For fans of anime and Asian MMORPGs, Blue Protocol is the big hope in 2023. The online action RPG is set to be released in the second half of the year as a free download for PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PS5. Fans expect strong action gameplay and cool graphics. However, the anticipation seems to be overshadowed now.
What is the status?
- According to a recent survey, “Blue Protocol” is the MMORPG that the second most players are looking forward to and want to play, among the readers of MeinMMO – and all others don’t count anyway. Only “Throne and Liberty” ranked even higher in our readers’ favor. However, there was recently information about Throne and Liberty that has somewhat dampened the hype.
- The developers of Blue Protocol actually planned a “network test” in Japan in January 2023, but they postponed it at the last minute.
- The game is supposed to release in “spring 2023” in Japan; we are expecting a release in the second half of 2023. Bandai Namco is developing – Amazon is publishing in the West. Meanwhile, it seems that the shipping giant is slated to publish all major MMORPGs through its gaming branch
Data Mining Image Confirms Players’ Suspicions of Censorship
This unsettles players now: A user has posted screenshots on reddit showing a difference in female NPC models between the US version and the Japanese version:
- In the Japanese version, the model wears a short skirt and a matching crop top
- In the US version, the skirt is replaced by significantly longer shorts, and the woman’s midriff is covered
- Also, in a second model, there is a clear difference between the original and the global version, which we will play in the West
It seems that we in the West are not getting the version of Blue Protocol that was intended for Japan, but rather a “modified, censored version”.
It also seems that this is not only the case in “data mining”, but reddit users have discovered models of the NPCs in the US trailers that differ from the models in the Japanese trailers.
In trailers, a difference in NPCs was already seen (via imgur):
This is the reaction: Some people on reddit are upset about this change:
- “This confirms exactly what we suspected: There are different models for the original version and the censored global version of the game: And this confirms that they are not just unused data mining models, but this is exactly what Amazon will give us.”
- “Honestly, this is a bit depressing for me. I hate censorship and I know that if they censor something so trivial, it will get much worse. The best thing Amazon could do would be to give us an option to choose between outfits, but I know they won’t do that.”
Does Amazon Only Censor “Childlike” Models?
How can this also be seen? The model that is censored there is known as the “Desert NPC.” The character appears childlike.
One might speculate now that Amazon is only altering models that appear very young to counter “pedophilia” accusations.
Some on reddit believe: Amazon would intentionally avoid showing these childlike characters present in the Japanese trailers (via imgur) in the West because Amazon knows it would trigger a censorship discussion.
Such childlike “loli” characters and their representation in Asian games are a sensitive topic in the West because views on this differ greatly from East to West.
In the discussion on reddit, players refer to the character merely as “S-Size-Character,” the fact that it could be a child depicted as midriff-baring does not matter in the discussion.
On reddit, a large part of the players reject Amazon’s general interference. They should leave the game as it was intended by the developers.
The exact same discussion had occurred prior to the release of Lost Ark. Also an MMORPG that originates from Asia and was distributed in Europe by Amazon:
YouTuber says: Amazon censors and alters MMORPG Lost Ark significantly in the West
