There are 2 MMOs releasing this year that hold the potential to truly succeed in any capacity – not by reinventing the wheel. Rather, by taking already established formulas, and putting their own unique spin on it.
Blue Protocol, and Throne & Liberty.
Blue Protocol is an action-combat Anime MMO that began development under Bandai Namco back in 2019 – possibly much earlier, with Amazon Game Studios confirmed to be publishing the title Globally in late in 2023.
Ever since Amazon was confirmed to be Global publisher, many interested players have been left wondering a plethora of different questions.
Will the game be pay to win? What regions will be supported? Is it a PC exclusive release? How horrendous is the censorship going to be? When can you play the Beta?
That’s what I’m here today to discuss. Everything YOU need to know about Blue Protocol going into 2023, ahead of its official release.

Blue Protocol is an Anime MMORPG. It’s labeled via various sources as a “multiplayer online action role playing game,” minus the “massive,” but allows up to 200 players to occupy an area concurrently. That doesn’t fit the definition of an MMO for some people, sure, but that’s more than enough for the rest of us.

Yes it is. The MMO is releasing in many countries around the world, and will be fully free to play in every single one of them.
Bandai Namco are publishing the game in Japan, Smilegate is confirmed to be publishing in South Korea, and Amazon Game Studios for much of the Global market. All of which have confirmed that they have no intention of altering the game’s business model.

Initially, Blue Protocol was confirmed to be in development for PC exclusively. After several years in development, Bandai Namco have confirmed a release on PC, with simultaneous releases on the PS5 and XBox consoles.
It is unconfirmed specifically what type of cross-platform functionality will be present, whether you can log in via your PC and PS5 or PS5 and XBox. But the most important thing to note is that there is going to be no mobile functionality. Even though they’re missing out on an enormous market.

Action. Complete action combat, however, from my time spent in the Closed Beta, you also had the option to toggle a type of lock-on function as well, allowing players with significantly inferior reflexes and aim to not fall substantially behind those of you that are on the opposite spectrum.
Action combat will always be the superior option as – especially with regards to casting and archer-type classes, prediction plays a large part in landing hits, this is more apparent when you factor in moving targets.

Not quite. Much like Final Fantasy XIV, Guild Wars 2, The Elder Scrolls Online, Blue Protocol doesn’t have a fully seamless open world. Rather, the game utilizes a type of segregation – separated by short loading screens.
This means that to move from one city to the other, you’re likely going to be required to move through a multitude of different loading screens. Which doesn’t mean that the zones themselves are small. On the contrary, many of the areas I explored were so large you didn’t feel the impact of loading screens at all.
But it does lessen – to an extent – that feeling you get of a truly freeing world without limitation.

Yes. During the Closed Beta we had access to 4 classes: the Aegis Fighter, Twin Striker, Blast Archer, and Spell Caster, with Bandai Namco confirming at a later date, the introduction of the Heavy Smasher. The official Global release will feature all 5 classes, albeit with different names.
The Blade Warden, replacing the Aegis Fighter, the Keen Strider, replacing the Blast Archer, the Spell Weaver, replacing the Spell Caster, the Twin Striker remains the same, and the Foe Breaker, replacing the Heavy Smasher.
I’m honestly not entirely certain what prompted Amazon’s alteration of the class names, but some of them sound absolutely ridiculous. Not to say the originals are much better.
The class system lacks the “holy trinity” system that is so often found within MMOs. Meaning no symbiotic tank-healer-DPS relationships will be present, instead, each player will be required to be self-sufficient. If you die, it’s because you messed up. Not because a healer didn’t heal you.
There is no dedicated healer. So there’ll be nobody to blame other than yourself.

Yes, thankfully, yes! This isn’t a Gacha game. While it might have some Gacha elements present, this is a far cry from a Gacha game.
Players will be able to choose their gender, and craft their character from a pre-determined number of facial and body sliders, customization options, hairstyles, colors and the like. Allowing you to live out your new fantasy life however you want!

This is where people get quite combative, arguing the fairness of the systems confirmed to be present in the Japanese version of the game. Blue Protocol is confirmed to have a Season Pass with separate rewards for both Free and Premium players.
Free will feature a maximum of 60 slots, with Premium totaling 100. Premium also gains 25 slots skipped for free.
It is confirmed to have a Gacha system present, but not for gear or characters. Rather, the Gacha feature is going to be purely cosmetic, offering chances at unique outfits, unique mounts. This will be of large benefit to Bandai Namco as players are going to continue to roll to obtain the outfit purely for bragging rights.
However, at the same time they’ll be alienating those of us that typically support games by purchasing new mounts and outfits in MMOs like World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XIV because we’re used to that safety net – that guarantee we’ll receive what we’re paying for for the $20 or $30 single-time investment.
There will be a consumable shop present where players are able to purchase items to increase the success rates when crafting items. Items that will allow you to receive additional rewards from dungeons – free players are limited to a certain number of these items where premium players can obtain significantly more.
There will also be items that allow you to immediately complete quests to obtain the rewards without investing time into physically participating in them. Ultimately, this has fueled the discussion that the game is going to be pay to win. And whether that is true or not is entirely dependent on your definition of pay to win.
Will paying provide an advantage over non-paying players? Yes, definitely. Will it have a substantial affect on you? No, not at all.

Yes. It was already confirmed by Amazon themselves that the game is going to be altered to an extent to better suit the Western market.
According to the studio, “There will be a few minor differences between the Japanese and Western versions of Blue Protocol. The main reason for this is that we are aiming for a “teen” rating for our market so that Blue Protocol becomes a title that our friends and family can play together.”
For reference, Japan does not have a Teen rating, and could potentially feature more revealing outfits, uncut dialogue and entire scenes that are either taken out or altered to the point where it’s unrecognizable in the Global version.
We’ve seen the types of censorship Amazon engages in personally with Lost Ark, as has been repeatedly discussed and showcased online.

A question I hear repeatedly echoed throughout the community is exactly how “massive” the game is going to be. Blue Protocol utilizes a type of “channel” system, much like the vast majority of MMOs out there.
Each channel has a set number of players able to exist concurrently within it before new players are sent to a new instance of the same area. Max capacity differs between types of zones – Cities and Towns have a maximum number of 200 people allowed concurrently before new instances are created.
Out in the field – outside of towns and cities the maximum is up to 30 players. Dungeons and Arenas are limited to 6 people, with dungeons actually scaling in difficulty depending on how many players are in your group.
Raids have a limit of 30 people, but a maximum of 30 players isn’t required, much like how WoW allows raid groups of different sizes. And finally, there will be solo-exclusive content like Time Attack and Score Attack.

One of the most common misconceptions about Blue Protocol is that it’s your average MMO. You run dungeons, dungeon bosses drop gear, then you run raids, raid bosses drop gear, rinse and repeat.
That isn’t the case. All gear in this game is crafted. Meaning bosses don’t drop gear. Bosses drop materials, and after acquiring a set number of items, you can craft your gear.
As loot is completely RNG, this means that someone could obtain the materials necessary to craft their best in slot weapon in 10 runs, where it could take you 30 runs to craft. Which is where the discussion of pay to win comes in, since paying players can acquire additional loot that free players just won’t have access to.
This means that you’ll never be grinding mindlessly for a single piece of gear. Instead, you’ll be grinding to obtain the missing materials – many of which I’m assuming are required for various different gear pieces.
This makes the grind much more rewarding since you’re grinding towards acquiring multiple pieces at once.

While confirmed supported languages for Global include English, French, German, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese, Global regions will consist of North America, South America, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
A confirmed English dub will be available, with Amazon opting to not elaborate on whether the official Japanese dub will be an available option.
Within Asia, the game has a confirmed South Korean release, with most of South East Asia suffering IP blocks, and potentially European regions that have laws and regulations banning video games with Gacha unfortunately.

Originally, a final Japanese Closed Beta was slated for January 14th through January 16th 2023. However, due to some pretty severe complications, the Japanese Beta test was delayed until some time in March 2023. This is a delay of 2 months – and could potentially affect the release date Bandai Namco were aiming for.
No confirmed Closed Beta has been scheduled for the Global version of the game, but one would expect it would come after Japan has – at the very least – finzlied the version of the game to allow for Amazon to use.

And I think that covers it. Everything worth noting moving into 2023. Its Japanese Beta. Its Japanese launch, and further, its Global Beta and Global launch.
If there’s anything you think I missed, or anything further you’d like covered, let me know and I’ll try my best to help.
Blue Protocol is an MMO I’ve been promoting for years now – since 2019 when it was announced. And I cannot be more excited, even despite disagreeing with certain aspects of it.

Spring 2023 in Japan, and – while a little more vague, “the 2nd half of 2023” for Global. This could be anywhere from July through December. Which means if we were to receive a Closed Beta for the game, it would likely also take place at some point in the latter half of 2023.
Note: This is not factoring in current delays or future delays. Which both Bandai Namco and Amazon are quite notorious for.

This is not news I wanted to wake up to hear, as I’m sure you can all relate.
Blue Protocol has been delayed.

Bandai Namco confirmed late in 2022 that Blue Protocol would be releasing initially in Japan – at some point in early Spring 2023, with a final Closed Beta test slated to begin on January 14th through 16th.
Amazon Game Studios confirmed shortly after that Blue Protocol would be releasing Globally in the 2nd half of 2023, with an unconfirmed Closed Beta test period.

But as of the 11th of January – just yesterday, Bandai Namco confirmed that the Japanese Closed Beta test would be delayed for a yet undisclosed amount of time. This could ultimately affect its Japanese release – potentially pushing the game back further.
But the news isn’t as dire as you might expect.

The Tweet goes on to read:

We were preparing for the test on January 14th, but we have confirmed a new bug that affects the purpose of the test. Since early improvement is difficult, we will postpone the test implementation. We apologize for the inconvenience. We will let you know the progress again on January 25th.

Players are – as expected – quite upset with the delay – as happens whenever a game gets delayed, but this Closed Beta test was always going to be severely limited for us as Western players – this Beta test was exclusively for Japanese players located within – you guessed it, Japan.
There were a number of creators and players that got accepted through the clever use of VPNs, but the vast majority of players were always going to be Japanese, with many of us not being able to participate at all.

Bandai Namco have elaborated on why specifically the Beta was delayed a little bit via a Blog post on their website.

We have been preparing for the network test from January 14, 2023 (Saturday), but it will affect and avoid the test purpose of “confirming functions related to servers and networks”. We have confirmed a new problem that is difficult. We are working to fix this problem, but we have determined that it will take time to resolve the issue, so we have decided to postpone the network test. We apologize to everyone who was looking forward to participating in the network test, but we ask for your understanding in order to provide a comfortable gaming environment for everyone when the official service starts. In addition, we would like to apologize again for the fact that the announcement was made just before the issue due to the investigation of the status of the problem and the scope of its impact. We are still working on fixing the bug, so it is difficult to inform you about the test schedule after the change at this time. We will inform you again on January 25, 2023 (Wednesday) about the progress of bug fixes and test preparations.

Evidently the issue they’ve encountered must be pretty severe if they believe it’ll take time to resolve it. So long in fact, that the Beta will be delayed over a month, they’ve re-opened friend invites for Beta applicants.
I will state with utmost certainty, however, that if Bamco rush this release, we will have another Tower of Fantasy on our hands. A game that launched with game-breaking bugs, exploits, and hackers abusing both of them.
A rushed game will remain forever bad – ultimately until it completely shuts down. A delayed game that remedies their issues has the potential to be much better, and weather the test of time.

We’ll have a new Beta test period announcement soon. It will likely take place at some point next month. But as long as they fix this – and it remains fixed when Amazon publish the game we should have nothing to worry about.
They need to get this right. Otherwise this game has no future.

Blue Protocol is the last bastion for Anime MMO lovers. There isn’t a single Anime MMORPG in active development that looks even remotely promising. All we’ve gotten over the last couple years are poor-performing mobile and cross-platform games that really look and feel nothing like a dedicated PC title.
They lack the polish, the quality that only AAA-budget studios can bring. And while it’s been over 3 years since its announcement, Blue Protocol has seen repeated delays, both nationally, and internationally.
We’ve all been high on copium.. hoping year after year they would tell us something – anything, to confirm even a relative time frame. A month – even a year that we can expect the game. That provides us something to look forward to. To build up excitement for.
And after today… we might have exactly that.

I was linked to an article on The Blue Protocol Database website that linked to an interview with Sekiguchi Masataka, the President and CEO of Bandai Namco, the studio behind Blue Protocol, Elden Ring, Tales of Arise, God Eater, Scarlet Nexus, Code Vein and so many more incredible games.
In the interview, Masataka went on state that the video games they have been focused on completing consisted of Gundam Evolution, and Blue Protocol. These were, in his words, “Online games from Japan, to the world.”
For those of you unaware, Gundam Evolution launched around the world on September 21st. Yesterday, as of recording this video. Gundam Evolution was their primary focus, as it was the closest to successful completion and arguably the easier of the two titles to finalize development of.
Gundam Evolution launched to over 50,000 concurrent players on Steam alone, and is rolling out on PS4, PS5, XBox One, and the XBox Series X|S on November 30th.
Gundam Evolution launched Globally – around the world, with the exception of a few countries. It is going to be cross-platform compatible between PC and Consoles, and is 100% entirely free to play.

But what does that have to do with Blue Protocol? Masataka confirmed that both of the games listed – Gundam Evolution AND Blue Protocol are being developed in the same way.
In his words, “the basic strategy for realizing our goal of “online games from Japan to the world” is “worldwide,” “multi-device,” and “free to play.”
This is the CEO himself claiming that he wants both Gundam Evolution and Blue Protocol, including future online games to not only be accessible “worldwide,” but also be playable on more than a single platform, and be entirely free to play.
We knew they were targeting a worldwide release for Blue Protocol. Anyone that claimed otherwise was delusional. But what we didn’t know – we merely speculated, was that they are also potentially wanting to release this cross-platform with consoles as well. Not mobile. Mobile is not even being considered, thank god.

He went on to continue, “On top of that, we have set key strategies as the pillars of our growth.”
“The first is the creation of original IP.
We aim to create and nurture new original IP from online games that will serve as the starting point for the BANDAI NAMCO Group’s IP strategy.”
That makes sense. Blue Protocol is an entirely original IP. Gundam Evolution isn’t, but it’s highly likely that Blue Protocol isn’t the final game in their vision. On the contrary, with them shifting focus to Blue Protocol they might start active development on several other projects.

“The second is the metaverse.
First of all, creating an interesting online game is a major premise, but on top of that, we aim to expand the online game space where many people gather to provide entertainment other than games.”
I’m not entirely sure what they mean with this one. I hear metaverse and immediately throw up in my mouth a little. But I’m hoping it isn’t something to do with Crypto or Blockchain. I don’t think they’re that stupid….. right? Right?

“The third is eSports.
We aim to expand the fan base, including players and streamers who have gathered around eSports, as well as non-players.”
I don’t think Blue Protocol is going to have an eSports scene since there is no PvP present within it. Which means this is either hinting at Gundam Evolution or a future new IP they have in the works that we’re just not actively aware of yet.

“One of the reasons for the original slogan of “Bringing online games from Japan to the world” was that Japan itself was weak when it came to online games. I want people all over the world to play Japanese online games”, that thought was our driving force.”
Honestly, Japan doesn’t have a great online scene, I completely agree. But they do have arguably the most popular MMORPG in the world: Final Fantasy XIV. Well.. unless you count Dungeon Fighter Online, which has millions of active players concurrently within China alone. Do we count that? Nah..

Masataka went on to cover a few other topics that were largely unrelated to Blue Protocol or their games, rather, touching on where Bandai Namco was moving in the future as a company, what new employees can expect as they’re brought on to the team.
It was confirmed in a separate interview that Smilegate – the studio behind Lost Ark had secured distribution rights for Blue Protocol within Korea, including several other Asian countries like Taiwan.
But Globally? It looks as though Bandai Namco have the intention of publishing their game over in North America themselves. It’s unconfirmed – but highly likely given they’ve been hiring overseas staff to work on localization, including a localization director.

Bandai Namco confirmed that 2022 would not be the year that Blue Protocol would be releasing. Instead, Gundam Evolution took priority. However, with Gundam Evolution fully launched, available resources are being put into finalizing Blue Protocol, with an expected release date “after 2022,” likely at some point in 2023.
Remember, this is not 100% guaranteed, as the project has seen repeated delays up until this point. But it’s news – good news that we’ve been waiting for. Probably the best news we’ve had pertaining to the game all year.

The best part of all this, though? Masataka doing the entire interview with Blue Protocol in the background. Yes, we’re excited. Stop rubbing it in our faces man.

Alright, real talk: Is Blue Protocol still in active development? Have Bandai Namco given up on it? Are we going to get it in 2022? Why have they been so quite over the last year?

It’s true. Bandai Namco have given us nothing substantial since their last livestream, and players are concerned.
They’re scared that a game that looks as good as Blue Protocol does is never going to see the light of day. And that fear is warranted, and only continues to grow the longer Bandai Namco continue to remain silent.
But today, I have some reassuring news concerning the game’s active development, and a further confirmation that the game is releasing Globally that I’m sure will put some of your fears to rest. At least for the time being.

Credit to Perazok over on Reddit for making this discovery – but Bandai Namco, Square Enix – quite a few different developers have been struggling to find quality talent to fill their ranks of late, with reports of programmers quitting their jobs from all over the world.

Bandai Namco has been hiring for well over the last year, now? 2 years? Trying to fill a few select roles – such as a Western localization director, one of the first hints at a Western version of the game.
But as Perazok posted, Bandai Namco are once again reaffirming their intentions of filling their ranks – however, on a much larger scale.

Their recruitment page on the official Bandai Namco website goes on to state:

“April and May will be held! We will hold an online individual interview for mid-career recruitment!”
“Bandai Namco Online Co., Ltd., which plans and develops PC online games such as the online action RPG “BLUE PROTOCOL” and the team battle FPS “GUNDAM EVOLUTION”, is actively hiring as new projects progress.”

This is the first time in a long time that Bandai Namco have even mentioned the game – but this recruitment phase is specifically targeting 2 different games: Blue Protocol and their Gundam Evolution FPS.

“In order to expand recruitment, we will hold an online individual interview from Thursday, May 12, 2022 to Saturday, May 14 , 2022 for all positions (game programmers, game artists, game planners, etc.) that are being recruited mid-career”

Yup, they’re finalizing recruitment on May 12th through May 14th, 2022. They’re hiring for every position, which realistically means one of two things..
1.) They’re very understaffed, and need to fill positions for every single role. This is concerning, as originally there were over 100 members working on Blue Protocol simultaneously. How many people left the dev team if that’s the case? Which, granted, it might not be.
2.) It could be that they’ve realized the monumental undertaking developing an MMO is – or can be, and need to expand their already existing team significantly if they ever want to successfully complete the game.

Either way, up until this point, Bandai Namco were merely “hiring.” Now, we’re given a definitive deadline. They WILL have the staff they need by May 14th, 2022. At that juncture, their recruitment phase will be over, and new staff will likely begin working on both of the aforementioned titles.
Which is definitely reassuring. Because – while we don’t have a confirmation as to whether the game is still on schedule for a Japanese release, we do know that they’re continuing to work on the game – and are looking to move things along at a more advanced rate.

If we proceed to click the link to see the event details, you’ll see that they provide additional information.

“Under the major foundation of the BANDAI NAMCO Group, we will continue to take on the challenge of creating original IP and online games originating in Japan that will have an impact on the world. We are looking for core members to challenge together.”

Scrolling down further we see:

“Recommended for people like this! Those who have a strong desire to make interesting online games! Those who want to take on the challenge of creating original IP! Those who emphasize teamwork and are good at working in collaboration with members of various occupations”

You can tell this is mostly tailored towards Blue Protocol. An “online game” that is also a part of an “original IP?” Yeah, that ain’t their Gundam game, guys.

If we click their project page, it redirects us to information about Blue Protocol:

“It exceeds the expectations of fans all over the world and contributes to the creation of memories.”

Further down we see yet another confirmation that Blue Protocol is targeting a Global release.

“BLUE PROTOCOL is being developed under the concept of “a world spun with overwhelming graphic expression that seems to have entered theatrical animation, and a completely new title that pursues multiplayer action that makes use of the characteristics of online games.”
Creating a new original IP, developing an online action RPG genre, and challenging the global market,”

Yes, they did actually confirm that this game is going to “challenge the global market,” once again, reiterating their intention of releasing outside of Japan – to a Western audience.

“this title is a project that puts all the power of BANDAI NAMCO Online into it. We asked Shimooka, who is in charge of the project, to talk about the background of the project, the current situation, and the vision he is drawing.”

Shimooka went on to elaborate on Blue Protocol, by stating:

“While we have strengths in the shooter genre, RPG, which is the leading genre for online games, was an undeveloped area. As an online game company that challenges the world, there is a strong belief that it is a genre that must be challenged, and “BLUE PROTOCOL” has started in collaboration with BANDAI NAMCO Studios.”

“As for the current location of the project, we are verifying and improving the feedback from users obtained in the test play conducted from 2019 to 2020 one by one. Bandai Namco Online said,” Exceeding fan expectations. However, I think this is the ultimate word for us. Regarding “BLUE PROTOCOL”, we have received the words “I’m expecting” and “I want to play fast” from people all over the world. I’m really grateful for the amount of feedback that exceeds 20,000 characters, and at the same time I feel the responsibility to create a place where I can enjoy myself. I think if I were in the opposite position. Mmm. “Because I made you wait so long, I think it will make an interesting game.” To exceed that expectation, let alone stand from the user’s point of view, without bending our policy, the whole team We are moving forward with development.”

So, Shimooka further continued by acknowledging that the dev team – and he more specifically, read what people are saying all over the world. I bet you didn’t think that was the case, huh? Not just that, but that they are still continuing to move forward with development.
Again, further confirmation that they have not ceased development at all.

“Online games have a meaning in me, life itself. It’s hard to mention the memories of the title I was working on at that time, and when I talk to the members who were playing the same title, it’s like a childhood memory. It feels like talking. I want to contribute to the creation of memories for users through “BLUE PROTOCOL”. Users with different cultures and languages can be connected by “BLUE PROTOCOL” and created in the real world. I want to make a game that is loved and valued by online game users all over the world. That is why we need to seriously target the global market. The compromise is I can’t do it at all. In a world where online play is commonplace in consumer games, I am prepared to say, “This is the answer that Bandai Nam Online has given!” For users all over the world. With “BLUE PROTOCOL”, I would like to create a game that will be a memorable one.”

Finally, Shimooka stated he wants to make a game where players all over the world can connect with one another. Without the restrictions of language or culture. Everyone can get online and play together.
“That is why we need to seriously target the global market.” If that isn’t enough to convince players of their Global intentions, I really don’t know what is.

Blue Protocol is still in active development. They’re hiring to fill a lot of roles right now, with Shimooka confirming they’re continuing to move forward with development.
That’s all we needed to hear. Sure, we still don’t have any direct information from them – but this will have to suffice for now. Because it’s honestly better than nothing. Again, thanks to Perazok over on Reddit.

You know that feeling you get when you.. send someone you’re really into a confession of undying and unrelenting love and.. sit there waiting for a response? Only to never get one.
Yeah, that’s how I feel with Blue Protocol right now. It’s been months and we’ve heard nothing at all from Bandai Namco. Which could realistically mean they’re just hard at work and not ready to make the final form of the game public until they’ve added the final touches to it.

Today, I want to go over everything we currently know concerning Blue Protocol. Hopefully answer some questions you might have. And hopefully get everyone ready for what could potentially be a great year for the genre! But for those of you that don’t know what Blue Protocol even is..

Blue Protocol is an upcoming Anime MMORPG developed by Bandai Namco, the same people behind games like Tales of Arise, Elden Ring, and God Eater. Blue Protocol was announced back in 2019, and has been slowly growing in popularity every year.
It utilizes an action combat system, has a large, segregated open-world, a variety of customization options and could genuinely bring the “Anime MMO” back into the spotlight, after PSO2 and PSO2 New Genesis both failed to.

Definitely not. As far as we’re all aware, Blue Protocol is still under active development, with over 100 staff members working to finish the game.
Sure, the development team has been fairly unresponsive the last 6 months, and Bandai Namco seems to be prioritizing other games like Tales of Arise and Elden Ring, but an MMO is a very difficult game to get right.
Given the Japanese audience were mostly unhappy with the state of the game when they played the last Closed Beta test, as opposed to us Western players that had a lot of fun, Bamco have gone radio silent as they overhaul various issues Japanese players had.
If they cancel development after investing tens, if not hundreds of millions of dollars into it, and years worth of time and dedication, then we’d know about it, don’t worry.

Bamco have confirmed that Blue Protocol is going to be a completely, 100% free MMORPG.
It will not have any premium purchase price, but given the games they’ve released in the past, I’d wager a guess they’re going to include various Founder’s Packs for players interested in the goodies they’ll include. Likely including something like a type of early head start access.
It’s unconfirmed if they’re going to charge players for DLC or expansions like Guild Wars 2. I wouldn’t expect you to be required to pay additional fees to access future content.

There will 100% be a cash shop present. Now I know your first thought when I mention a cash shop is “OMG STIX PAY TO WIN!” and that’s a reasonable conclusion to come to.
Bamco have confirmed that – and this is subject to change at any point in time – the items located within the cash shop are going to be purely cosmetic.
They noted that they understand players’ concerns with pay-to-win and pay-to-advance, and to put players’ minds at ease, they’ve promised they’ll refrain from inserting anything that could have any impact or provide any type of advantage outside of cosmetics.
My main concern with that is if cosmetic items are going to profitable enough. Pets, outfits, quality of life items. But if there are no items to motivate whales to spend money, then I don’t foresee that large of a return on their investment with the game.

Blue Protocol has a fast, ability-focused action combat system. Mrs Stix and I got to play a single class each: I played the Archer, and Mrs Stix got to play Mage.
And even back during their first Closed Beta, the combat was so smooth, so fluid. It looked absolutely gorgeous – the higher you got and the more abilities you gained access to.
I’ve mentioned this repeatedly, but we streamed our time in Blue Protocol and chat forced me to go Archer – a class I loathe in video games with a passion. And even though I didn’t really enjoy the class that much, the Mage was incredible.
Summoning down enormous meteors from the sky, not requiring a target for your abilities, just spamming your magic at whatever is in front of you. Targetless action combat is the best.
I always find it restrictive having action combat, yet lacking the ability to use my skills out in the middle of nowhere. Like, what if I want to take an epic screenshot? C’mon, man! Some of us need these for our thumbnails!
Since the Closed Beta, Bamco have confirmed they’re expanding the combat. First with the introduction of a new mechanic that allows players to utilize terrain to their advantage, with monsters taking additional damage depending on how high you were when you launched your attack.
And second, with the new Evasion Attack mechanic, increasing your chance of survival if timed correctly.
Evidently they’re still working hard attempting to make sure players have as many options at their disposal as possible.

Unlike most MMORPGs, there is no “holy trinity” system in place in Blue Protocol. Meaning no dedicated healers, no dedicated tanks.
When it was announced, Bamco confirmed there were 4 classes: the Aegis Fighter that wields both a sword and a shield, the Twin Striker that wields dual axes, the Blast Archer that wields a bow, and the Spell Caster that wields a staff and elemental magic.
In their stream on May 27th, 2021, Bamco confirmed they were also adding the new Heavy Smasher class at release. It’s unconfirmed if they have plans on releasing additional classes when they roll out the game or if they’ll opt to stick to 5 and work on future classes over time.
They did note that they’re interested in introducing more at some point, and working on multiple different classes presently.

Each class both looks and plays completely different.
They have their own unique skill trees that are specific exclusively to them, and can choose a path that feels comfortable for their playstyle based off of their own distinct selection of abilities – real-time and passive.
As an example, players can opt to play a full Fire Mage or spec down an entirely separate element, making every choice important and altering your role entirely.
Thankfully, you have the option of changing your class at any time, meaning you can play every single class on the same character, much like Final Fantasy XIV.

More often than not we’re not given much in the way of creativity or originality when it comes to Anime games, and more specifically, Anime MMOs.
However, Bamco have not only given us a very large selection of sliders with which to design our avatar, but they’re working on not only creating entirely new sliders, providing us even more creative control, but also expanding on how much each slider affects the overall look of your character.
You have options that affect your eyes, your nose, your mouth. What you’d expect. More expansive options, like multiple layers of hair and hair color, directionality of facial features and structure, new angles. Overall the inclusion of a larger array of options.
And as confirmed earlier, there is going to be a lot in terms of outfits – helping your character stand out even more.

At present, Blue Protocol is going to be launching onto PC. The dev team have confirmed their interest in developing the game for more than just PC players, potentially releasing onto PS4 or PS5 somewhere down the line, but that is highly dependent on how the game does.
If it doesn’t perform as well as they hope, it’s unlikely they’ll bother investing the time, resources and money into porting it to additional platforms. It’d be a waste of money, given most MMO players don’t play MMOs on their consoles.
And no, there is no interest in having a Mobile version of Blue Protocol. Thankfully.

The developers have stressed that they do not want Player vs Player combat in their game. They want players to attempt to compete with one another in PvE content only.
PvP in Blue Protocol takes the form of “Party vs Party,” where groups of players fight waves of enemies in an arena in an attempt to achieve the best time on their respective clear.
Whether this is going to be enough, with the inclusion of dungeons and raids to keep players content long-term remains to be seen, but at least we don’t have to be concerned with open-world ganking.

Traditional forms. Dungeons, which can be run solo or with a group of other players. The dungeons specifically scale to the number of players in the party, so you’re never forced to group with players to run them but at the same time, it will remain challenging even for a full group of people.
Honestly this is something more MMOs should adopt. Optional co-operative content is a huge step in the right direction. Sometimes we just don’t wanna group up with people, y’know?
Then there are raids, which seem to take inspiration from Final Fantasy XIV’s as opposed to World of Warcraft’s. Featuring individual bosses as opposed to large instanced dungeon-sized areas with a plethora of different bosses and raid wings.
Party vs Party arenas where players, as noted earlier, attempt to clear faster than any other group.
Crafting, Imajinn hunting.

There one of the things that make Blue Protocol different. On the one hand, you can collect Imajinn and utilize them in combat.
Alternatively, you can refine them and use them as a catalyst when crafting weapons. Or upgrading in general. We sill don’t know the exact limitations they possess or every use for them, but I’m sure in time we will.

Blue Protocol is not instanced. It’s not a sandbox game without loading screens like Black Desert Online. Rather, it’s a game like Guild Wars 2, Final Fantasy XIV or Blade & Soul.
You have large cities that have a small loading screen when you leave them. Zones themselves have a short loading screen to separate them, but you’ll be able to find other players out wandering, gathering, questing. It’s a fully-functional MMO with an open-world occupied with plenty of individual players.
The only instanced content that I’m aware of are the PvP Arenas, Dungeons and Raids.

A lot of things, actually.
You don’t farm gear from bosses. Either dungeon or raid bosses. Rather, you farm materials via a variety of different methods and use those materials to craft your own gear.
Meaning you don’t have to worry about a specific piece of gear you’ve been waiting for to drop.
Imajinn are going to drastically alter how you go about playing, upgrading and building your character.
This is a large, AAA-budget, full action combat Anime MMO. The only one of its kind other than PSO2 New Genesis.
It’s going to be narrative-driven, with a lot of story-content.
You’ll be capable of playing every class on a single character without the need for alts.
And so much more.

Bamco confirmed that while there is going to be no player housing when the game releases, it is definitely a feature they’re in the process of expanding upon.
It’s unconfirmed specifically when we’ll see the feature, or if we’ll even see it. But it’s something they’re definitely interested in including.

Yes, Bamco confirmed that while there was no functional guild system present during the Closed Beta, there will be when the game launches.

This is actually an interesting rumor going around, that I honestly think doesn’t hold much weight. Yes, it’s definitely possible they’re converting the game to Unreal Engine 5, but Bamco recently revealed they’re working on an entirely new game engine for their future games.
Thus it makes no sense to make such a drastic alteration to something so close to being ready.

This is purely speculation, but I would expect so. Given their interest in crafting a game their players will want to actually play, they’re going to need to showcase in a playable form the alterations that have been made.
Otherwise, why would they have delayed the game to make these alterations in the first place? I’d wager a guess we’ll see another type of Closed Beta test this year, and if Japanese players are happy, that will be the final one before the official launch.

Bandai Namco were hiring a Localization Director last year to help oversee distribution outside of Japan.
They’d also stated they wanted to release the game Westward after the game successfully launched within Japan.
Recently, they confirmed that Smilegate – the devs behind Lost Ark, would be handling the release of Blue Protocol within Korea. They’ve also confirmed they’ll be expanding into Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. Nothing on North America or Europe yet, but it’s only a matter of time.

I wish I had an answer for that. They were looking to release within 2021, which got delayed into 2022 for reasons outside of their control. But given we’re already moving into March 2022, I daresay that might be a stretch as well.
It might be more accurate to assume we’ll have a final Closed Beta test this year, with a full launch some time in 2023. As for North America and Europe? Who knows. If they’re localizing the game, we might get a worldwide release. Otherwise, I’d expect some time in 2024.

And that’s everything we know about Blue Protocol in 2022. I hope it answered all your questions, and has you excited for a potential Closed Beta later this year. With a full release either in 2022 or 2023.

I know you’re waiting for Blue Protocol. Trust me, I do.

Over the last several days though I’ve noticed a trend: Gaming news sites have been asking the question – What happened to Blue Protocol?
Which, naturally, being the main MMOTuber to actually cover Blue Protocol, leaves people coming to me to ask me the very same question.

“Stix, what happened to Blue Protocol?“, “Wasn’t Blue Protocol supposed to come out in 2021?“, “Has Blue Protocol been delayed?“, “Has Blue Protocol been CANCELED?!”
I wish I were joking.

So, what actually happened to Blue Protocol? Honestly, nothing. Bandai Namco haven’t been updating players lately on any platform. Twitter, livestreams.
The last we heard from Bamco via social media was when they revealed their intention to do a small live tech demonstration with regards to how enemy AI within the game function. But that was on October 15th.. it’s now December 10th.
If we disregard their social media pages, the last official post on the official Blue Protocol website was pertaining to the “Matching Load Test Implementation Report,” published on November 18th, 2020. That’s almost 13 months ago.
However it is worth noting that Smilegate, the Korean developers of Lost Ark announced in November that they had finalized discussions to distribute Blue Protocol within Korea. I know Smilegate aren’t the most successful developer, nor are they the most reliable, but that’s a confirmation of expansion outside of Japan.
It was also confirmed that Blue Protocol would be launching in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau hopefully in the near future. This is in anticipation of launching globally around the world.

Many players have taken this as Bamco hiding development process, with a common argument being cited by people being that there are other developers that are significantly more transparent in every step of the development process.
The reality is, yes, Bandai Namco could be much more transparent. There’s absolutely no denying that. However, are they required to be? No, not at all.
These are Japanese developers, developing an MMO for a Japanese audience first. They are under no obligation to satiate the needs of us Western players that are being vocal about our want – or need – for new information.
As far as I can tell, Japanese players up until this point have been relatively quite, allowing Bamco to continue to develop the game at their own rate. This is likely due to the fact that Japanese players are used to Japanese developers only releasing information when they feel they have something of worth to actually reveal.

Now don’t take this as a confirmation that Bandai Namco and the Blue Protocol dev team don’t have anything to show. It’s been over a year since the Closed Beta test that I got to participate in, and they’ve since showcased various overhauls to a significant portion of the game, along with the addition of many features into it.
I’m not Bandai Namco. And for whatever reason, they’re continuing to choose to remain quiet about what they’re working on. What they’ve completed. I know this can be very frustrating for you, as you’re no doubt as excited as I am about the game, yet unfortunately there’s nothing we can do about that.

Very little has been revealed over the course of the last year. I’ve done my utmost to keep the MMO community up to date with anything and everything they say and do, whether that’s the combat overhauls announced earlier this year, the various different streams they’ve put out since their last Closed Beta.
The new class announcement, the technical demo, the official music video for the game. I’ve been there with all of you every step of the way, and I aim to continue to do so going into 2022.
Blue Protocol was “expected” to release in 2021. It was not set in stone. Due to what happened over the course of the last 2 years, a lot of games, a lot of TV series, a lot of movies got pushed back, delayed.
Blue Protocol was likely no different. And while it would’ve been incredible to have gotten to play it in 2021 or 2022, it seems – at this juncture, highly unlikely.

We might get a release some time in 2022 within Japan still, but given how desperate Bamco are to release an MMO that their players are satisfied with, it might take even longer than that.
But at the end of the day, the final result should reflect the time, the effort, the dedication of their respective team’s devotion to perfecting a product before releasing it.
Nobody wants Blue Protocol to be a rushed mess that doesn’t live up to the unrealistic hype that has been created for it.

So with this in mind, I’ll continue to bring every one of you every bit of information I can pertaining to the game. The question, “what happened to Blue Protocol?” Nothing.
It is still actively being worked on. They have shown absolutely no signs of slowing down. They’ve shown no interest in ceasing development of the game. As far as we’re aware, development is moving along as expected.
We’ll all just need to sit there patiently and wait for more info.

In a recent announcement made by Shimooka, the Chief Producer for Blue Protocol, it was confirmed that Bandai Namco and Cayennne Tech were going to work to jointly release the upcoming Anime MMORPG within the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.

According to a Youtube video, an announcement post, and a post over on the Blue Protocol DB website, Bandai Namco have confirmed their partnership with Cayenne Tech to release their upcoming MMO outside of Japan.
The Blue Protocol DB website specifically lists Taiwan to be the first region to obtain the game, with Korea to likely follow shortly after.

According to the video from Shimooka directly:

Hello, fans of the game in Taiwan! I am the chief producer of “BLUEPROTOCOL”, Shimooka We are working together with Cayenne Tech in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau We are running the first PC version of “BLUEPROTOCOL” together Cayenne Tech has experience in operating game such as “Gundam” and “Digimon” They have many years of experience working with Bandai Namco Group, and are a very reliable partner I am very pleased to be able to hook through Cayenne Tech to present “BLUEPROTOCOL” for everyone! Please stay informed about the latest news from “BLUEPROTOCOL”

– Shimooka

This is the first direct confirmation of the game from outside of Japan, which is promising news for the direction of the game.
If you recall, they were looking for localization directors, and it seems they’ve already found multiple for various non-Japanese regions.

While we still don’t have an exact confirmed release date for Blue Protocol, even within Japan, it looks like we’re closing in on a rather large announcement in the near future.

Blue Protocol is a beautiful upcoming AAA budget Anime inspired MMORPG developed by Bandai Namco, the very same development studio behind popular titles like the Tales of franchise, Scarlet Nexus, God Eater 3, Code Vein and even the upcoming Elden Ring and Digimon Survive games.
Yet even though Blue Protocol is as anticipated as it currently is, there are plenty of people out there that continue to ask me “What is Blue Protocol?” – with people even going as far as not even recognizing what the game is when I feature gameplay of it in other videos.

It is with this in mind that today I want to take several minutes of your time and walk you through what Blue Protocol is, and why players are as excited as they are.

As MMO players we’re all looking for an amazing new game to play to fill the void that is present.

I feel like one thing we all have in common as MMO players is that we’re used to disappointment. Wait, no. Well.. yes, but that’s not what I was going for. As MMO players we’re all looking for an amazing new game to play to fill the void that is present.
We’ve tried everything there is: Final Fantasy XIV, World of Warcraft, The Elder Scrolls Online. And while they’re all good in their own right, none of them really… scratch that itch for a new, next generation title I feel a lot of us are expecting to emerge any moment now.
And don’t get me wrong, we’ve got plenty of fantastic MMOs launching in both 2021 and 2022, but none of them have the same Anime aesthetic that Blue Protocol does.

Blue Protocol is a gorgeous upcoming Anime MMORPG.

Blue Protocol is an absolutely gorgeous upcoming Anime MMORPG. It’s set in a unique world filled with both magic and technology. As I noted earlier, this is being developed by Bandai Namco, a Japanese developer.
This isn’t your typical South Korean or Chinese MMO. Japan is known for making some pretty high quality titles – specifically MMOs like Final Fantasy XIV and Phantasy Star Online 2.
Traditionally, Anime MMOs utilize tab-target combat systems. I’m guessing this is in part due to the depth and complexity of Anime games or a general lack thereof.
Blue Protocol however utilizes a very fast action combat system, meaning if you’re someone with poor reflexes like myself, then you’re likely going to see yourself underperforming. Which is fine, considering there’s no functional PvP system found within the game to really require a form of competitive play.
Yes, this is a 100% PvE MMO. There is no PvP whatsoever which I’m well aware is not going to appeal to everyone as there are plenty of people out there that absolutely need PvP in a game to garner any enjoyment out of it. But on the other hand, there are equally as many, if not more players that rather have a deep PvE environment to play in.
And this right here is going to cater to those players in specific.
Combat provides players a reticle with which to aim your abilities, has quite an extensive skill system and as of their latest livestream, is making a number of alterations to provide greater class identity for players.
As an example, if you’re playing the Mage class you can opt to spec purely into a fire build and play as a fire mage. Or, alternatively, an ice mage. Or you can go full support and become a support mage.
This applies to all classes, and will give players a substantial length of freedom with which to customize your character in whatever way you want.

Blue Protocol has a large world filled with wonder.

The world of Blue Protocol is pretty large. During the last Beta test phase we got to explore a total of 2 different regions. These regions were filled with varied areas, NPCs, enemies and items to farm.
Since then Bamco have revealed a desert biome – with more planned as the game continues its development process.
I say “regions” as much like Final Fantasy XIV and Guild Wars 2, Blue Protocol utilizes a segregated world. What this means is that you’re capable of exploring everything almost without limitation, but there are small loading screens separating the regions from one another, as opposed to an MMO like WoW or BDO.
I didn’t find much issue with this, as the monsters were plentiful and there were always players moving around and between zones.
As the game is segregated, there are going to be “channels” preventing players from overloading areas. This isn’t something new, rather, many MMOs already employ a hard-limit on how many players can concurrently occupy a single space at any given time.
I was surprised that Bamco confirmed this will be between 25 to 35 players per “instance” – but there’s plenty of room here to expand that if players are concerned enough with these limitations.
The towns – of which there will be multiple, are non-combat areas that allow for an exponentially larger number of players to concurrently occupy channels, with each channel specifically allowing between 100-200 players at a time.
I saw this first hand during the Beta test when there were hundreds of players all lined up dancing in the city square. This sense of activity within the community is something I’ve been longing for for a while now.

Blue Protocol is unlike any of its competition.

Even though the game is Anime inspired, utilizes an action combat system and has a large world filled with content, what actually sets it apart from other MMOs?
There’s an interesting Imajinn system in place – Imajinn being monsters that you can summon in combat to provide beneficial bonuses to your character or be utilized to engage enemies.
Alternatively, they can be used to craft gear. Speaking of gear, interestingly, Blue Protocol has taken a unique approach to the game in terms of gear acquisition.
Where typically you find gear from monster drops, quest rewards or from slaying a boss monster, instead, in Blue Protocol you’ll farm materials and craft all of the gear yourself.
This is reminiscent of Monster Hunter, where you’ll move out to the field, to dungeons, to raids and farm the materials required to successfully craft gear that is best in slot for your respective class.
If materials are guaranteed drops from bosses, then this will in essence remove the RNG element from gear farming, and allow for players to much more easily catch up to players that started the game much earlier.

Blue Protocol looks to be releasing in 2022 in Japan and 2023 for North America and Europe.

As of August 2021, Blue Protocol is still in active development.
The team over at Bamco have confirmed that they’re making extensive progress on the game however they’re continuing to alter functions and features to better appease the playerbase in an attempt to make the best possible MMORPG they can.
We’ve been eagerly anticipating playing this since it was announced back in the middle of 2019. Yes, it’s actually been 2 whole years since we first saw the trailer.
While it was revealed via livestream that Bamco had a goal to release the game within Japan in 2021, and Western countries “the year after,” it doesn’t look as though that’s going to be a possible goal to meet.
It’s looking progressively more likely that we’ll be seeing additional Beta tests over the course of 2021, with a full release in Japan in 2022. However, if the game does end up delayed, whether we’ll still receive the game in the West “the year after” remains to be seen, as delays may be seen in other departments like localization.
Realistically, it seems plausible to receive the game in North America and Europe some time in 2023 at this rate, but I would suggest you all brace for potential news of a later release date than that, even.

Blue Protocol is one of the MMOs I’m genuinely anticipating more than any other.
It’s a gorgeous Anime game developed by a AAA developer with a very long history with Anime games, and specifically, successful titles at that.
The action combat, the Anime aesthetic, the focus on PvE content, the customization over your character – both in terms of physical appearance and your class overall, the large immersive world, the JRPG narrative we’ve all come to love.
These are facets of the game that are going to truly make it a noteworthy contender, a combatant in the fight for the MMO playerbase.

While this is going to be first and foremost a PC MMO, Bamco did confirm their intention of releasing this onto consoles, likely PlayStation consoles in specific somewhere down the line if there is a large enough interest in it.
But until then, this is likely going to be one of, if not the largest free MMORPG when it launches.
And I cannot wait to be there day 1 playing this with all of you, making this game our new home.

We’re all waiting for Blue Protocol. This is one of the most anticipated MMORPGs of 2021/2022, and is perhaps the most anticipated Anime MMORPG of all time, outside of perhaps Peria Chronicles of Project BBQ. Considering we’re half way through 2021, I thought it would be worth it to compile a list of everything you need to know concerning the upcoming MMO in 2021, including, but not limited to its release date (expected,) its closed beta status, regional status, and more.

Blue Protocol is a beautiful upcoming Anime MMORPG from Bandai Namco, the developers of the Tales of JRPGs, God Eater, Code Vein and more.

Blue Protocol is going to be entirely free-to-play. You won’t be required to purchase the game, nor will you have to pay a subscription to play it monthly.

Blue Protocol, much like Final Fantasy XIV, Blade & Soul, TERA etc. utilizes large, open segregated zones, separated by small, short loading screens.

Blue Protocol employs a full action combat system. You have the ability to freely aim your left mouse button attacks and your abilities both, requiring a certain degree of aim to be efficient.
According to recent updates from the Blue Protocol Twitter, they’ve also added the ability for players to actively dodge and parry, meaning that players with fast response times will excel above those without.
Since Bamco are still actively working on new combat mechanics, it’s worth noting that the combat system is still subject to further improvements over time, however.

Not that they’ve made us aware of. Blue Protocol will feature a cash shop but won’t have any pay to win, or pay to advance items within it. There won’t be any VIP memberships in place that offer any form of advancements over other players.

Blue Protocol is not only one of the few beautiful Anime MMOs in development, but instead of presenting players with tried-and-tested method of gear obtainment and advancement, players will have to venture out into the world and obtain materials. Both from the world itself, through dungeons, through raids.
No gear is obtained via drops in the game. All gear is crafted, and all materials to farm said equipment are entirely farmable. So whether you get the best in slot for your class is solely dependent on whether or not you’re farming enough.

Yes it does! Blue Protocol has a fairly extensive character creator. I messed around in it for about 20-30 minutes when I streamed it, and they’ve made significant improvements and additions to the character creator since its last Beta test.
Additional customization options in the form of sliders is always important to the overall personality of your avatar in a game, especially given that your character is a reflection of you. And the more unique it is, the more of a connection you have with it.

Yes, at present there are 4 classes. The Aegis Fighter that wields a sword and shield, the Twin Striker that dual-wields axes, the Blast Archer that wields a bow, and the Spell Caster that wields elemental magic via their stave.
I went the Archer in the Beta ’cause chat made me. And admittedly it wasn’t bad, but I’ve always been drawn to magic classes so when the game finally launches I’ll be playing the Spell Caster.

It was confirmed that Blue Protocol will have additional classes in the future. Quite a bit of information was datamined pertaining to new classes, with over 20 classes being listed.
Whether these classes are confirmed, or are just potential classes that may or may not be in the works remains to be seen but Bamco themselves confirmed they’re already hard at work on new classes to roll out after the game launches.

Gorgeous. Perhaps the best the Anime genre has to offer. Blue Protocol’s environments look like something out of God Eater 3 or Code Vein. The zones look absolutely stunning, the character models look and move incredibly well and your abilities look flashy but not over-the-top.

Blue Protocol is confirmed to have several types of PvE: On the one hand, there’s traditional open-world content. They also have dungeons that scale to the number of players within your group, becoming more or less difficult depending on how many players are present.
There are going to be raids, but instead of being themed after WoW, it looks as though they might be much closer to Final Fantasy XIV. Finally, we have the Party vs Party system with a functional leaderboard. Parties will go head-to-head to attempt to be the #1 monster slaying group in an instanced arena.

None. Nill. Zilch. As Japanese MMORPGs have taught us: Players just aren’t very interested in Player vs Player content, and as such Bamco are opting to omit PvP all together. This might upset some players, but at the same time, it’s better to not have PvP than to have a half-assed version of it present like in Final Fantasy XIV.

PC at present. Bamco have confirmed that they’re working on cross-platform functionality with consoles, however they never confirmed which consoles specifically those would be. I’d assume the PS4 and PS5, though, given the consoles they seem to favor both at Bandai Namco and within Japan itself.

Honestly, they haven’t confirmed whether Blue Protocol will feature a Steam release or not. Given that most of their games are available via Steam though it would be safe to assume as such!

Since we don’t currently have a confirmed list of consoles receiving the game, it’s uncertain whether or not it’ll possess cross-play functionality between PC and consoles.

Very likely, yes. However, given the fact that no information has been made available to us as of April 2021, it’s likely still a ways off before we get another Closed Beta test. You should definitely expect another one some time during 2021, though!

Bandai Namco have confirmed that while Blue Protocol will be launching within Japan initially, they definitely expect to release within North America and Europe “the year after release within Japan.”
They have localization directors and English localization files that were datamined during their last Closed Beta test, so we’re likely already quite a ways through the localization process already.

Yes and no. Bamco have confirmed that if everything goes according to plan, they expect to release within 2021 in Japan, its country of origin. And as noted earlier, they have every expectation of releasing globally the year after, so as Western players that should be some time in 2022.

Not entirely. Blue Protocol will require an updated PC for sure, but judging from the requirements they posted online, it doesn’t look like it’ll really require anything all that serious.

Yes, according to Bandai Namco, Blue Protocol is going to have a purely cosmetic cash shop. This means that pay to win should not be present, but at the same time, means that a lot of outfits present in-game will likely be exclusive to real-money purchases.
While I’ve seen some costumes obtainable in-game, I feel as though like Blade & Soul and Final Fantasy XIV, the best are going to require you to pay. Which is 100% acceptable, as they need to fund the game somehow.

Bandai Namco have confirmed that they’re definitely interested in implementing player housing into their MMO, but at present it is not a feature they’ve completed.
Whether it’ll be available when the game launches is currently unknown, but it’s unlikely and will probably come somewhere down the line after the game fully launches.

Yes, while there wasn’t one present during the Closed Beta, Bamco have confirmed that there will be a 100% functional guild system present in-game both when it launches, and even during its next test phase.

During their latest wave of feedback, they went on to ask players what they wanted to see added into the game in the future which gave us a look into what we should expect: Living content in the form of player housing, fishing and other life skills. Various types of mini games.
Increased freedom and addition of character creation parts. New classes. Increased number of Imajinn, which are unique monsters used both in combat and for crafting. Guilds. PvP. Enhanced quests. A larger selection of dungeons to run. More raid content.
A deeper Arena system. More unique classes. A lot more costumes and accessories. Seasonal events. And a photo mode, which they confirmed recently is already added into the game!

Your best bet would be to follow Bandai Namco’s official Blue Protocol Twitter page, as they seem to make monthly Tweets with updates on the game.

After the very first Closed Beta test for Blue Protocol, Bandai Namco asked participants to go through a number of questions and leave feedback on a number of topics. It was brought to my attention earlier today (via the Blue Protocol subreddit,) that this was actually never covered by anyone, and gives us a very large look into the future of the game.

The questionnaire specifically asked: “Which game specifications / contents do you expect to add in the future? (Select up to 5)”

Options included the following: Living content (in the form of fishing and housing as an example,) mini games, increased character creation options (for more diverse character identity,) increased freedom for character creation, choice of skills (including an option to have more skills to utilize,) the addition of new classes (a topic that has been requested quite a few times over the last year,) an increase in the number of Imajinn (a unique feature specific to this game,) team guilds, PvP (player vs. player,) quest enhancement (possibly in the form of quest-type diversity,) an increased number of dungeons, increased raid content (additional raids? more to do in said raids?,) altered rules for the arena, an expansion of content with additional “playful elements,” enhanced HUD and graphical options, enhancement of roles in battle (potentially referring to role identity and how there is no holy trinity,) enhancing the sense of cooperation in battle (group-related content,) optional channel movement functionality, additional costume types and accessories (as individual character identity is an important aspect of every MMO,) enhancement of communication function (such as voice chat?,) 4K resolution and ultra-wide monitor support, seasonal events, enhanced shooting functions (related to cameras?,) and apps with auxiliary functions outside of the game.

We’ve already seen Bandai Namco reveal they’re working on additional classes, and that they’ve added in quite a bit in the way of character customization, so it looks as though they’re working through a list of most-important to least-important in an attempt to cater to as many potential players as they can before the game releases later in 2021 in Japan.

Just a friendly reminder of what content/features we can expect in the future from r/BlueProtocolPC

This is very exciting news, and I cannot wait to see where the game ultimately ends up when they’ve taken everything into consideration.