"Buying Rare Items for 10 Million Won"... Spending Entire Salary Trying to Relive Memories

Classic Remake Games Sparked by Nostalgia
Active In-Game Item Trading Among MZ Generation

As old online games are regaining popularity, it has been revealed that in-game item cash trading is occurring frequently.

On the 22nd, on a game item trading site, an item A from ‘Mapleland,’ which faithfully recreates the popular online game MapleStory, was being traded for 2.5 million KRW. This item can only be used by high-level users in the game and is a weapon with high rarity, traded at a high price even within the game. Another rare item was being traded at a price exceeding 10 million KRW. One user said, “It’s the same item, but the cash trading price has risen nearly 20 times compared to the past.”

Mapleland, released in October 2023, is popular enough to have over 50,000 users logging in daily on average. It is known that the majority of users are from the MZ generation who were teenagers in the early to mid-2000s. User Jung Mo (32) said, “I started playing the game out of nostalgia, recalling the excitement of playing online games after school 20 years ago, but it’s disappointing that some items are traded at prices exceeding one or two months’ salary of a working adult.”

‘Baram-ui Nara Classic,’ which implements the version of Baram-ui Nara launched in 1996 before 2003, was released last November but quickly dominated the top ranks of transaction amounts on item trading sites. One user lamented, “You have to pay hundreds of thousands of KRW in cash to buy items essential for playing the game,” adding, “Even if you want to relive memories, you can’t even start the game without money.”

Online Game Item Transaction Volume Rankings. Courtesy of ItemMania

As in-game items are traded for high prices in cash, ‘workshops’ aiming to make money are springing up rapidly. A new term ‘ssalmeok’ (users who focus solely on harvesting in-game currency rather than leveling up or gaining experience) has also emerged, referring to those who make a living by converting game items into cash. One user who started the game for nostalgia posted on an online community, “I earn 1.2 million KRW a month by selling game money for cash. Every listing I post sells immediately.”

This phenomenon is interpreted as stemming from the MZ generation’s difficulty in securing a stable future due to soaring housing prices and economic recession. It is analyzed that they pursue current enjoyment and income generation rather than saving for the future or making long-term plans. Professor Heo Chang-deok of Yeungnam University’s Department of Sociology explained, “Even simple game items are considered valuable assets if they have rarity,” adding, “This reflects the characteristics of the MZ generation who utilize digital assets as a means of generating income beyond mere nostalgic consumption.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.