Believe it or not, nearly a decade has passed since MapleStory debuted in North America, as Nexon's most popular free-to-play title celebrates its 7th anniversary this year.  F2P or not, that's quite a feat for any online game.

Throughout the month of May, the MapleStory community should find no shortage of in-game activities commemorating the game's 7th regional birthday: 

During MapleStory's lucky seventh anniversary celebrations, players can partake in the Rising Star contest where completing certain tasks will help their favorite participating non-player characters (NPCs) - Cygnus, Lilin, and Valerie - rise in popularity above the others. In addition, these NPCs will hold mini concerts every Sunday during this Mapleversary month. Players will also get to battle an old favorite, the Cake Boss, who is looking to destroy any Mapler trying to eat it.

Over the years, this 2D side-scrolling MMO has attracted over 9.2 million registered players.  Of course, we're not sure how many of those are active, but it's still a significant figure.

A steady stream of new character classes, servers, maps, and monsters have kept folks busy.  In 2005, MapleStory had only four character classes to its name, but today, that number stands at 19.

So is the game set to retire any time soon?  Hah, no.  MapleStory North America's producer Yoonjin Kim states that the community can expect more from Nexon in coming years:

"Maple World has grown tremendously during the past seven years and our players have played a big part in making it such a great game.  We hope to continue to help the game grow and to provide entertaining content that the players can enjoy for years to come."

Believe it or not, nearly a decade has passed since MapleStory debuted in North America, as Nexon's most popular free-to-play title celebrates its 7th anniversary this year.  F2P or not, that's quite a feat for any online game.

Throughout the month of May, the MapleStory community should find no shortage of in-game activities commemorating the game's 7th regional birthday: 

During MapleStory's lucky seventh anniversary celebrations, players can partake in the Rising Star contest where completing certain tasks will help their favorite participating non-player characters (NPCs) - Cygnus, Lilin, and Valerie - rise in popularity above the others. In addition, these NPCs will hold mini concerts every Sunday during this Mapleversary month. Players will also get to battle an old favorite, the Cake Boss, who is looking to destroy any Mapler trying to eat it.

Over the years, this 2D side-scrolling MMO has attracted over 9.2 million registered players.  Of course, we're not sure how many of those are active, but it's still a significant figure.

A steady stream of new character classes, servers, maps, and monsters have kept folks busy.  In 2005, MapleStory had only four character classes to its name, but today, that number stands at 19.

So is the game set to retire any time soon?  Hah, no.  MapleStory North America's producer Yoonjin Kim states that the community can expect more from Nexon in coming years:

"Maple World has grown tremendously during the past seven years and our players have played a big part in making it such a great game.  We hope to continue to help the game grow and to provide entertaining content that the players can enjoy for years to come."