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[Draugoth]

Bandai Namco Online will be absorbed by Bandai Namco Entertainment in an absorption-type merger on April 1, 2025, the companies announced.

Bandai Namco Online was established in 2009 as a spin-off of Bandai Namco Entertainment, and has released titles such as Gundam Evolution and Blue Protocol. Gundam Evolution has since shut down, and Blue Protocol will shut down on January 18, 2025.

Other titles and businesses operated by Bandai Namco Online, such as Idolish Seven, SD Gundam Operations, and Gundam Tribe, will be taken over by Bandai Namco Entertainment following the absorption.

Source

 

[nial]

RIP. They won't be making games anymore.

 

[Griffon]

No surprises here. It was a division that was quickly made out of juniors and interns just to swindle Amazon out of its money.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Btw, Blue Protocol is not technically dead. Bamco has partnered with Tencent and they're reworking the MMO for mobile and PC under the title 'Blue Protocol: Star Resonance'. Really curious how that will turn out.

"Hello,
We are glad to receive your letter. We attach great importance to your feedback. Regarding the project you mentioned, we are currently developing a game product based on the world view of “PROJECT SKY BLUE” by Bandai Namco Online Inc., with new story content and gameplay design.

At present, the game is under intense development, and no more information can be disclosed.

Thank you for your love and attention to this game. Please wait patiently for follow-up news, and look forward to officially unveiling the mystery of this game to everyone in the near future. We will do our best to give back to the vast majority of players with the most exciting experience!

Thank you for your attention and support.

Best wishes,
Shanghai Baokela Network Technology Co., Ltd."

 

[MagiusNecros]

Btw, Blue Protocol is not technically dead. Bamco has partnered with Tencent and they're reworking the MMO for mobile and PC under the title 'Blue Protocol: Star Resonance'. Really curious how that will turn out.

Nah it's dead.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Nah it's dead.

For you maybe. I'll def give it a shot if it actually releases WW, even as a pseudo-gacha mobile PC MMO.

 

[Loomy]

How you fumble a gundam game, I'll never understand.

 

[HerjansEagleFeeder]

Ninja looting the talent before Sony does.

 

[MagiusNecros]

For you maybe. I'll def give it a shot if it actually releases WW, even as a pseudo-gacha mobile PC MMO.

I've seen this sort of thing before. Splitting it between PC and Mobile on top of a rebrand leads to a death spiral. If it doesn't die outright it'll end up being another Genshin Impact where because it is designed with mobile in mind you'll eventually just do cookie cutter dailies and the game may as well stop being a game at that point.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

I've seen this sort of thing before. Splitting it between PC and Mobile on top of a rebrand leads to a death spiral. If it doesn't die outright it'll end up being another Genshin Impact where because it is designed with mobile in mind you'll eventually just do cookie cutter dailies and the game may as well stop being a game at that point.

I mean we'll have to wait and see. Tencent has the expertise to at least salvage the more interesting aspects of Blue Protocol, and so far the info that came from the CN playtests look to be fairly promising. In any case, I'll be keeping an eye on this one and what you've mentioned there is not really a minus in my book since I'm very used with CN gacha gameplay design.