Blue Protocol in 2021: Everything You Need to Know!

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.