It’s been 1 1/2 years since the announcement trailer for Bandai Namco’s action MMORPG Blue Protocol was revealed at the 2022 Video Game Awards. Since then, gamers in North America were eagerly waiting for the release of the game by its publisher Amazon Games (although, some people have had their reservations about Amazon being the publisher seeing their track record thus far with handling games) but that all came to a stark end as this morning. Early in the morning, Bandai Namco games made an official announcement on their X (formally Twitter) for Blue Protocol that announced the termination of service for the game in Japan as of January 18, 2025. Following this announcement, Amazon Games has made their own announcement on their website, X, & Steam page for the game announcing that the Western release of Blue Protocol has been cancelled.
「BLUE PROTOCOL」サービス終了のお知らせ
誠に勝手ながら2025年1月18日にサービス終了させていただくことになりました。
突然のお知らせとなりましたこと深くお詫び申し上げます。今後のアップデートスケジュール詳細は、お知らせをご確認くださいhttps://t.co/eXy9s9q3GI#ブルプロ #BlueProtocol— BLUE PROTOCOL (@BLUEPROTOCOL_JP) August 28, 2024
Please read this message regarding the future of BLUE PROTOCOL.
📜 https://t.co/HowQ5SIaTS pic.twitter.com/uADVc0jYrE
— BLUE PROTOCOL (@BLUEPROTOCOL) August 28, 2024
Earlier in the year, other regions and their publishers who were supposed to host their own servers for Blue Protocol announced the indefinite hiatus of releasing the game in their region (SEA, Korea, etc). Bandai Namco also stated that the game has not been financially successful for them since its release in Japan in Spring of 2023. This will not be the first time Bandai Namco has released a live service game that was shortly terminated a little over a year since its release as the same fate has happened to Gundam Evolution when it was released in the West & Japan. The only live service game that seemed somewhat successful or able to stay afloat from termination has been Mobile Suit Gundam Battle Operation 2 (now on PSN & Steam).
Blue Protocol is now available on PC (via Bandai Namco Launcher), PS5, & Xbox Series in Japan Only until the termination of service on January 18, 2025. Be advised that if you plan to play the JP version, you’ll need a VPN as Bandai Namco will ban anyone outside of Japan from playing (it has not been confirmed if Bandai Namco still bans foreign IPs as of this time).
