The rebirth of the grand chain gaming venture by South Koreans?
Written by: Pzai, Foresight News
On May 15, the South Korean game developer NEXON, which launched DNF, MapleStory, and KartRider, released the NXPC token, allocating 3% to BNB HODLers and also listing it on exchanges like Binance, Bybit, Upbit, and Bithumb. Under the effect of wealth, NXPC immediately surged to a maximum of $3.98, with the market capitalization reaching $4 billion.
A large number of users who participated in the Alpha airdrop distribution also excitedly shared on X about the grand 'Da Mao' party, where each user received 198 NXPC, which, at the current price, is worth $575, considered the 'largest' airdrop since the beginning of Alpha. Additionally, on the blockchain, a savvy investor bought 4.1 million tokens one minute after the NXPC opening, at an average price of $1.36, spending a total of $1.75 million, and has now already made a profit of over $2.4 million, with a return of 135%.
In recent years, there have been few on-chain gaming projects that surged in the market. However, NXPC and its MapleStory Universe ecosystem (the on-chain version of 'MapleStory') have brought a refreshing flow to the market. This article provides an overview of the project's development.
Recreation of MapleStory
The MapleStory Universe is a virtual ecosystem based on the super IP (MapleStory). Since its establishment in 2022, NEXON has invested $100 million in the project and led the development process, building the body of the MapleStory N game and an NFT trading platform on the Avalanche C-Chain, with a game ecosystem centered around a two-token model (NXPC governance token and internal NESO token), as well as an NFT and token exchange mechanism and a contribution reward mechanism, with the pre-download of MapleStory N set to begin on May 8, 2025.
In the token economy, the total NXPC is 1 billion tokens, adopting a halving issuance model, with an initial circulation ratio of 16.9%, 0.4% of the tokens are offered for airdrop on Upbit; 0.3% of the tokens are offered for airdrop on Binance Alpha; 3% of the tokens are offered for airdrop to BNB HODLers; and 1.422% is allocated to community airdrops (including Galxe events, NXPC competitions, bug rewards, Kaito voting, etc.). In the game, NXPC can be used to mint equipment NFTs and pay fees, possessing a certain deflationary mechanism.
As a classic MMORPG with over 250 million accumulated players and total revenue of $5 billion, its vast user base and mature economic system establish the foundation for the blockchain transformation of this game. Additionally, these games have a highly immersive gameplay structure and a complex virtual economic system, where players often invest in character development, equipment accumulation, and building social relationships over years or even decades, providing a stable user base and a valuation scenario for the blockchain transformation.
Additionally, the guild collaboration mechanisms, economic production, and resource competition commonly found in MMORPGs adapt very well to the contribution reward and incentive token model of blockchain - for example, the tokens that players earn by participating in dungeon challenges, community governance, or content creation can be converted into universal fuel for the game's internal economic system, forming a positive cycle, reflected in greater player longevity and a higher internal economic potential.
