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[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series versions of free-to-play online action RPG Blue Protocol will launch this winter in Japan, Bandai Namco announced at its Tokyo Game Show 2023 stage event.

Blue Protocol first launched for PC on June 14 in Japan. The global version is due out for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC via Steam in 2024.

The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series versions will support cross-play and cross-save, allowing you to play with others and with the same account across platforms.

Blue Protocol for PS5, Xbox Series launches this winter in Japan

The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series versions of free-to-play online action RPG Blue Protocol will launch this winter in Japan, Bandai Namco announced at its Tokyo Game Show 2023 stage event.

www.gematsu.com

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

I wonder what this means for Blue Protocol's global release since it looks like it performed quite badly in Japan based on this report. It's one of the very few MMOs / live service games I was looking forward to playing. :/

Blue Protocol is a free-to-play MMO released by Bandai Namco Holdings in June 2023 for the PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X❘S. The game is currently Japan-exclusive, but has releases by Amazon Games planned for North and South America, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

In the period leading up to its release, Blue Protocol was highly anticipated by Japanese users, and after going through several delays, it had a successful launch, immediately gathering over 600,000 players. For a time, Blue Protocol was the fastest growing title in the history of Bandai Namco’s online game business, and this popularity was likely due to the fact that it was a rare instance of a made-in-Japan MMORPG, with the added factor of anime-style graphics and a big company backing the project.

But what happened to Blue Protocol? The hype around the game died down quite rapidly, as Japanese users started pointing out issues such as insufficient content updates, long-term negligence towards serious bugs, bad balancing decisions and overall lack of engaging features. Compared to initial figures, the number of players dwindled significantly.

It seems that this contributed to Blue Protocol significantly underperforming in terms of Bandai Namco’s financial forecasts. With overseas releases for the game planned for 2024, the company’s future decisions for Blue Protocol will be a deciding factor for its future.

Bandai Namco disappointed with performance of "new online game" (meaning Blue Protocol) - AUTOMATON WEST

Bandai Namco Holdings released their 9-month Financial Report for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024, which mentions a "new online game" falling short of forecasts. This likely refers to the MMO Blue Protocol.

automaton-media.com

At least the opening animation is cool though.

 

[MagiusNecros]

I'm sure the censorship and sniping non-JP users didn't help either on top of lack of content, poor class balance, poor quality assurance, perpetual delays limiting player population. I had interest in it at one point but after seeing they weren't going to uphold the game's original vision I lost interest completely.

This is kinda the issue with MMOs though. They announce and showcase this eyecandy promise of what seems like a great experience but it's either one big scam that shuts down in a couple months or it's always in Alpha and has no plan to actually release ever. Handing of the global release to Amazon Games was also a big mistake I feel.

 

[Arsic]

I'm sure the censorship and sniping non-JP users didn't help either on top of lack of content, poor class balance, poor quality assurance, perpetual delays limiting player population. I had interest in it at one point but after seeing they weren't going to uphold the game's original vision I lost interest completely.

This is kinda the issue with MMOs though. They announce and showcase this eyecandy promise of what seems like a great experience but it's either one big scam that shuts down in a couple months or it's always in Alpha and has no plan to actually release ever. Handing of the global release to Amazon Games was also a big mistake I feel.

I was in the Japan psn store to buy a game a month or two ago and saw the abysmal user score for this game on there…. Knew it was a flop right then.

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

 

[March Climber]

Handing of the global release to Amazon Games was also a big mistake I feel.

I’m still in disbelief that Namco handed this to Amazon Games.

I still remember seeing and hearing the few audible groans from audiences and ‘nooo!’ from multiple outlets once they announced the collaboration.

For anyone here wondering why people are concerned, look no further than the butchering of Lost Ark’s content and the terrible handling of New World. I feel like Namco sent this game to die a slow and unnecessary death.