We’ve been eagerly anticipating Project BBQ for years. It was announced around the same time as Blue Protocol, and where Blue Protocol went through numerous changes over the course of its development process, launching in Japan this year with a full Global release in the beginning of 2024, Project BBQ.. well, it hasn’t faired so well.
Neople, the studio behind the game released 2 several minute long trailers elaborating on the type of game it was supposed to be. A large, open-world MMORPG set within the Dungeon Fighter Online universe.
Allowing for seamless exploration and transition between regions, cities, dungeons. And then last year they confirmed that Project BBQ was – for all intents and purposes, canceled. But not in the way we had expected.
On the contrary, they had canceled Project BBQ so they could have it undergo a metamorphosis into something they were under the impression would be far more lucrative in the long-term, and thus Project AK was born.
Which we have a 1 minute trailer for – the upcoming Project AK, henceforth known as Arad Chronicle: Kazan. With the trailer, came the announcement of the title, including an entire overhaul of the core game.

So let’s take a look.

Arad Chronicle retains its world setting. Taking place within and expanding upon the larger Dungeon Fighter Online universe, this new title from Neople is confirmed to have scrapped the MMO aspects of Project BBQ and instead put a focus on the single-player experience.
When asked why this was the case, as Dungeon Fighter Online is an MMO, the upcoming Dungeon Fighter Overkill is an MMO, and Dungeon Fighter Duel is multiplayer, it seems a little unusual to make Arad Chronicle the first incarnation of a Dungeon Fighter title to not be influenced by or at least cater towards a multiplayer audience.
The devs stated that they saw a larger potential in what they explained was essentially “Elden Ring.. in the Dungeon Fighter Online world.” Yes, they’ve taken direct inspiration from Elden Ring, and have confirmed that Arad Chronicle, instead of being an open-world action MMO, would instead be a “soulslike action RPG.” That honestly isn’t bad.
Elden Ring was a great game, and while Dungeon Fighter is a great MMO, it makes sense they’re not confident a new title in the franchise would do too well in the long-term. Especially given how critical MMO players are of new games these days.
It just wouldn’t be a smart business move for the game.

Arad Chronicle is set 800 years before the events of Dungeon Fighter Online, allowing players to experience the tale of General Kazan and Archmage Ozma.
At present, Arad Chronicle is confirmed to be releasing on to console: PlayStation and XBox, however when they were hiring last year they were hiring programmers with experience in integration between XBox Live, PlayStation Network, and Steam. Which sounds as though they’re alluding to PC and console cross-platform functionality.
Honestly we need more PC/console cross-platform MMOs. Too many MMOs release cross-platform between PC and mobile, and while Arad Chronicle isn’t an MMO, if it’s a “soulslike game,” it’s probably going to have some type of multiplayer functionality.

I’m incredibly excited for Arad Chronicle. This is a beautiful looking game that could really allow the Dungeon Fighter universe to expand into areas it had never been capable of reaching.
And while Korea isn’t known for making the best MMOs, they do make some solid non-MMOs. There is no 2023 release date confirmed at present, but a 2024 test phase wouldn’t be out of the question.
Neople nor Nexon have confirmed if there will be a premium box price for the game or if it’ll be free to play, but the former is much more likely than the latter. Yet also much more difficult to monetize.

I know you’re looking at your screen saying to yourself, “please be clickbait, please be clickbait!” Unfortunately, it isn’t, and no, this definitely not a joke.
Nexon have not only canceled an MMO we had been anticipating since it was announced 4 years ago, but at the same time they revealed that they’re taking what they’d created, and transitioning it over to a completely different game.

Nexon are notorious for canceling highly anticipated MMOs as they’re approaching completion – they did it recently with Peria Chronicles, which was supposed to be the spiritual successor to Mabinogi, and take the social, player-driven aspect of the genre to the next level.
And now they’re doing it again with Project BBQ, however, unlike Peria Chronicles which suffered a complete cancelation, the core Project BBQ game is going to live on as something new.

Before we go over what Project BBQ is going to become, first let me go over what Project BBQ was supposed to be: Nexon had revealed upon its announcement that Project BBQ was going to be set within the world of the Dungeon Fighter intellectual property.
It was going to be connected to Dungeon Fighter Online, and the upcoming Dungeon Fighter Overkill and Dungeon Fighter Duel games.
As it would take place within a shared universe, it would feature classes and characters found within the IP. That would be very familiar to those of us that are fans of the franchise.
It would be a completely open-world game. No loading screens separating the world and the regions located within it. Think Black Desert Online or World of Warcraft.. before all of its expansions.
This game was going to utilize a full action combat system. No tab-target, no lock-on, aim assist, hybrid amalgamations. Absolute, unadulterated, raw action combat. As you could tell within the trailers… it looked unbelievable, especially for an Anime game.
We were supposed to be capable of playing with large groups of players, who would share the world – which was confirmed to take place in an online environment. Unlike its predecessor, which was a hub-MMO, this would theoretically be an open-world MMO.
This was a game being developed for PC players, with console functionality being a plausible, yet unlikely possibility if it were a success.
To me, to every other fan of Anime games – Anime MMOs – action MMOs even, this was a dream come true. And Nexon has been leading us on, every year telling us “it’s coming this year, we promise!”

As of March 30th – today, actually, Neople and Nexon have confirmed that Project BBQ is no more. First, it’s undergoing a name change. Instead of “Project BBQ,” the game is going to be known as “Project AK.”
Given it’s still using the “Project” prefix, it’s my understanding that the game is still likely under heavy development, and far from being in a finished, ready state.
Along with the name reveal came information pertaining to its transition and further, its evolution and future. Project AK, which was going to be an action Anime MMO developed for PC players, is now being developed as a “souls-like action RPG.”
Yes, you heard that correctly. After seeing the monolithic success of Elden Ring, Neople and Nexon have re-assessed where they want to take the intellectual property, and instead, have revealed that while Dungeon Fighter Online is a hub-MMO and Dungeon Fighter Overkill is the spiritual successor to Dungeon Fighter Online, a Dungeon Fighter themed Elden Ring is what they believe we want.
A Korean Elden Ring with the shine and polish of companies like Neople and Neowiz, which realistically, pales in comparison to what we see with Bamco.

And while Elden Ring is available cross-platform, Project AK is being developed exclusively for consoles. A PC MMO transitioning into a souls-like console RPG. What on Earth are they thinking.
Nexon have had 2 different, unique Anime MMOs with limitless potential, that they’ve suffocated.

Neople is currently in the process of recruiting developers with a focus on game planning, programming, graphical design, and technical support to develop Project AK.
They’re also looking to recruit additional developers to work on the upcoming Dungeon Fighter Overkill MMO and Dungeon Fighter Mobile, which we’ll opt to completely ignore because nobody wants to play that.

In closing, the devs confirmed that they have every intention of keeping the rich and colorful world we see within the Project BBQ trailer. They plan on focusing on a much stronger narrative, given this is going to be an RPG as opposed to an MMO.
They also go on to state that they want to bring players “next-generation Dungeon Fighter action,” which could potentially mean they have intentions on improving the combat even further.
Now it is worth noting that this game is still being listed as an “Online Action RPG,” as opposed to an “RPG” or “MMO.” Which means the game will likely either take place online, or have a form of online functionality.
So while it isn’t going to be “massively multiplayer,” you’ll still likely have the potential to either engage with, or possibly group up with friends.. unless you’re like me, and have no friends. In which case, this is the perfect opportunity to make some.
Unless you’re bad at making friends, in which case, do what I did: Get married. Then they’re stuck with you. They don’t necessarily need to like you, but it’s much more difficult to ignore you. Or get rid of you.

So after 4 years of promises from Nexon, appearing in their Quarterly Financials every year, after repeated promises that the game will be playable “soon,” we end up with a game that is such a drastic departure from what we were expecting that I’m honestly not even sure if I should be excited for it.
It’s almost like what NCSoft did with Project TL – and their transition into Throne and Liberty, although at least they decided to keep that an MMO.
Here we get some cheap Elden Ring knockoff – when so much of the game was already complete. And it looked so damn good.

They haven’t released a new trailer yet – so it’s uncertain whether they have plans on keeping this graphical style or this specific type of combat. It ultimately might end up looking much better, or much worse. I guess only time will tell.
Regardless, Project BBQ is dead – it will never come out. Project AK, however, might several years from now. It’s confirmed for console, and might release on PC at a later date. They’re also discussing a Global release, but that’s also up for discussion.
With this gone though, the only Anime MMOs on the horizon are Tower of Fantasy later this year, and Blue Protocol. Whenever we get that.
Or – and hear me out – I know this isn’t an MMO, but… this right here. Because it looks unreal.

In news I’ve been eagerly anticipating since its announcement, Dungeon Fighter Duel – one of 3 games set within the world of Dungeon Fighter has a confirmed release date. Not an Alpha test. Not a Closed Beta. But an actual release date. And it’s sooner than we thought.

I’ve been a fan of Dungeon Fighter Online for years, and when Neople announced they were working on Project BBQ – a full, open-world 3D action MMORPG set within the very same world I was ecstatic.
This is exactly what I was looking for. A game that allowed me to freely traverse a gorgeous open-world? With combat as good as Dungeon Fighter’s?
Then they proceeded to reveal Dungeon Fighter Overkill – a 3D version of Dungeon Fighter Online that looks absolutely stunning, followed by Dungeon Fighter Duel – a fighting game, and Dungeon Fighter Mobile which we’re going to ignore. At this point, my excitement was almost uncontainable.
And here we are, almost at a point where we get to actually play one of them. Not all three. But one is better than none.

Dungeon Fighter Duel is an online action game developed by ARC SYSTEM WORKS – the very same people that did the Guilty Gear games.
And while they’d released a trailer a little while ago, to accompany the announcement of the game’s release, they attached a short 30 second trailer that also happens to showcase one of their new characters.

An Open Beta was held for Dungeon Fighter Duel back in the middle of December for the PS4 and PS5. I didn’t unfortunately get to participate in it because we were visiting my in-laws for the Christmas holidays.
However, they did confirm that the game is going to officially be available on PS4, PS5 and PC come June 28th. That’s just 3 months from now.
I know this isn’t an Anime MMO – or heck, even an MMO. But it is the first of 3 Dungeon Fighter inspired online games to release, and is going to no doubt influence not only the Dungeon Fighter Overkill MMO coming out later this year, but also the projected release date of Project BBQ.
As I’m sure if either, or both of the aforementioned titles fail to succeed, it’ll either set Project BBQ back even further, or convince Neople and Nexon that there’s just not enough interest outside of Dungeon Fighter Online to warrant the game in its finalized form.

Dungeon Fighter Duel is a 2.5D action game that provides players a surplus of different characters you’ll recognize if you’re a fan of the franchise. We’ll gain additional backstory for each of the heroes we play.
We’ll be able to group up with and play with friends in online game modes. Honestly, the game looks like it’s gonna be a lotta fun.
It definitely won’t be for everyone, but for fans of action games – for fans of this specific type of action game, for fans of the Dungeon Fighter intellectual property, this is going to be a must-play. Even if you play it merely as a means to gain additional knowledge about characters in the Dungeon Fighter world.

Again, June 28th. 3 months from now. PS4, PS5 and PC. Make sure you mark your calendar.

So there I was, doing my weekly roundup of news, seeing if there was something I wanted to cover. And I see it… as if being presented to me by some type of Angelic figure… news on one of the most anticipated Anime MMOs of the last decade: Blue-wait, no, wrong game: Project BBQ.
Yup, one of 3 highly anticipated Anime MMOs including Blue Protocol and Tower of Fantasy. Or, to be a little more accurate, we have news on various different Nexon titles, as part of Nexon’s 3rd Quarter Financials.

Now let’s start this off with the good news, first: Nexon, as part of their 3rd Quarter Financials confirmed several games were in the Pipeline for a release in the future – Dungeon Fighter Mobile, Project ER, Project Magnum, Project HP, Dungeon Fighter Duel, Dungeon Fighter Overkill, and Project BBQ.
We hadn’t heard anything from Nexon pertaining to Project BBQ in almost 2 years now, with Nexon confirming that they were more interested in diverting their attention to Dungeon Fighter Overkill. Now don’t get me wrong, Overkill looks incredible.
It looks like the next step for the Dungeon Fighter intellectual property. As a huge fan of Dungeon Fighter Online, I couldn’t be happier, honestly, that Overkill is the direction the franchise is going.
However, many of you – myself included, were a little concerned that Overkill was going to severely inhibit the development of Project BBQ, which, admittedly, still does not have a full name.

Now, Nexon’s Pipeline of games scheduled have both platforms and regions listed. Platforms the game will release on to, and regions the games will release in.
Dungeon Fighter Mobile, Project Magnum, Project HP and Project SF2 are all scheduled to release within South Korea with no Global confirmation in the immediate future. The same looks to apply for Project BBQ. However, Project ER, Dungeon Fighter Duel and Overkill are all listed as having no region restriction.
This alludes to one of two possible outcomes: The former titles are all far enough through the development process that they are close to releasing, where the latter are not, or vice versa: The latter are close to releasing globally, and the former are not.

Worth noting in this report, is that Nexon revealed their new Embark Studio in Sweden is ready to announce 3 brand new projects, 2 new virtual worlds, and a new “creative platform.”
All we know about the games thus far are they’re titled “Codename: Pioneer,” and “Codename: Discovery.”

This is where things get interesting, though, as Nexon has been pushing out mobile games quite rapidly over the last several years.
Most gaming developers have been. However, according to the report, not only does North America and Europe make up a mere 6% of Nexon’s total revenue, but PC games account for 75% of total revenue across all platforms.
That is absolutely insane, given how much money they’ve raked in this year. Does this mean Nexon’s mobile games are just bad? Or that their PC games are just that much more appealing?
Maybe it means Nexon will instead place a larger focus upon their PC titles instead of tarnishing their reputation further with the trash they’ve put out on mobile in the last couple years.

Either way, over the course of the next year or two we’re going to have quite the number of new games from Nexon.
Dungeon Fighter Mobile, Overkill, Duel, KartRider Drift, the new Embark Studios’ games, Blue Archive, additions to the KurtzPel IP, Dynasty Warriors 9 Mobile, Project ER, Magnum, BBQ, HP, SF2, Counterside, TalesWeaverM, Mabinogi Mobile and HIT2.
They might take significantly longer to reach our shores, but they’re coming nevertheless.

I hope.

Regardless, it’s promising to know that they haven’t forgotten about us with regards to Project BBQ. They’re still working on it and I cannot wait to get my hands on it. And Dungeon Fighter Overkill.

It’s been a long time coming. Like, a really, really long time. 2 years to be precise. And in the world of MMOs, that’s almost a death sentence.

Even so, after 2 whole years of radio silence, it turns out the developers over at Neople and Nexon have opted to release a full, new gameplay trailer for Project BBQ, the upcoming open-world sequel to the worldwide hit “Dungeon Fighter Online.”

The new gameplay video shows quite a bit: We get to see a variety of different NPCs all interacting with the world, we get to see some of the world itself–not the open world the developers claim, but rather the towns you get to wander around, and some of the instanced dungeons you can tackle. It was worth noting that not a single time did we witness any type of open-world content, which is a little disconcerting. We got a deeper look at the combat, which actually looks to have been improved on quite a bit from the trailer released 2 years ago – a feat in and of itself. But other than that, the trailer didn’t really reveal much.

Yes, there’s going to be a story for the game. Yes, the graphics have improved. Yes, the combat is better than ever. But that’s it – that’s all we get. Why have Nexon not given the game an official title yet? We’re still calling it “Project BBQ!” after years of development.

Regardless, I’m excited for the game. More so now after seeing the improvements made, but I’m still concerned that this isn’t going to be what they promise: An open-world MMO. I’m also cautious, as this is a Nexon MMO.. but otherwise, I’m looking forward to what comes next for the game. We still don’t have a release date confirmed for neither South Korea nor the West (North America and Europe,) but we’ll have a test phase within the South Korean region some time in 2021.

Generally I like to keep you all updated with news pertaining to MMOs we’re all looking forward to. Project BBQ is one of those games.
It’s an upcoming open-world action MMO developed by the very same people that developed Dungeon Fighter Online – which also happens to be one of my favorite hub-based MMOs, so it’s understandable why I’m as excited for the game as I am.

Earlier this year I did a video on Project BBQ regarding its release, and what form that would take, as according to Nexon, they were slated to hold either an Alpha or Beta test late this year.
When specifically was unknown, all we had was a confirmation that it would be within 2020, as per their 4th Quarter 2019 financial report.
However, here we are. It’s September 20, 2020, as of this moment. I’m aware this won’t go live until a little after, but nevertheless we are inching ever closer to the end of the year. And you know what? Nexon have reaffirmed my belief in the fact that they’re a terrible publisher.
They’re completely disconnected from their community and really don’t share any signs of improving.

Bandai Namco post several updates PER MONTH concerning Blue Protocol. Heck, even NCSoft have updated us on more than one occasion this year that TL: Origin, which was known as Project TL until recently was still actively being developed, with a Beta test already underway.
Both TL: Origin and Blue Protocol have held Alpha tests, and Beta tests. But Project BBQ has been in active development for years, much like Peria Chronicles was, and what do we have to show for it? Absolutely nothing. Still.
No new footage. No new announcements. I’m still shocked to see Nexon announce games, and then go years without any type of update.
Now I don’t wanna be “that guy” here, but.. I’m gonna be honest with you all: I’m not entirely certain Project BBQ will be showcased this year. At all. I don’t think Project BBQ is even in a functional state right now – which is incredible disappointing.
If I were a betting man, and I’m not, thankfully, I’d wager a bet that Nexon go all year without a mention of the game, and further move into 2021 with no mention of it either, slowly letting hype for the game continue to decline over time until they inevitably cancel it.
With how many titles Nexon have cancelled over the last couple years, I wouldn’t put it past them to cancel Project BBQ before it has the chance to even take off.

But at the same time, Dungeon Fighter Online is the most popular MMORPG in the entire world, with several million concurrently logged in players at any given time. Most of which are from China, which has 1 and a half billion people, admittedly.
But nevertheless, Project BBQ, being the successor to Dungeon Fighter Online poses potential billions of dollars for Nexon from the Chinese market.
This is their chance to further monopolize on their brand.

.. sigh, who are we kidding though? This is Nexon after all.
I was hoping to leave you guys a little more elated with confirmation of.. well, something concrete, but unfortunately that’s not the case, and I don’t know when we’ll get anything new to even talk about.
You know I’ll keep you all updated when we do, though.

But for those wondering why we should even be excited, completely unknown to what Project BBQ even is – Project BBQ promises to be a large, completely seamless-loading open-world filled with enormous zones to openly explore, and a variety of different dungeons.
It Is supposed to be a full-fledged action MMORPG, something we’ve looking to play for a while now. No hub-based nonsense. No segregated zones. Seamless open-world.
Not only that, but it’s being built on Unreal Engine 4 as opposed to 3 like Elyon – and will be a PC exclusive, as opposed to cross-platform compatible. These are all the makings of a potentially amazing new MMO, but… alas we’re still stuck in limbo currently.

You know what’s in the Nexon pipeline for 2020? Yup, if the title didn’t give it away, Nexon have confirmed via their 4th Quarter 2019 financial report that among other titles, Project BBQ would be making its way to South Korea.
After what seems like years since their announcement, Nexon are finally following through with a release of some form.
I know, I know. “South Korea, Stix? Really?” Shhh. You guys knew this was coming to South Korea before anywhere else – but that’s alright, most South Korean MMOs end up with fan-translation projects.

I’m honestly surprised that even though Dungeon Fighter Online is one of Nexon’s most successful gaming IPs it’s taken them this long to roll out the sequel.
Which yes, if you weren’t already aware, then Project BBQ is not only set in the same world as Dungeon Fighter, but it’s also connected to the game sharing characters, locations and story.

I know a lot of you are unaware of what specifically Project BBQ is, so let me give you a little rundown. Project BBQ is a fully 3D rendered Anime MMORPG.
Or, at the very least Nexon claims that the game is an MMORPG. While all we’ve seen up until this point seem like rather linear environments, Nexon assured people that it was a full-fledged MMORPG.
The devs behind it? Neople, the very same group that brought us the original Dungeon Fighter Online MMO.
It was revealed that even though Dungeon Fighter is a hub-based MMO, Project BBQ will feature instead “a large, seamless world” filled with “large, open-world maps and instanced dungeons,” much like any traditional MMORPG.
Which with the influx of instanced, hub-based MMOs like Soul Worker, Closers and the like, is promising to hear. Even though Nexon are notorious for not only cancelling their games, but making drastic changes.

Project BBQ is being built on Unreal Engine 4 and will be a PC exclusive. This is very similar to its main competitor: Blue Protocol, which is also being built in much the same way.
One thing South Korean MMOs seem to know how to get correctly is the combat, and from what little we’ve seen thus far, it features some pretty damn good looking action combat.
We only saw a few classes in the trailer, however it was revealed that there would be approximately 8 different classes to choose from – and if it’s anything like its predecessor, classes will all have their own unique, intricate playstyles, strengths and weaknesses.
It’s unconfirmed right now whether or not the class system will be similar to Dungeon Fighter, with Dungeon Fighter having 16 unique classes, all with their own sub-classes.
However, if Project BBQ functions the same way as its predecessor, classes will end up gender locked. Yes, gender locking in a South Korean MMO. How shocking, right?
I guess realistically all we can do is hope that, contrary to popular belief, Nexon and Neople actually know the market and what it wants out of a game. What am I saying? This is Nexon we’re talking about!

While Project BBQ is slated for release in 2020, it’s currently unconfirmed what form that release will take. They never clarified whether or not the game will release into Alpha or Beta testing this year, with the full release coming in 2021 or 2022.
Just that the game will be live in some capacity in 2020. This is definitely disconcerting news for a lot of us – especially those of us that know exactly how long South Korean games end up delayed.
However, Nexon did state that the lengthy delay up until this point is more or less the result of focusing on “making a great game” as opposed to “pursuing their own unique style.”
While a great concept for a new game, it really is, this means that instead of trying to branch out and do something unique or innovative, they’re instead opting to make something that’s more or less the same as what’s already out there.
But then at the same time, I’ll take a “good game” over a “rushed game” or a “game that tries to be different but ends up sucking” even if that means the game ends up being generic. We have plenty of generic MMOs out currently that still pull in solid numbers.

So there we have it. Project BBQ is a fully action combat Anime MMORPG releasing in some form this year.
It has the potential to suffer delays, definitely, and who knows, considering Nexon’s track record it very well might end up delayed or cancelled, at least currently we now have something to look forward to.
Granted it will only be releasing in South Korea whenever it does finally end up going live. Hopefully there’s a fan-translation project for it considering it’ll be years before we’ll see it over here in the West.
But then again, all of this is purely speculative. They might announce the full game later this year and it might get an English release next year. Who knows!
Regardless, you know where to go to remain updated with info regarding Project BBQ.. yup, right here!
If anything changes, if there’s any new info, you bet I’ll be here to let you guys know all about it.

2020 is shaping up to be a pretty decent looking year for Anime MMOs. We have Blue Protocol coming out of Japan and Project BBQ coming out of Korea.
Granted it could be 2021 or 2022 before we get either of them over here in the West but man.
I know, I know. I probably should’ve done a video on this sooner but I’ve been a busy Byte. I guess it’s better late than never, though, right?
So I’ve known about Project BBQ for months. I first saw the trailer when the game was announced way back in December 2018. I was excited and included a mention of it in a news video but never took the time to do a dedicated video.

Project BBQ is a fully 3D rendered Anime MMORPG. Not an MMO, but an MMORPG by Neople, the team behind the popular Dungeon Fighter Online MMO.
See how Dungeon Fighter Online is referred to as an MMO and Project BBQ as an MMORPG?
That’s because Neople announced that although Project BBQ will share a connected world with Dungeon Fighter Online, instead of being a hub-based MMO like its predecessor where you occupy a town, take quests, then run instanced dungeons, Project BBQ will occupy a “seamless world” with large, open-field maps and instanced dungeons.
Pretty much like your standard MMO.
Project BBQ will be a PC exclusive MMO developed using Unreal Engine 4 and as stated earlier, shares a connection with Dungeon Fighter Online. Not just the world, though.
Not only are areas and locales shared between games, but there are other elements such as the lore, various characters and also classes. So who knows exactly what or whom you’ll find while adventuring.

If you’ve ever played Dungeon Fighter Online, then you’ll know just how crazy the combat can get. You have so many different classes, all with their very own intricate playstyles, strengths and weaknesses.
While no definitive confirmation has been given as to how well they went about replicating that in Project BBQ, it’s safe to say that after seeing the combat – if that’s truly how well it plays out, then it could go down as having the best combat in a PC MMO.
Yes, people will likely argue that Blade & Soul or Black Desert will still have better combat, and that might be the case.
They might have better class-development, or better combos, or people might prefer the realistic 3D style as opposed to the Anime style Project BBQ has.
Regardless, disregarding non Anime inspired MMOs Blue Protocol is probably the only Anime MMO to compete with. Yes, the market is really that stale right now. Maybe Peria Chronicles whenever that releases, too.

Exactly how many classes will be present when the game officially launches is unknown but it was revealed that there are currently around 7 to 8 planned.
Whether that’s 7 to 8 actual classes, or 7 to 8 characters remains to be seen as Dungeon Fighter Online has 16 unique characters, with over 60 advancement classes total.
Worth noting however is that if Project BBQ opts to go the “character-route” as opposed to “class-route,” then that means the classes will be gender-locked.
As it stands in Dungeon Fighter, we have classes like Thief and Demonic Lancer that are locked to males only, and classes like the Knight that are locked to female.
Granted, a vast selection like Slayer, Fighter, Gunner, Mage and Priest are all accessible regardless of gender but this is something I believe is worth making note of as I know a lot of you guys hate gender-locking classes.

When Neople were asked how Project BBQ compares to other South Korean MMOs like Kritika or Vindictus, they went on to claim that instead of “pursuing their own unique style” they opted to focus on “making a great game.”
This is music to my ears. If you weren’t aware, Final Fantasy XIV is one of the most popular MMORPGs out right now.
Instead of creating a brand new style of MMO, instead, they went with the tried-and-true traditional format that World of Warcraft was already successfully using, and have found great success with it.
Why? Because they focused on making a good game in an already established style instead of making a new game with a completely unique style.
Developers these days are so obsessed, so blinded by trying to do something “original,” something “truly innovative,” something that will “change the genre as we know it.”
But all they’re doing is setting an unattainable goal and expecting us to wait while they fail to achieve it.
While Project BBQ may not be the “next big MMORPG,” surely, I’m glad that at least they have the right mindset going in: A good game doesn’t necessarily have to be original.
But then again, since Neople is a subsidiary of Nexon, they might end up royally screwing the game up all together since Nexon ruins all the games they publish with IP blocks and pay to win.

Regardless, I’m excited that we’re getting another Anime inspired MMORPG with large open areas and instanced dungeons. Not a hub-based MMO, but an actual, full-fledged MMORPG.
However it turns out, I’m glad I’ll at the very least get to spend some time having fun in some sweet as hell looking combat set in a gorgeous world.