Nexon Announces MapleStory Adventures For Facebook

Nexon America announced that it will bring a social game adaptation of one of the most popular free-to-play MMORPGs, MapleStory, to Facebook this summer. The client-based edition of MapleStory has more than 6 million users in North America, where the game launched in 2005. Like the original version, MapleStory Adventures for Facebook will be a "colorful 2D side-scrolling" title, adapted with a simpler interface. MapleStory Adventures will have social features, such as the ability for players' friends to participate in quests and challenges, or help in combat. The Facebook game will also have a microtransactions-based model, in which players can purchase in-game items. With this announcement, Nexon also revealed that it's porting KartRider Rush, an iOS/Android take on its online Kart Rider game that has over 200 million registered players worldwide. The free game will also have microtransactions and Facebook Connect support. "Expanding our global IPs into the social and mobile gaming space is a watershed moment in Nexon’s global expansion efforts,” says Nexon America's CEO Daniel Kim. Kim adds, "Not only will this move provide new ways for hundreds of millions of fans worldwide to experience Nexon's games, it allows Nexon the opportunity to prove the robustness of its business model on new platforms."