Nexon announced on the 28th that it's hosting the 'MapleStory Global Dev Contest' with a total prize pool of 1.8 billion KRW. This event is designed to creatively expand the core fun of the MapleStory IP and discover global developers. The contest will be held on 'MapleStory World,' a sandbox platform that leverages MapleStory's vast resources.

Anyone aged 14 or older can enter this contest. Participants must develop and launch a new world that expands and combines the eight core fun elements of MapleStory (Growth, Exploration, Hunting, Combat, Collection, Cooperation, Challenge, Competition) in their own way, between June 4th and October 7th, before submitting their entry.

Various benefits are also provided for contest participants. They will receive educational materials on core systems by game genre and have access to a dedicated Q&A channel to ask experts about any development difficulties or queries. Furthermore, a dedicated community will support networking, such as team member recruitment and information sharing.

To help participants broaden their ideas and creativity, and focus on development, Nexon is introducing the MSW AI Toolkit feature within MapleStory World. This feature allows for new world development using a vibe coding method, powered by AI (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor) trained on MapleStory World development knowledge. This feature is available not only to contest participants but also to existing creators.

Additionally, six original remake worlds created on MapleStory World (Meso Warriors, Maple Duel, Chuchu Burger Branch 1, Metochess, Miner Simulator, Monster Farm) will have their resources and code provided to existing creators and participants. These provided resources and code can be freely used for developing new worlds for the contest entry.

Entries will be internally judged based on IP interpretation and expansion, completeness, and sustainability, with a total of 30 teams advancing to the finals. Finalist teams will receive support of up to approximately 50 million KRW each, and the final 7 winning teams will receive an additional prize of up to approximately 40 million KRW.

Meanwhile, Nexon will host a one-day online bootcamp on the last Friday of each month from May to July for contest participants and those new to game development. Participants can receive basic development and MapleStory World platform training online, and deepen their understanding of the platform through mini-game creation practice.

More detailed information about this contest is available on theMapleStory Global Dev Contest website.