Vortex Gaming

Source: Nexon

Nexon (co-CEOs Kang Dae-hyun and Kim Jung-wook) announced on the 8th that they held the 2025 winter showcase 'EXPAND' for their mobile MMORPG 'MapleStory M' on the 6th and revealed a large-scale update plan.

On December 18th, the new job 'Kali' will be added in the first winter update. 'Kali' enhances the high mobility, which is unique to her, while lowering the difficulty of operation, providing both the fun of growth and the stability of combat. In line with this, we will be holding a large-scale growth support event for 'Kali' characters, such as level achievement and 7-day attendance.

We are introducing the 'Born to V' event, where you can grow to level 200 in 30 minutes, and through this, we provide a 'Hyper Burning Booster' that allows you to level up 1+4 up to level 250. In addition, we will proceed with 'Item Burning' with eased mission difficulty, 'Everyone's Burning 1+2 Boost Up' where two companion characters grow together when nurturing a leader character, and shorten the growth path to level 200. In addition, we support job change within the same job group for characters level 200 or higher who have completed the 5th job advancement. In addition, we will improve game usability by applying various systems and improvements such as the introduction of 'MapleStory M Scheduler', improvement of the trading house, improvement of mannequin convenience functions, and automation of fever buffs.

On January 15, 2026, a new original skill 'Stella Code' will be added. It consists of the active skill 'Constella Code' that unleashes the power of the constellation given to each job group, and the passive skill 'Star Chorus' that permanently increases core stats such as physical/magic damage and boss attack power. Along with this, the new original boss 'Azazel' and the exclusive reward 'Azazel's Stigmata' will be revealed. In addition, various improvement updates will be applied, such as the introduction of buff and skill preset functions, the addition of the union character growth content 'Union Champion', the easing of boss difficulty, and the adjustment of the maximum number of boss entry to 6.

On February 12, 2026, a large-scale update of the 6th job advancement system 'HEXA Matrix' will be carried out. The new common core 'Sol Janus', which can be used by all jobs, and the second 'Mastery Core' that enhances the skills of each job will be added at the same time. In addition, the new character 'Illium' will be introduced, while the new areas 'Hotel Arcs' and 'Karote' will be updated. In addition, the epic dungeon 'Highmountain', which supports large-scale rewards and automatic battles, will be released, and the second events of 'Item Burning', 'Born to V', and 'Everyone's Burning 1+2 Boost Up' will be held.

The showcase, which was held under the title of 'EXPAND', meaning to enable experience and infinite adventure, was held with online live broadcasting at Bondavinci Museum, Neungdong Fai Factory in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul. In addition to the presentation by Nexon's Kim Hyun-seung, head director of 'MapleStory M', various participation programs such as an event where users who visited the site of this showcase could check their 'MapleStory M' play records, a goods shop, a photo zone, and a fortune-telling event were presented, and limited edition special goods were presented.

More details on the 'MapleStory M' 'EXPAND' winter showcase and large-scale updates can be found on the official website.

Webzine InvenKim Chan-hwi Reporter
2025-12-08