{"rewrite":{"id":"r_0e559aeda4a79a555f4ad576","clusterId":"c_850ee3e8de568a38152a6e10","slug":"maplestory-universe-dev-details-5-years-of-blockchain-trial-and-error-at-ndc26","model":"deepseek-v4-flash","headline":"MapleStory Universe Dev Details 5 Years of Blockchain Trial and Error at NDC26","summary":"At NEXON Developers Conference 26, NEXPACE blockchain lead Ryu Gi-hyeok presented a postmortem of five years building MapleStory Universe, the blockchain ecosystem around MapleStory. He described three walls the project hit after launch: the security risk of asset approvals, the friction of transaction fees, and the cost of vetting external builders on a permissioned chain. The talk centered on whether blockchain's permissionless ideal can coexist with a developer's responsibility to protect users.","whyItMatters":"The presentation offers a rare public reckoning from a major game company on the practical contradictions between blockchain's promise of open freedom and the operational need for control.","webCardHtml":"\u003cp\u003eRyu Gi-hyeok, who oversees blockchain development at NEXON\u0026#39;s Abu Dhabi entity NEXPACE, walked attendees through the project\u0026#39;s evolution at NDC26. MapleStory N (MSN), the blockchain game based on the MapleStory IP, launched worldwide in May 2025 and has been live for over a year. The broader MapleStory Universe (MSU) encompasses MSN, a marketplace, tokens (NXPC for fees, NESO for in-game use), NFT items, and third-party builder apps, all running on the Henesys Chain, a permissioned chain built on Avalanche.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRyu framed the talk around one question: can blockchain\u0026#39;s permissionless freedom and the operator\u0026#39;s responsibility coexist? He laid out three interconnected walls the team hit after launch. The first was the approve mechanism, where users must sign permission for a program to move assets from their wallet, a common phishing vector. The team solved it with a whitelist system that only allows pre-approved addresses to interact with their tokens and items. The second wall was transaction fees, which they absorbed entirely. The third was the cost of vetting external builders\u0026#39; smart contracts for KYC and AML compliance, which ballooned operational costs and throttled ecosystem growth.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRyu admitted the team only realized later that these three fixes formed a domino chain: each protective choice pushed them deeper into a permissioned architecture that contradicted the openness they wanted. He said they decided to start over from that point.\u003c/p\u003e","blueskyPost":"At NDC26, NEXON's Ryu Gi-hyeok detailed five years of building MapleStory Universe, hitting three walls: approval phishing, fee friction, and builder vetting costs. Each fix tightened control, undermining the openness they aimed for. He said they decided to start over.","twitterPost":"At NDC26, NEXON's Ryu Gi-hyeok detailed five years of building MapleStory Universe. Three walls: approval phishing, fee friction, builder vetting costs. Each fix tightened control, undermining openness. He said they decided to start over.","threadsPost":null,"newsletterBlurb":"At NDC26, NEXON's Ryu Gi-hyeok presented a five-year postmortem of MapleStory Universe, the blockchain ecosystem around MapleStory. He described three walls the project hit after launch: the security risk of asset approvals, the friction of transaction fees, and the cost of vetting external builders on a permissioned chain. Each protective choice pushed the team deeper into a permissioned architecture that contradicted the openness they wanted, leading them to decide to start over.","attributionJson":"[{\"source\":\"4Gamer.net\",\"url\":\"https://www.4gamer.net/games/696/G069650/20260618022/\",\"title\":\"自由と責任は両立できるのか。「メイプルストーリー」のブロックチェーン「MapleStory Universe」5年の試行錯誤をレポート［NDC26］\"}]","lintFlagsJson":null,"lintHits":0,"costUsd":0,"inputTokens":5862,"outputTokens":826,"status":"published","repairAttempts":0,"nextRepairAt":null,"factsAttemptedAt":1781765879,"createdAt":"2026-06-18T06:46:10.000Z","publishedAt":"2026-06-18T06:49:57.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-06-18T06:49:57.000Z"},"cluster":{"id":"c_850ee3e8de568a38152a6e10","canonicalTitle":"自由と責任は両立できるのか。「メイプルストーリー」のブロックチェーン「MapleStory Universe」5年の試行錯誤をレポート［NDC26］","representativeArticleId":"a_1b36b7f9cc383ae57cc778e7","sourceCount":1,"writtenSourceCount":1,"writeAttempts":0,"isSolo":true,"entitiesJson":"{\"anime_titles\":[],\"manga_titles\":[],\"work_titles\":[\"MapleStory Universe\"],\"studios\":[\"NEXON Korea\"],\"people\":[],\"type\":\"news\",\"domain\":\"games\",\"is_roundup\":false}","contentType":"news","status":"published","firstSeenAt":"2026-06-18T06:01:43.000Z","lastSeenAt":"2026-06-18T06:01:43.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-06-18T06:49:57.000Z"},"attribution":[{"source":"4Gamer.net","url":"https://www.4gamer.net/games/696/G069650/20260618022/","title":"自由と責任は両立できるのか。「メイプルストーリー」のブロックチェーン「MapleStory Universe」5年の試行錯誤をレポート［NDC26］"}],"entities":{"anime_titles":[],"manga_titles":[],"work_titles":["MapleStory Universe"],"studios":["NEXON Korea"],"people":[],"type":"news","domain":"games","is_roundup":false},"keyFacts":["At NDC26, NEXPACE blockchain lead Ryu Gi-hyeok presented a postmortem of five years building MapleStory Universe, the blockchain ecosystem around MapleStory.","MapleStory N, the blockchain game based on the MapleStory IP, launched worldwide in May 2025 and has been live for over a year.","Ryu described three walls the project hit after launch: the security risk of asset approvals, the friction of transaction fees, and the cost of vetting external builders on a permissioned chain.","The team solved the approve mechanism with a whitelist system that only allows pre-approved addresses to interact with their tokens and items.","Ryu admitted the team only realized later that their fixes formed a domino chain that pushed them deeper into a permissioned architecture, contradicting the openness they wanted."]}