Tencent Eyes $15B Nexon Takeover—Gaming Giant Doubles Down on Web3 Bet

Tencent''s gaming empire might just get a $15 billion power-up. The Chinese tech titan is reportedly in talks to acquire Nexon—the South Korean gaming powerhouse behind MapleStory and a growing portfolio of Web3 investments.

Why it matters: This isn''t just about pixels and loot boxes. Nexon''s blockchain gaming ventures could give Tencent a backdoor into crypto''s play-to-earn economy—something Beijing''s regulators have kept at arm''s length.

The cynical take: Because nothing says ''bullish on innovation'' like a traditional gaming giant buying its way into Web3 after the hype cycle peaked. At least the due diligence will be cheaper now.

Nexon has exposure to Web3 gaming

Nexon was founded in South Korea in 1994 and has been public since 2011, with a listing in Japan. The gaming company is behind headlines like MapleStory, Crazyracing Kartrider, Sudden Attack, Dungeon & Fighter, and The First Descendant. 

In the past few years, Nexon also supported the Web3 gaming boom, backing MapleStory Universe, Oasys, and CCP Games. The involvement of Tencent may give a boost to those games, as on-chain activity attempts a revival. 

Maple Story Universe used the main IP of the popular game to explore a launch on Avalanche in early 2024. The game was finally added on-chain on May 15, starting its first season in early June.

Avalanche remains a dedicated network for Web3 games, which is now trying to re-grow its influence. Recently, the platform started talks with FIFA for a new on-chain game. 

Since the first launch of Maple Story Universe as a Web3 game, the volumes on Avalanche exploded, with new records set almost weekly. The game brought back both a higher count of active wallets and a higher need for transactions and gas. 

Avalanche remains an active venue for on-chain gaming

Recently, Avalanche reported that Maple Story Universe was behind the increased on-chain activity, rising above 1M transactions daily. The Web3 game also launched its own L1, despite the rumors that the Web3 game WOULD wind down. 

@MaplestoryU launched its own Avalanche L1, powering a tokenized in-game economy.

Since launch: $4M+ in volume and over 2.6M NFTs traded.https://t.co/IiI1e1HaOR

— Avalanche🔺 (@avax) June 10, 2025

The game reports around 5K daily active users, and gives hope of a Web3 gaming revival. During the 2021 bull market, Web3 gaming peaked due to high token valuations, but then had to rely on real game qualities and building to survive the two-year bear market. 

Avalanche kept updating its assets and adding new games in place of older titles, recently turning into one of the more active L1 chains.

Despite this, Web3 gaming is still trying to grow from its lows, even with popular gaming IPs. Nexon’s involvement only gave some exposure to Avalanche, but the chain is still fighting for organic adoption while deploying features against farming bots that only play for gaming rewards.

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