documents MapleStory Classic World, an upcoming permanent server that recreates the game's pre-Big Bang era. For a running comparison between the two, see Differences from MapleStory.

History

MapleStory was created by Wizet, a Seoul studio founded in 2001, and launched in South Korea on April 29, 2003. Soon after release it reportedly reached 100,000 concurrent users and two million registered accounts. Nexon acquired Wizet in 2004 and has handled the game's development and publishing since; the Wizet name is still credited within the game.

The game expanded internationally throughout the 2000s, with each region operated as a separate localised service.

The European service later merged into Global MapleStory in 2016. The North American and European-facing service, GMS, is the version on which MapleStory Classic World is being built.

Big Bang and later eras

In 2010 the Big Bang update rewrote the game's core systems, rearranged Victoria Island, overhauled nearly every map, monster, and skill, and sharply reduced the experience required to level. It rolled out to the Korean service in mid-2010 and to Global MapleStory in December 2010. The update was divisive: it modernised the game but erased much of the slower, exploration-heavy character of the classic era, and a significant portion of the long-time player base left in the period that followed. The community has since referred to the two eras as "pre-Big Bang" and "post-Big Bang".

Later milestones include the Reboot server (2015), a high-difficulty world with most cash-shop trading disabled, the mobile title MapleStory M, and MapleStory 2 (2015, now defunct). The desire to preserve the pre-Big Bang experience sustained a long-running private server scene, with patches such as v62 and v83 becoming common reference points for the era that MapleStory Classic World aims to recreate.

Gameplay

Players begin as a Beginner and choose a job branch on reaching the required level. The original Explorer classes were Warrior, Magician, Bowman, and Thief, with Pirate added in 2008 and many further classes introduced over time. Characters advance through successive job advancements, gaining skills at each stage.

The in-game currency is the meso. Player-to-player commerce centres on the Free Market, where players open personal shops, and later versions added systems such as the Auction House. Crafting and professions were introduced well after the classic era. Cooperative content, particularly party quests, has been central to the game's social identity since launch.

Legacy

By the 2020s the MapleStory franchise had recorded more than 180 million registered players worldwide and over four billion US dollars in lifetime revenue. Its accessible 2D presentation, deep class roster, and social systems made it a landmark free-to-play MMORPG. The announcement of MapleStory Classic World in 2025 marked Nexon's first official return to the pre-Big Bang experience.

See also

• MapleStory Classic World
• Differences from MapleStory
• Big Bang
• Nexon
• Wizet

References

• MapleStory on Wikipedia
• MapleStory on PCGamingWiki (regional launch dates)