Queensland University of Technology

Changing the Game Forever: MapleStory's Big Bang as a Climate Change Event

This paper reads the 2010 Big Bang update to MapleStory as a climate change event, arguing that the game's player-inhabited world rehearses how the climate crisis is experienced by its inhabitants.

• The paper reads MapleStory's 2010 Big Bang update as a climate change event, arguing the game's player-inhabited world rehearses how the climate crisis is experienced, with its history split into pre- and post-Big Bang sensibilities mirroring the spatiotemporal rupture of the Anthropocene.
• The Big Bang overhaul introduced faster traversal, a reduced experience-point requirement for leveling, and a new narrative centered on the revival of the Black Mage, shifting players' perception of the game from slower and communal to individualized, fast-paced, and power-centered.
• Pay-to-win mechanics and aggressive cosmetic marketing are associated with the post-update shift and have fueled documented player resistance, though the update did not introduce them directly.