Thursday 18th October/... NEXON, the ground-breaking development company behind the hugely successful online RPG, MapleStory Europe, is taking player interaction to a whole new level as it launches its first ever Maple Star contest. For three weeks, players will be able to strut their funky stuff and practice their best compliments and put-downs as they vote and take part in a Europe-wide contest that seeks to honour the very best dressed and most stylish characters in the game.

The Halloween-themed competition, which starts on October 18th (alongside the start of MapleStory’s month long Halloween celebrations) challenges players to create the most original and attention-grabbing character possible. Using MapleStory Europe’s rich character customisation system, together with the huge range of costume accessories available from MapleStory Europe’s unique Cash shop, players can let their imagination and design skills run riot as they battle to take the honours in online gaming’s first ever virtual fashion show.

To take part, players need an active MapleStory Europe account, a level 10 or higher character and plenty of design attitude as they attempt to please the harshest judging panel of all; their MapleStory Europe contemporaries. Everybody who plays MapleStory Europe is eligible to vote in the contest and Maplers are encouraged to leave feedback and comments – both helpful and not so helpful! – as well as vital ‘Love It’ votes, on MapleStory Europe’s busy and ever-expanding homepage, www.mapleeurope.com. Only at the end of the competition period, when all the votes are counted, will the person with the most ‘Love It’ votes be awarded the first prize of 70,000 Maple Points to spend in the Cash shop and the coveted title of MapleStory Europe’s first Maple Star.

“MapleStory Europe’s Maple Star event is yet another example of how NEXON continues to innovate and deliver great new content in the field of free-to-play MMORPGs,” remarked Calvin Yoo, Director of International Business Development at NEXON Europe. “MapleStory Europe is committed to bringing unique and fun massively multiplayer gaming to as wide an audience as possible, and we’re confident that’s exactly what players will get from this event. We hope as many players take part and vote as possible - although players won’t be able to vote for themselves, obviously!”

MapleStory is one of the most successful online games of all time, combining traditional 2D-gaming elements with a simple, yet satisfyingly deep online RPG. Originally launching in South Korea in April 2003, it now boasts over 72 million registered accounts across the world. MapleStory Europe, which launched in May 2007, is the latest iteration of the completely free to play franchise, and offers gamers in Europe the chance to play MapleStory in five different languages – English, French, German, Spanish and Dutch.

For further information on MapleStory Europe, to sign-up to the game and for full terms and conditions for the Maple Star event, please visit