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MapleStory, the classic 2D massive multiplayer online game (MMO), is finally hitting macOS officially after 22 years. Announced yesterday, the Mac port is now in beta, but if you’re still on a pre-Apple Silicon device, you might be out of luck.
MapleStory requires an M1 chip or newer, so any laptop from 2020 onwards. It does call for 16GB of RAM, but users over on Reddit are testing it on M1 MacBook Airs with 8GB of RAM and are saying it runs smoothly. Then again, it also calls for “Fiber-optic internet”, which, no, you don’t need for something like MapleStory.
I’d suspect that the Steam version of the game will get the macOS release once it’s out of beta. Right now, you’ll have to head directly to Nexon’s site to grab the game. Until now, most players on macOS had to use Nvidia’s GeForce Now streaming service to get around the limitations.
macOS has been getting a little bit of love recently from game developers. Even Path of Exile 2 has someone working on it. I spoke with CD Projekt Red about Cyberpunk 2077 hitting Apple’s operating system earlier this year:
“Mac advancements in recent years really caught our attention — the power of the M-series chips, plus Metal optimizations, made clear it’s now a platform for high-end gaming. So it was an exciting opportunity to bring over Cyberpunk 2077.”
MapleStory itself has been running for 22 years, hitting Korea in 2003, the US in 2005, and Europe in 2007. So much so, it’s gearing up to launch its own take on the Classic MMO trend going on right now.
RuneScape and World of Warcraft operate separate games that replicate how the game would have been, both of which have been massively successful. With MapleStory gaining a level of complexity not really expected from the chibi-2D game, it seems like Classic will be a decent reset for those looking for a simpler time.
The MMO did get a sequel in 2015, which launched first in Korea and then worldwide in 2018. The game lasted about two years in the West and Japan, while Korea eventually shut the game down this year, rendering it completely inaccessible. There are some efforts to bring the game back through private servers.
Either way, it looks like I’ll be back on that 2000s grind very soon, because I’m broken in the brain.
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