The Nexon Foundation announced on September 10 that it is operating the second term of 'Hello Mate,' a university student game creation mentoring volunteer program.
'Hello Mate' is a university student volunteer program that aims to contribute to closing the digital education gap using Nexon's creation platforms, 'HelloMaple' and 'MapleStory Worlds.' University student mentors directly plan and produce game creation educational content and carry out volunteer activities for youth mentees at local community centers and schools.
The second term program will run for five months from September to January 2027. Approximately 90 university student mentors from Seoul National University, Sungkyunkwan University, Hanyang University, and KAIST, along with about 300 youth mentees, will participate. After receiving orientation on the program and creation platform usage on September 12, the mentors will conduct about 20 hours of game creation mentoring volunteer activities through December.
A key feature of this second term is the expansion of both the platform used and the target age group. Unlike the first term, which only utilized the block coding platform 'HelloMaple' for elementary school students, the second term introduces the sandbox creation platform 'MapleStory Worlds' to expand the scope of the program to middle school students.
A new program linked to the 'Coding Class for Everyone' initiative run by the Daejeon Social Service Agency will also be established. KAIST university students will participate as mentors to conduct volunteer activities for slow-learner youth and young adults in the Daejeon region.
Participating university student mentors will be offered a visit to Nexon's Pangyo office and career mentoring opportunities with Nexon employees. Upon completing their activities, they will receive volunteer hour certification and a certificate of completion issued under the name of the Chairman of the Nexon Foundation.
Kim Jung-wook, Chairman of the Nexon Foundation, said, "We prepared the second term by incorporating the educational achievements and various field feedback confirmed through the first term of 'Hello Mate.'" He added, "We will continue to support narrowing the digital education gap and building capabilities for young people, who are the future of our society."
Meanwhile, 74 university student mentors participated in the first term, which ran from September 2025 to January 2026. They conducted approximately 3,000 hours of coding education volunteer work across two elementary schools and four local children's centers in Seoul. A satisfaction survey among participating university students recorded a score of 4.8 out of 5.
