Versions and registration

StrategyWiki has more information about the content differences between versions at Latest patches.
Version Language Countries/Regions Local publishers Number of worlds Released
MapleStory South Korea Korean  NEXON Korea Co., Ltd.
a South Korean identification number is required in order to properly register. Twenty-three (23) and three Test servers (Tespia, Scania, Zenith) April 29, 2003
MapleStory Japan Japanese  NEXON Japan Co., Ltd.
a Japan IP is required for registration. Eleven (11) and one Test server (Galicia) December 3, 2003
MapleStory China
(PRC) Simplified Chinese  Shanda Corporation Co., Ltd
a People's Republic of China identification number and People's Republic of China IP is required for registration. Gateway 1: 20 - Named after monsters in the game

Gateway 2: 12 - Named after ores in the game
Gateway 3: 2 - Named after Non-playable characters in the game
Gateway 4 : 1 - Named after weapons in the game
and one Test server (Tespia)
December 2004
MapleStory
North America
(Global) English  +  Any country without a localized version NEXON America Co., Ltd.
any IP within North America and IP without restriction. Eight (8) and one test server. (Tespia) May 11, 2005
MapleStory South East Asia English  +  +  +  AsiaSoft Online Pte, Ltd.
an identification number and SEA IP is required for registration. Four (4) - Named after constellations June 23, 2005
MapleStory Taiwan
(ROC) Traditional Chinese  Gamania Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd.
a Taiwan identification number and Taiwan IP is required for registration. Twelve (12) - Named after monsters in the game and one Test server (Tespia) July 4, 2005
MapleStory Thailand Thai and English  Asiasoft Corporation Co., Ltd.
a Thailand identification number and Thailand IP is required for registration. Two (2) August 16, 2005
MapleStory Europe English, French, German, Spanish, and Dutch.  Any country within Europe NEXON Europe Limited
GameGuard performs an IP check. One (1) with three channels for English and two channels devoted to each other major language April 12, 2007
MapleStory
Hong Kong
(Macau) Traditional Chinese  +  Within PRC's Special Administrative Region only Gamania Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd.
a Hong Kong or Macau identification number is required for registration. One (1) November 1, 2007
(open beta)
MapleStory
Vietnam Vietnamese  TBA TBA May 2008
MapleStory
Brazil Portuguese  TBA TBA May 2008
MapleStory
India TBA  TBA TBA TBA 2008
MapleStory
South West Asia TBA  TBA TBA TBA 2008
The Korean version was the first to be created, therefore it has the most features as of yet.[17] Other versions are at different stages of development and most are not as advanced in content as Korea's. With this advantage comes the problem of players (mainly from the North America (Global) version, but some from others) trying to play KoreaMS. These players are often referred to as 이주자, or "immigrants" by a majority of the Korean MapleStory players. These "immigrants" are the reason why a Korean Social Security Number is required to play. IP blocking is used in some of the other versions of the game, mostly for the same reason. Some attempt to bypass this by using Proxies, which spoof IP addresses to make it seem like a player is playing from a different country - however in Europe MapleStory a GameGuard proxy check has been implemented. This is also because foreign text in the Latin Character-Based North America (Global) version causes glitches to occur. This is the same for Koreans in the Chinese version, and so on.[18]

Recently, a localized version for Hong Kong / Macau has been announced publish by Gamania Hong Kong. It should commence Beta testing on October 23, 2007.[19]

Though some versions share the same world names, they are different and independent of each other. They are defined by their language used, publisher, server location and specialized worlds.