Bandai Namco’s Blue Protocol was very promising, but it failed to capture success in Japan and ended up shutting down and skipping its announced Western release.
We could spend hours talking about why it didn’t work out, and the role of Amazon Games, which supposedly advised the developers on how to make the game more palatable to the Western audience (and then announced some pretty heavy-handed localization) remains a question mark, but the fact remains that we never got to experience a game that had a lot of potential.
Yet, a few months ago, we learned that Blue Protocol was getting a second chance, re-released under license from Bandai Namco as an improved version by Chinese developer Shanghai Bokura Technology, a company under Tencent’s umbrella.
This new lease on life is titled “Star Resonance” and is coming for PC, iOS, and Android. The game has opened preregistration in China and is about to enter a new round of beta testing. To celebrate, the first trailer has been released. You can check it out below (or watch a 1080p version on TapTap)
Yes. It’s Blue Protocol all right. There are differences, but the overall feel is unmistakable.
It certainly looks very promising, but at the moment we have no idea whether this second chance will extend to the West. No release in North America or Europe has been announced for the moment.
I have to say, I’d certainly welcome another chance to play Blue Protocol… ahem… Star Resonance. I was very excited for the original, and I was very disappointed for its cancellation.
We’ll have to wait and see. Of course, we’ll keep you posted should anything be announced.
