MapleStory now being told in Europe

The world of massively multiplayer online games has just got more massive: NEXON Group announced today that its free-to-play MMO MapleStory boasts 67 million registered users across Asia and North America, and it hopes to increase this number now that the game is officially supported in Europe.

The game was first released in South Korea in 2003, and made it officially to North America at the end of 2006, where it reached subscriber numbers of 3 million users in less than four months.

European gamers have been promised weekly content updates, as well as in-game events to tie in with cultural happenings across the continent.

"We are very excited to finally bring the amazing world of MapleStory to Europe," said Calvin Yoo, director of international business development at NEXON Europe. "Now gamers all over Europe can enjoy MapleStory's delightful visuals, vibrant community and simple, yet truly compelling gameplay. We look forward to making many more exciting MapleStory announcements over the coming months."

Despite being free to play, MapleStory is quite the money spinner for Nexon due to the game's Cash Shop, where a micropayment system allows players to buy anything from sunglasses for their characters to tokens that increase leveling speed. Nexon reported $250 million in revenue for 2005, with micropayments being the primary driver.

MapleStory is available across Europe from July 12 in English, French, Spanish, German, or Dutch, and the client can be obtained from mapleeurope.com.

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/maplestory/news.html?sid=6174567&mode=all