Amazon-published MMO Blue Protocol is being discontinued in Japan and its western release has been cancelled entirely.
Bandai Namco announced that Blue Protocol will close its doors permanently on January 18, 2025. In a statement on the MMO’s official website, the developer also writes that it has completely abandoned its plans for a western launch, in which Blue Protocol was to be published by Amazon’s games division.
“We have maintained a close relationship with Amazon Games throughout the development of Blue Protocol and both teams are disappointed that we will not be able to deliver the game to players around the world,” Bandai Namco added in the blog post.
“We know that Blue Protocol has been highly anticipated since it was first announced. We wanted to provide an experience that felt like immersing yourself in the world of the anime, and we challenged ourselves to create a world where every single player could experience adventures as the main character of the anime,” the announcement continued.
“We have been working hard to prepare for the release. However, we have come to the conclusion that it will not be possible to provide a service that satisfies all of you,” Bandai Namco added, adding that it “deeply apologizes for the sudden announcement.”
Blue Protocol was supposed to launch in the West back in June, but was delayed indefinitely just months before that release window. This came after Bandai’s MMO was originally scheduled to launch in the West in 2023. This is truly shocking considering members of the press had already tried out Blue Protocol last year – including us here at GamesRadar+.
The MMO was originally released in Japan in June 2023 and seemed to be a huge success from the start, with over 600,000 players and a whopping 200,000 concurrent players. Bandai Namco was apparently not happy with Blue Protocol’s performance since launch, which is the only likely reason for its sudden closure.
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