Bandai Namco Online is on the verge of insolvency following the release of its latest title, Blue Protocol, due to financial issues that have continued to worsen.
The situation comes as the studio's live-service and MMO-specific studio was already losing money, which may have been exacerbated by the launch of Blue Protocol.
Bandai Namco Online, which is a subsidiary that focuses on online games, reportedly hit a net loss of roughly $51 million during the 2023 to 2024 fiscal year.
Bandai Namco Online Faces Insolvency
(Photo : Bandai Namco Online / Screenshot taken from official website)
Furthermore, the increasingly negative net income that the studio has faced resulted in the developer becoming insolvent. Bandai Namco Online is known for specializing in MMO and live-service titles for the publisher, including Gundam Evolution and Blue Protocol.
During the 2022 to 2023 period, the studio was already in the negative and saw a reported net loss of roughly $25 million at the time.
In February earlier this year, Bandai Namco called its 2023 to 2024 earnings "disappointing" for the third quarter. It indicated that Blue Protocol contributed to that particular loss, according to GameDeveloper.
The free-to-play MMO is currently playable solely in Japan and a wider release for it is expected to come later this year and will be published by Amazon Games. While Blue Protocol opened to 600,000 players in its home region, its presence appears to have diminished in the full year following the launch.
The issues with Bandai Namco Online reportedly stem from ballooning development costs that have been incurred. These costs were attributed to studios scrapping and remaking various projects, which in turn resulted in the budget getting to "unexpected levels."
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The other titles that Bandai Namco Online manages include IDOLiSH7, Gundam Tribe, and SD Gundam Operation. The news of the insolvency of the studio follows previous reports that Blue Protocol's performance in Japan "significantly fell short" of expectations following its release.
The company supposedly attributed most of the game's deficits to its failure to replicate the success of FromSoftware's Elden Ring. With everything going on, players are unsure about the future of Blue Protocol's plans following the celebration of its first anniversary, said MassivelyOP.
State of Blue Protocol
Bandai Namco Online's dire financial condition could be the primary reason for the relative silence with Blue Protocol. The most recent update that Amazon gave about the game was made in the fall after the last technical test.
This is true despite there being a lot of video game showcases in the last few months, including the Summer Game Fest and PAX East.
When Bandai Namco Online revealed its negative net profit, many fans were surprised because this was something that had never happened in the history of the studio.
Now, the developers behind Blue Protocol are talking about implementing various changes to the game in order to fix and expand it. This is being called "the new Blue Protocol."
On top of fixing the game, the team is reportedly planning to add new ways for people to play Blue Protocol. These would include new side content, hack 'n slash gameplay, and treasure hunting, according to MMORPG.
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