There's something about taking long-running MMOs back to their roots that fans really seem to like. Old School Runescape, a version of the venerable Jagex MMO that recreates the game as it was in 2007, is enduringly popular, and when Blizzard announced World of Warcraft Classic in 2018, that was a big deal. Now MapleStory is set to join the ranks with the upcoming Classic World, "a nostalgic experience crafted just for Global MapleStory players."
MapleStory hasn't got a lot of attention around these parts, but it's a remarkably successful game that's been running for more than 20 years. We recently cited it alongside EverQuest and Ultima Online as one of the few live service games "that have passed the test of time"—putting it mildly, I think—and it continues to be regularly updated on Steam, where it draws several thousand concurrent players at any given moment.
I'm inclined to think that a lot of the desire for throwback MMOs is driven by nostalgia: Not necessarily a yearning for the way the game was 20 years ago, but for the way we were, and the emotions and experiences we enjoyed when all this stuff was exciting and new. Alas, we can't go back, but it turns out that in at least some instances, taking the games back to those long-gone days is not a terrible compromise—there's some refreshing challenge to be found in the sharp points and rough edges of the early oughts.
A release date for MapleStory Classic World hasn't been announced at this point, but more details will be revealed in the second half of 2025.
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