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Maple Classic, the overseas version of MapleStory, off to a strong start

MapleStory World drives Nexon's record first-half sales

Lineage, League of Legends classics fuel retro gaming wave

A user plays MapleStory Classic World. [Screen capture from the official MapleStory YouTube channel]

Nexon's recently launched overseas title MapleStory Classic World — known as Maple Classic — is off to a strong start. The game recreates the early domestic version of MapleStory, Nexon's flagship franchise, for international players.

The release reflects a broader shift in the gaming industry: as big-budget titles increasingly fail to recoup their development costs, publishers are turning to proven, long-running intellectual properties to drive growth. Analysts say the strategy is fueling a retro gaming wave, particularly among players in their 30s and 40s.

A gameplay screen from MapleStory Classic World. [Screen capture from the official MapleStory YouTube channel]

According to industry sources Tuesday, Nexon launched a paid early-access service called Founders Access roughly two weeks before Maple Classic's official release on Oct. 6, allowing players into the game ahead of the public launch. The top-tier package, called the Zakum Package, was priced at $79.99 (about 110,000 won).

Despite the steep price, Maple Classic made a strong early impression. A teaser video posted to the official overseas MapleStory YouTube channel racked up nearly 10 million views within two weeks. According to Google Trends, global search interest in MapleStory hit a score of 100 during the week of Oct. 4–10 — the highest reading in five years.

Industry observers say the strategy of leveraging a proven IP paid off. Given that even games with astronomical development budgets frequently fail at launch, a well-established franchise amounts to close to a guaranteed hit.

MapleStory itself has long been validated in the domestic market. Launched in 2003, the game continues to attract players through MapleStory World, which offers access to older versions of the title.

MapleStory World's second-quarter sales this year surged 123 percent from the same period last year, while revenue from the broader MapleStory IP rose 63 percent. Riding that momentum, Nexon posted record first-half sales of 2.56 trillion won ($1.92 billion).

A user plays Nexon's MapleStory at a PC bang. [Image generated by ChatGPT]

The renewed appetite for classic game IPs extends well beyond Nexon. NCsoft's Lineage Classic and Riot Games' League of Legends Classic are among the most prominent examples.

NCsoft's Lineage Classic, released in February, also contributed to a record first-half performance in the PC game segment. In the second quarter alone, the title posted sales of 185.5 billion won — a 216 percent jump from the same period last year. That helped push NCsoft's first-half PC game sales to a record of around 662.2 billion won.

League of Legends, made by Riot Games, has held the No. 1 spot at domestic PC bangs for 428 consecutive weeks as of Tuesday, and the company released a classic version of the game in July. Steady player demand for a throwback experience has kept interest in the classic edition alive even as the main title continues to dominate.

"The classic game craze is not a short-term event that delivers a quick hit," an industry official said. "It is a long-term strategy for drawing back existing fans and extending the lifespan of the entire IP."

ko@heraldcorp.com