Web3 Gamer – Cointelegraph Magazine

The hacker problem in MapleStory Universe is getting worse, with execs issuing apologies to players for how it’s been handled.

MapleStory Universe head of strategy Keith Kim said there’s been an “aggressive” spike in attempts to exploit the game, mostly involving exploiting character skills and network tampering.

“These are not isolated incidents. They compromise the experience for everyone.”

Popular gamer Predtz claimed in a video that hackers are using external software to make “low-level characters” artificially more powerful to defeat the “high-level bosses” in the game and extract more NPXC rewards.

This breaks the intended game balance and exploits the in-game economy, which is more concerning in blockchain games where rewards have real-world value, Predtz said.

Gaming commentator Dmoneygames said that because hackers have been exploiting the bonus reward events, he’s now spending a lot of time just trying to find channels that aren’t overrun by them.

“I finally found a channel without a hacker, but a hacker could appear at any second now to take advantage of the bonus XC that is going on right now,” Dmoneygames said in the video.

The game’s executive producer, Sunyoung Hwang, admits there hasn’t been enough communication over how they planned to address the feedback. 

“We haven’t communicated in the way this community deserves — not actively enough, not in both directions. That’s on us, and we sincerely apologize,” Hwang said.

However, Hwang claimed that no one has been able to cheat in a way that has seriously messed up the game’s economy or caused a market crash. “To be clear, there have been no unchecked exploits that led to systemic reward inflation or marketwide sell pressure,” Hwang said.

However, Gamer Yoked claimed the recent hacking saga has “completely flooded the market.”

“Late game items dropped in value,” he explained, adding that “nobody wants to buy gear when prices are guaranteed to keep falling.”

One gamer responded to Hwang, saying, “We don’t just want empty promises.”

To fight back, the developers upgraded the game’s skill validation system to detect suspicious behavior, especially in the early levels of the game, where abuse has spiked.

“This system now detects abnormal skill behavior and distorted network environments, with coverage extended to both boss content and early-level play, where abuse has become more frequent,” he said.

Kim expects the cheaters to keep coming, but says the dev team is ready to respond quickly and stay ahead.

A spokesperson for MapleStory Universe tells Magazine that the team “is taking this issue seriously and fully acknowledges its impact on player trust and the integrity of the in-game ecosystem.”

“In response, we have taken swift action to reinforce our systems through a multi-layered approach. This includes placing permanent access bans on more than 20,000 accounts per day involved in malicious activity, and enforcing additional limitations to disrupt exploit patterns,” the spokesperson says.

Tokyo Beast explodes in Japan, Immutable set to expand there

Futuristic combat auto-battler game Tokyo Beast has exploded in Japan, becoming the No. 1 free game on the Japanese App Store — and Web3 gaming giant Immutable is already planning to double down in the region.

“Japan has always been a global powerhouse in gaming,” Immutable co-founder Robbie Ferguson tells Magazine, adding that the Japanese gaming market’s strong response to Tokyo Beast signals that Japan has a demand for digital ownership in games.

After launching on June 12, the game racked up over 300,000 downloads in just 48 hours. 

Ferguson says it is “a clear indicator that Web3 gaming can achieve mainstream success in one of the most influential gaming markets in the world.” 

The surge in popularity comes just three months after Immutable announced it would be bringing Tokyo Beast onchain as part of a push to tap into Japan’s massive — but still relatively untapped — gaming market.

The game joined Immutable’s platform earlier this year and integrated with the Immutable Passport, which serves as a non-custodial wallet, gamer profile and authentication solution for users.

Ferguson says…