[Currently participating in the Nexon PEAK Post Challenge]!

Hi everyone! It’s Bling!

I’m back again with another PEAK Challenge post :)

And today’s topic is~~ a seriously unforgettable game collab!

The second I saw this topic, I was like, ah yep, it has to be this one!

It’s none other than~~

the MapleStory x BTS collab

That’s right! (Seriously… how was I supposed to resist this one….)

The collaboration between the world’s top idol group BTS and MapleStory went way beyond a simple celebrity promo, and it’s often talked about as a historic collab where the members themselves, as real heavy users and genuine fans of the game, were deeply involved in the planning and design!

Officially, the main MapleStory x BTS collaboration has had three major phases overall (one full-group collab in 2020 + two solo main projects with Jin), so honestly, MapleStory and BTS really do go way back!

1. MapleStory X BTS (Late 2020)

The first one is~~

This was the first official collaboration with all BTS members taking part! It became a huge hot topic through web variety content where the members personally shared their childhood memories of MapleStory and even sketched and designed in-game fashion items themselves!

Most notably, these items were released!

• Black Swan Package: A chic, polished, dark-themed masterpiece-level outfit set created with design participation from RM, SUGA, j-hope, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook.

• ARMY Bomb and unique hat items: Items packed with each member’s personality were released in the Cash Shop, including a weapon modeled after BTS’s light stick, the ARMY Bomb, the “Time Spent with MapleStory” chair that Jin came up with, and the “Mask” designed by V.

At the time this collab happened, I wasn’t actively playing MapleStory, but I still remember hearing the news on YouTube, being completely shocked, and laughing like crazy while watching the web variety content ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

I’ll leave the link to that video in the comments, so I definitely recommend checking it out at least once too :)

2. “Office Warrior Kim Seokjin” Project (2022)

The second collab was!

BTS member Jin (JIN) is famously known, even in the entertainment industry, as a true MapleStory player (main character over level 250, which was considered extremely high-level before the level cap expansion). In 2022, the web variety show 《Office Warrior Kim Seokjin》 was launched with the concept of him joining Nexon as an “intern on the planning team”!

• Ideas Jin personally presented were actually implemented in the real Chuseok event (Jin’s Mysterious General Store).

• Customization and outfit items inspired by the legendary “Super Tuna” were released and got an explosive response from players!

This second one was the first solo collab with BTS member Jin! You could really feel how much Jin genuinely loves MapleStory, and how sincerely the devs cared about this project too! I actually watched the Office Warrior Kim Seokjin videos for the first time this time, and the vibe felt kind of unreal ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Like, wow, Maple is really on that level! Our Maple can do this much! That kind of feeling? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Office Warrior Kim Seokjin is super fun too, so please give it a watch!!

3. “Office Warrior Kim Seokjin Returns” (Spring 2026)

The third collab was

The most recent one came this spring, in March 2026, when a second solo collab with Jin happened once again to celebrate MapleStory’s 23rd anniversary!

• In-game event “Jin’s Mysterious Garden”: A large-scale event that ran for 52 days, where players rolled dice to move across a board, collected “Growth Fertilizer,” and earned EXP-related currency along with Jin-themed custom furniture and cosmetic items.

• Astral Serenade Package: An elegant, dreamy new outfit item set planned with Jin’s direct participation, along with the “Jin Booster Package,” was released.

• Offline Lotte World private-rental event (April 2026): As part of the collab, Nexon rented out all of Lotte World and held the “Maple Attack!” offline event, bringing Maple Island into real life. Priority reservations for high-level players (level 260–280 and above) and more helped create a blazing festival atmosphere both online and offline.

This third collab was also carried out as a solo collaboration with BTS’s Jin!

This one also came with fun YouTube variety content, and compared to before, the rewards and overall scale were way more explosive! I really wanted to go to the Lotte World private-rental event too… but I couldn’t because I had no friends to go with… please don’t ask about that sad little behind-the-scenes story………

💡 Why players praise this collab so highly

It’s because this wasn’t just some idol doing business promo without knowing anything about games, but an artist who truly understands MapleStory deeply and genuinely loves it, communicating with the director, the dev team, and the players on the same wavelength while helping create the content! Because of that, it’s been praised by both game communities and K-POP fandoms as “the most ideal example of a collaboration”!

I honestly think one of the reasons MapleStory has been loved so consistently for 23 years isn’t just the gameplay, but also the way it goes big even with these little events and collabs and absolutely nails what players want!

As both a KPOP fan and a Maple fan, I sincerely hope MapleStory and BTS keep this amazing relationship going for a long, long time!

So today, I introduced the game collab that I personally think is the most unforgettable!

What collab has stuck with you the most? I’d love it if you shared your picks in the comments! And don’t forget to leave a like too! >//<

That’s it for today’s post! I’ll be back next time with a brand-new topic!

This was Bling!

#NPC01 #인상깊은게임콜라보 #메이플스토리 #BTS #여름방학 #확률형아이템포함 #블링