The global release of Bandai Namco’s new MMO has been delayed to 2024, but a beta is still coming later this year
Bandai Namco’s upcoming action-MMO Blue Protocol, which will be published in the west by Amazon Games, has been delayed. It had been set to come out in the second half of 2023, but Amazon confirmed today that the launch outside of Japan has been pushed to sometime in 2024.
Blue Protocol was revealed in 2019, while confirmation of a global release followed at The Game Awards 2022. The game “takes players on a heroic journey through a planet teetering on the brink of destruction after millennia of conflict and technology overuse,” executive producer Sokichi Shimooka said. “A journey in which we transcend space and time, unlock our memories, defeat powerful foes, and alter the destructive future that threatens all mankind.”
That’s a little vague as far as the narrative backdrop goes, and the Steam page doesn’t have much more to say about it on that front, except that the game doesn’t take place on Earth—it’s set on a world called Regnas. It does, however, promise “deep customization” options, action-based combat with simple controls, and quests, boss battles, and “massive online raids against towering monsters.”
Shimooka said in the Game Awards video that Blue Protocol would be out sometime in 2023, and in Japan it will be, on June 14—but the rest of the world is going to have to wait a while longer.
Word of the delay first surfaced in a tweet from the Blue Protocol Database fan site:
🌎Unfortunately, the release date Global version of Blue Protocol has been moved to 2024.However, the Closed Beta Test for Global is still slated for 2023.#ブルプロ #BlueProtocol #SummerGameFest pic.twitter.com/KjfLxXe2zRMay 23, 2023
Amazon Games confirmed the delay in a statement sent to PC Gamer.
“We are excited to celebrate the announcement from Bandai Namco Online and Bandai Namco Studios that Blue Protocol will be releasing in Japan on June 14, and for the first time, players will set foot in the world of Regnas,” Amazon said. “With the final launch date revealed in Japan, we have a few updates to share on our plans for Closed Beta and launch.
“Our planned release window is moving to 2024 as we work toward launching Blue Protocol in the West across PC, Xbox X|S, and PlayStation 5. With continued efforts to localize the deeply immersive stories and build the infrastructure needed to engage in multiplayer adventures and massive online raids against towering monsters, we’re working hard to ensure the best possible experience for our players at launch.”
There will be an opportunity for people to get their hands on Blue Protocol in 2023: A closed beta test for the PC version of the game is planned for later in the year. If you’d like to give it a spin, you can sign up for a shot at the beta at playblueprotocol.com.
