Author: Pzai, Foresight News
On May 15, the South Korean gaming company NEXON, which previously released DNF, MapleStory, and KartRider, launched its token NXPC. In the token distribution, 3% was allocated to BNB HODLers, and it was simultaneously listed on exchanges such as Binance, Bybit, Upbit, and Bithumb. Under the wealth effect, NXPC opened and surged to a peak of $3.98, with its market capitalization reaching $4 billion.
Many users participating in the Alpha airdrop excitedly shared the "big wave" on X, with each user receiving 198 NXPC, valued at $575 at the current price, making it the "largest" airdrop since the Alpha launch. On-chain, a smart money investor bought 4.1 million tokens at an average price of $1.36 just one minute after the NXPC launch, spending a total of $1.75 million, and has since made a profit of over $2.4 million, with a return rate of 135%.
In recent years, there have been few instances of chain game projects skyrocketing in the market. However, NXPC and its ecosystem MapleStory Universe (the on-chain version of "MapleStory") have brought a wave of rapid change to the market. This article provides a brief overview of the project's background.
Recreating MapleStory
MapleStory Universe is a virtual world ecosystem built on the super IP of "MapleStory." Since its establishment in 2022, NEXON has invested $100 million into the project and led the development process, constructing the main game MapleStory N and an NFT trading platform on the Avalanche C-Chain. The game ecosystem is centered around a dual-token model (governance token NXPC and in-game token NESO), with mechanisms for NFT and token exchange and contribution rewards, and the pre-download of MapleStory N was launched on May 8, 2025.
In terms of token economics, the total supply of NXPC is 1 billion tokens, adopting a halving issuance model, with an initial circulation ratio of 16.9%. 0.4% of the tokens are allocated for Upbit airdrops; 0.3% for Binance Alpha airdrops; 3% for BNB HODLer airdrops; and 1.422% for community airdrops (including Galxe events, NXPC competitions, bug bounties, Kaito voting, etc.). In the game, NXPC can be used to mint equipment NFTs and pay transaction fees, featuring a certain deflationary mechanism.
As a classic MMORPG with over 250 million cumulative players and total revenue of $5 billion, its large user base and mature economic system lay the foundation for this game's blockchain transformation. Such games inherently possess a deeply immersive gameplay framework and a highly complex virtual economic system, where players often invest in character development, equipment accumulation, and social relationship building over years or even decades. This long-term engagement provides a stable user base and value accumulation scenarios for blockchain transformation.
Moreover, the mechanisms of guild cooperation, economic production, and resource competition commonly found in MMORPGs are highly compatible with blockchain's contribution rewards and token incentive models. For example, tokens earned by players through participating in dungeon challenges, community governance, or content creation can be converted into universal fuel for the in-game economic system, thereby forming a positive cycle, reflected in longer player lifecycles and higher in-game economic potential.
Under this strategy, the crypto market is actively buying into such opportunities, and major South Korean companies are viewing the crypto market as a new business growth point. According to NEXON's Q1 2025 financial report, quarterly revenue reached $775.9 million, a year-on-year increase of 5%, with an expected revenue drop of about 40% in the second quarter. The $3.8 billion increase in market capitalization from this token issuance will also serve as a strong boost to the financial report. On the path of chain games, NEXON is taking up the banner of revival.
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