Bandai Namco has just announced a new action role-playing game called Blue Protocol.
In their surprising announcement, Bandai Namco has said that Blue Protocol is currently in development by an in-house team known as Project Sky Blue, with the group consisting of members from Bandai Namco Online and Bandai Namco Studios. What has been confirmed so far is the use of Unreal Engine 4, similar to Bandai Namco title Tales of Arise, to push the limits of what PC hardware can do. The screenshot released along with the announcement looks gorgeous, seamlessly marrying anime-style visuals against the realistic mountainous backdrop.
Blue Protocol has been described in Bandai Namco’s press release as a “multiplayer online role-playing game”. Whether it’s an MMORPG similar to the likes of Final Fantasy XIV, or if it’s for smaller groups per session is still unknown.
Its official English description doesn’t help support any speculations and is still very cryptic:
“The world is on the brink of devastation, now is the time to unite. March on with friends and strangers, and defeat foes beyond your might. Travel through space and time, to change the future beyond this fight!”. “March with friends and strangers”? Does that mean it’s an MMO? How about “defeating foes beyond your might”? Is it a PVE gaming experience of forming parties with strangers to defeat raid bosses?
The press release left RPG fans wanting, but the silver lining is that Bandai Namco guaranteed more updates regarding the upcoming title in the days to follow. It is interesting to see the company expand into an online RPG title, diversifying their lineup even further. Two of these titles were announced at E3 a few weeks ago, including the aforementioned Tales of Arise, which features developer work from both veterans and newcomers in the series, with the shared goal of revitalizing the Tales series.
The second of these titles is my personal most anticipated title, Elden Ring, which is another RPG and the signal of the return of Bandai Namco and developer FromSoftware’s partnership. Going by Blue Protocol, it ultimately looks like the publisher is keeping its focus straight on role-playing titles, but applying a to it a number of multiplayer styles. Time will tell if Blue Protocol is going to be good, but until then, stay tuned with us for more coverage as soon as it develops.
