Bandai Namco MMO Blue Protocol has been outright canceled because it will "not be possible to provide a service that satisfies" players

The Amazon-published MMO Blue Protocol is shutting down in Japan, and has seen its western launch outright canceled. 

Bandai Namco announced that Blue Protocol wI’ll be shutting its doors for good on January 18, 2025. In a statement on the MMO's official website, the developer also writes that it has completely canceled its plans for a western launch, in which Blue Protocol was set to be published by Amazon's games arm.

"We have enjoyed a strong relationship with Amazon Games throughout the development of Blue Protocol, and both of our teams are disappointed that we will not be able to deliver the game to players around the world," Bandai Namco adds in the blog post.

"We know there has been great anticipation for Blue Protocol since the first announcement of the game. We wanted to deliver an experience that is like stepping into the world of anime, and we have been challenging ourselves to create a world where each and every player can enjoy adventures as the main character of the anime," the announcement continues.

"We have worked hard to prepare for the release; however, we have come to the conclusion that it will not be possible to provide a service that satisfies all of you," Bandai Namco adds, before adding that it "deeply apologize[s] for the sudden announcement." 

Blue Protocol was set to debut in the west back in June, but just a few short months before that release window, it was delayed indefinitely. This was after Bandai's MMO was originally set for a western launch back in 2023. This is really shocking considering members of the press had already gone hands-on with Blue Protocol last year - including us here at GamesRadar+.

The MMO originally launched in Japan in June 2023, and it seemed like a smash-hit success from the jump, launching to over 600,000 players and a whopping 200,000 concurrent player count. Bandai Namco seemingly hasn't been happy with how Blue Protocol has performed since launch, which is the only probable cause for its sudden shutdown.