[Post BBW] Nexpace at Binance Blockchain Week
Building Toward an Open Digital Universe
Binance Blockchain Week wrapped up on December 4, and this year felt different for us at Nexpace. We joined as a Platinum+ sponsor, which meant two days of nonstop conversations, panels, and questions from people who genuinely wanted to understand where MapleStory Universe is heading and how Nexpace is building toward an open digital economy.
Both Keith Kim, our COO, and Mia Park, our Head of Business, took the stage in keynote and panel sessions. What came across all of them was simple: the future we’re working toward is not just a new game or a new platform. It’s an ecosystem built through participation, openness, and shared value.
A Connected Universe Built by Players and Builders
Keith opened his keynote with a grounding idea: MapleStory Universe isn’t meant to be a single game. It’s meant to be a connected universe where items, characters, economies, and experiences can move freely across environments.
To get there, Nexpace stepped away from the traditional model where everything sits inside one game client. Instead, MSU was redesigned from the ground up as a modular system powered by tokens, NFTs, open APIs, and MetaPlay, our interaction layer.
Keith emphasized one shift in particular: MSU’s growth won’t depend on how fast Nexpace creates content. It will depend on how active the ecosystem becomes when players and builders add their own layers on top.
“Games have to be community-led, built on open APIs and by global developers.” — Keith Kim, COO of NEXPACE on building the future of blockchain gaming
That idea led into the part of the keynote that generated the most conversation at the booth afterward: the builder ecosystem.
Keith made the case that building an open universe only works when the community is more than an audience. Builders need space, tools, and economic support to create their own applications, interactions, and services.
Since Nexpace opened its APIs, global developer activity has grown faster than expected. Using MapleStory’s twenty-three-year foundation and its 250 million fans, builders’ new projects are already taking shape.
Keith closed with the broader direction for Nexpace. To accelerate ecosystem growth, we released the NEXPACE Ecosystem Fund, up to 50 million dollars dedicated not just to games but to digital economy infrastructure, AI, financial layers, and real-world integrations.
The goal is to let MapleStory’s long-running IP evolve into an open universe where builders, players, and third-party services can develop without permission or bottlenecks.
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In Keith’s words, the shift ahead is from consumption to participation, from a closed world to an open digital economy.
What a Web3 Gaming Super App Could Be
During the “Super App in Web3” panel, Mia addressed a question most people in the audience were thinking about: what would a gaming super app even look like, especially when no Web3 game has truly scaled yet?
Web3 gaming feels like the same moment in time. Many believe it will happen, even if the winning model hasn’t emerged. This is why Nexpace is experimenting widely inside MSU. No one knows which direction will hit first, but progress comes from trying, learning, and adjusting.
Mia pointed out what many early blockchain games might get directions wrong. They focused on fast inflows and short-term hype rather than balanced ecosystems. Without a real equilibrium between supply and demand, nothing lasts.
With nearly thirty years of experience running live games, Nexpace understands how to maintain stable systems. In MSU, the goal is a world that grows on its own, where builders can create services, businesses can emerge organically, and the IP becomes something people use rather than just consume.
Gaming and AI: Practical Uses, Not Headlines
In another session focused on AI, Keith talked about how AI has become essential to operating large, persistent online worlds.
When MSU launched six months ago, it saw more bot and macro attacks than any Nexon game in history. The value of on-chain assets made it an easy target. AI systems became the backbone of defense, identifying patterns, spotting exploits, and reacting in real time.
The result: today, more than 90 percent of the early bot and macro issues have been resolved.
Keith also discussed the ways blockchain and AI now overlap in game development and its design. On-chain logic introduces strategic depth into markets and progression, and open APIs allow builders to extend these systems into new apps and services.
As AI becomes more common across the industry, Keith stressed responsible use. In live service games, AI’s most important role is maintaining a safe and stable environment where real economies and communities can thrive.
At the Nexpace Booth: Conversations That Point Forward
Nexpace’s booth drew builders, founders, investors, and long-time MapleStory fans. Many stayed longer than they planned, partly because the team loves talking about this stuff, and partly because this was the first time many attendees saw the full scale of our strategy laid out in one place.
We walked people through major milestones, upcoming builder tools, and the long-term roadmap for MSU as a multi-layered digital universe. We also met with the Binance team to discuss future opportunities and deeper collaboration.
The energy around the booth matched the theme of our sessions: people are ready for a gaming ecosystem that flourishes within the web3 landscape and beyond the traditional limits of Web2 game publishing.
Two days at Binance Blockchain Week reinforced what we’ve been building toward, the next phase of MapleStory Universe isn’t defined by a single product or even a single company. It’s defined by a network of builders, users, and partners who want a more open way to create and interact. Nexpace is committed to that future. And after this year’s event, it’s clear that many others are, too.
