MapleStory Classic Download and Install Guide for Launch

The MapleStory Classic download will come from Nexon, through the official MapleStory site or the Nexon Launcher, and nowhere else. If a link is not on a nexon.com domain, do not click it. We are opening with that because in the weeks before every Maple launch we have watched, the fake "classic client" downloads appear before the real one does, and they are the single easiest way to lose your account before you have played a minute.

Everything else in this post is about making the real install go smoothly, and about the handful of problems old Maple had that we expect to see again.

Where the client will actually come from

Nexon distributes the current MapleStory through its own launcher and, for the main game, through Steam as well. We expect Classic to be available through the Nexon Launcher at minimum. Whether it also appears on Steam, or whether it is a separate install from the live game or a mode inside the same client, Nexon has not said.

Our guess is a separate download inside the Nexon Launcher, similar to how other Nexon titles sit side by side there. If it turns out to be a region or world selection inside the existing MapleStory client instead, the install is even simpler, because most people already have it.

Account setup, do it this week

You need a Nexon account. If you have an old one from the 2000s, try logging in now, not on 6 October. Old accounts sometimes need email verification against an address you no longer have, and Nexon support is not fast on launch week.

Once you are in, turn on two-factor authentication. Nexon accounts support an authenticator app. This is the single most effective thing you can do to keep your account, because the phishing that follows a Maple launch is relentless. We have both had friends lose fully-scrolled characters to a fake login page, and every one of them said the same thing afterwards.

If founders access is a purchase, it will attach to this account, so make sure the account you buy on is the one you actually play on. Details on that in our founders access post.

Will there be a pre-download

We hope so, and we think it is likely. The modern Maple client is not small, and Nexon has allowed pre-loading for major updates before. A pre-download means you install the client in the days before 6 October and it goes live at launch, rather than everyone hammering the download servers at the same moment.

If a pre-download is offered, use it. If it is not, expect the first hour of launch to be slow for everyone and plan accordingly. Have the launcher installed and your account logged in either way.

Install problems old Maple had

The old client was, to put it kindly, temperamental: it fought with anti-cheat and antivirus software, hated being alt-tabbed out of fullscreen, and sat as a tiny box in the corner of any modern display. Run it windowed from the first launch and most of that goes away, and we are keeping a live list of day-one issues in our common launch problems post.

The fake client problem

Here is the thing we actually want you to remember. Private servers have used the word "classic" for over a decade. Search for a Maple classic download today and half the results are private server launchers, some of them fine, some of them bundled with things you do not want on your PC. When Nexon's Classic launches, the ranking of those pages will not change overnight, and new fakes will appear that copy Nexon's branding.

A few rules that have kept us safe through several launches. Only download from a page you reached by typing the Nexon address yourself. Never install a client that arrives as a link in Discord, even from a friend, because friends' accounts get compromised. Never run a "patcher" or "fix" someone posts to solve a launch-day crash. And if a site asks for your Nexon password to "verify founders status", close it. Our scam post covers the phishing pages and account-sharing tricks that come after the client.

One of us watched a guildmate in 2009 install a "hack-free client" from a forum post and lose a character that had taken a year to build. The email he got afterwards, from the person who took it, is still the most infuriating thing either of us has read.

Before launch day

Install the launcher. Log in. Enable two-factor. Pre-download if it is offered. Set the game to windowed mode the first time it runs. Check our system requirements post if your machine is old or unusual.

Then close the launcher and go outside, because from 6 October you will not be doing much of that.