Popular side-scrolling MMORPG MapleStory will soon see a collaboration with K-pop superstars BTS, thanks to a partnership between Big Hit Entertainment and Nexon. There’s not much detail yet about what the in-game part of the collab will involve, but in the lead-up to it, there’ll be three behind-the-scenes videos with BTS members “sharing their journey growing up with MapleStory through childhood and their fondness for the game.”
The videos will be released on a weekly basis, starting on 25 November (American time). A teaser video offers a hint at what fans can look forward to: members reminiscing on their time playing the game while touring, the guys singing the MapleStory theme song, Jin saying he almost payed Nexon a visit after a beloved item of his got destroyed, and much more.
BTS are known to be fans of MapleStory, especially Kim Seokjin (aka “Worldwide Handsome“). His love of the game comes up often, most recently in a photo he shared on Twitter holding some MapleStory-themed plushies. In the teaser video, he says that “Today’s the day our dreams come true.”
MapleStory first launched in Korea in 2003, and in North America in 2005, and continues to have a strong player-base with over 13 million registered players and 274 million characters created to date. It’s a 2D, side-scrolling MMORPG with a focus on player customisation, exploration, engaging storylines, and deadly raid boss encounters.
MapleStory has seen numerous cross-media spinoffs over the years, including an anime adaptation, a trading card game, and few single-player games. More recently, it saw a mobile release as MapleStory M, which will also welcome the BTS collaboration.
BTS have starred in a number of games of their own, including the rhythm game SuperStar BTS (though that was came to a close earlier this year), a visual novel / light management sim called BTS World, and BTS Universe, a visual novel creation platform focused on fan-made works. And for VR-gaming BTS fans, Beat Games recently released a BTS song pack for Beat Saber, making an excellent game even better.