Today, Bandai Namco announced theirBlue Protocolservers in Japanwill close for good on the 18th of January 2025. The title was launched on the 14th of June 2023 (PC) and the 13th of December 2023 (PS5, Xbox).
The only good news for players is that Blue Protocol will continue receivingregular updatesuntil its eventual shutdown.
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Still, this effectively means potential playersin Europe and America will never experience this stunning, anime-themed title.
The announcement was also deflating for the DualShockers team, as we believedBlue Protocolcould potentiallyreplicate the successofGenshin Impact.
Blue Protocol Breaks Protocol
Unfortunately, the news wasn’t that shocking. Development was quite sluggish, and it took over six years to introduceBlue Protocolto the general public.
In fact, the game was supposed to be released for Western gamersseveral years back(which never happened).
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Players also intensely complained about the title’s repetitiveness.Blue Protocolforces you to chase your own tail just tofinish specific builds and progress the storyfurther.
According to the developers, all of this was by design, asthey wanted players to get immersed in the game’s beautiful world.
Then again, many users suggested Blue Protocol should have more content and, specifically, side missions.
From Hopeful Beginnings To A Tragic End
Not only were players shortchanged for a potentially fantastic title, but the development team was probably also devastated by the news. In the end,Blue Protocolhas beenin development since 2015.
Here’s what Bandai Namco sharedin their announcement:
We wanted to deliver an experience that is like stepping into the world of anime, and we have been challenging ourselves to create a world where each and every player can enjoy adventures as the main character of the anime.
Several poor decisions later, and we’re in the current spot.
The only thing we can hope for is that Bandai Namco’s developers will take these lessons to heart and treat us with a similar, anime-inspired title in the near future.
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