NEXON is marking the 10th anniversary of the NEXON Youth Programming Challenge (NYPC) by launching the 'NYPC Code Battle' university student league, alongside the first round of the NYPC 2025.

The NYPC Code Battle is a programming competition where participants face off against rival teams through code development. Unlike traditional algorithmic contests, it drops participants into a predefined game environment where they must design strategies and implement AI, helping them sharpen their collaborative skills and situational awareness. Practice problems are available until 18 August to help participants get a feel for the environment and problem types.

The online round runs from 8 August to 18 August, with team registration open until the round ends. Participants will tackle one problem using their programming language of choice—such as Python, Java, C, or C++. To assist participants in checking and improving their strategies during the round, interim evaluations will be provided.

NEXON will host the final round at its Pangyo headquarters on 25 October for the top 20 teams. Additionally, special awards will be presented to the top 100 teams, and certificates of participation will be provided to all participants who meet a certain performance threshold.

Meanwhile, the NYPC 2025 is open to youths aged 12 to 19 (born between 2007 and 2014) interested in programming. Round 1 runs online from 7 August to 11 August, allowing participants to solve problems freely and track their scores in real-time.

Round 1 is an online absolute evaluation featuring 10 problems inspired by ideas from NEXON's internal contest and four of its games: MapleStory, Mabinogi Mobile, Dave the Diver, and KartRider Rush+. Participants can solve the problems and submit their answers in their preferred programming language via the official NYPC website.

Participants who score at least 150 points out of a possible 1,000 (with partial points awarded per problem) will advance to Round 2, held on 17 August and 23 August. NEXON will also provide merchandise packages to 100 participants from Round 1.

Co-hosted by NEXON and the NEXON Foundation, and supported by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Korea Creative Content Agency, and the Game Culture Foundation, the NYPC was launched in 2016 to foster interest and skills in coding among youth, marking its 10th anniversary this year.