Early Steam reviews paint Blue Protocol Star Resonance as just another generic gacha grind. It “represents the culmination of the cancer that has killed the MMO genre”

Blue Protocol was an MMORPG made by Bandai Namco Online and Bandai Namco Studios for PC and consoles. It launched back in June 2023, but only in Japan. There were plans for a global release through Amazon Games, though that never happened, and eventually, the Japanese servers were shut down on January 18, 2025. Its successor, Blue Protocol: Star Resonance, launched just yesterday – developed by Shanghai Bokura Network Technology (under Bandai Namco’s license) and published by Tencent Games only on PC and mobile. It features revamped combat, expanded customization, and an updated engine, but early reception isn’t great. After less than a day, it’s sitting below 50% positive reviews on Steam.

Another disappointment for MMORPG fans

Blue Protocol: Star Resonance was also meant to improve on the original with better social features, a more open world to explore, smoother combat animations, and even some new story content. While there aren’t any solid review scores from Japanese players for the first Blue Protocol, the global launch of this updated version hasn’t exactly been well received. So, let’s take a look at what players are complaining about in the Steam reviews:

Source: Blue Protocol: Star Resonance; Developer: Shanghai Bokura Network Technology

There are some positive reviews out there too – mostly from players who don’t get why others are upset about the auto-combat and other auto features, since you can actually turn them off. But the real issue seems to be that the game only has one server, located in the US. Players from places like Australia are complaining about heavy lag that makes the game nearly unplayable. With just one global server, the in-game chat is also a total free-for-all, which can turn into pure chaos pretty fast.

On top of that, there’s no English dub, only Chinese voice acting, and the translation quality isn’t great, something that really stands out when you’re talking to tons of NPCs. Sure, the game peaked at almost 100,000 concurrent players right after launch, but that number dropped within hours, and judging by the reviews, a lot of people don’t seem eager to come back.

Source: Blue Protocol: Star Resonance; Developer: Shanghai Bokura Network Technology

As for the complaints about repetition, that’s not new. MMOs have always had a bit of grind baked in, but back in the day, it was fun when you were running dungeons and raids with friends. That’s what kept the genre alive for so long. Nowadays, though, MMOs feel weighed down by microtransactions and gacha mechanics. They’ve become standard, and it often feels like developers focus more on monetization than on perfecting combat design or creating engaging encounters with mobs and bosses. And that’s pretty much what Blue Protocol: Star Resonance ends up being.

Someone even called it worse than Star Citizen, which is a pretty wild comparison, but when you think about it, both games suffer from the same issues: way too much monetization and a serious lack of polish, or, in Star Citizen’s case, the fact that it’s still not finished.

Blue Protocol: Star Resonance

October 9, 2025

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• Overview

• free-to-play
• MMORPG