Blue Protocol’s Epic Send-Off: An Hours-Long Anime Avatar Rave with Perfectly Synced Moves

It feels like more live service games are biting the dust these days. Publishers are swinging for the fences, hoping to catch lightning in a bottle with the next big online cash cow, but it’s a tough world out there. Games that don’t hit it out of the park often end up as casualties, quickly forgotten.

Take, for instance, the recent shutdown of Blue Protocol, an MMORPG developed by Bandai Namco. This past week marked the end of its journey, a date that was set by the publisher last summer, even before the game could make its way to Western audiences. But as it bid farewell, its dedicated Japanese playerbase made sure it went out with a bang—a spectacular dance party right in the middle of a town square.

As covered by Japanese site Nlab and reported via Automaton, Blue Protocol’s final moments on January 18 were marked by an impromptu rave that stretched on for about four and a half hours. Twitter user michsuzu captured the scene, sharing videos of players lined up, their avatars perfectly in sync, grooving to the game’s iconic flute tunes. Honestly, you could slap on any classic track, be it The Prodigy, The Chemical Brothers, or Faithless’ Insomnia, and it’d still feel just right.

The epic farewell took place in Asterliese, the game’s starting town. Players boogied down in honour of their beloved game, starting around 5:30 PM Japan time and going strong until the servers officially went dark at 10 PM. As the game closed, players were greeted with a heartfelt farewell message, thanking them for their loyalty, before the servers flickered off for the last time. Blue Protocol, you’ve had a peculiar journey, but you won’t be forgotten by those who danced you into oblivion.

Interestingly, this isn’t quite the end for Blue Protocol. Automaton reports a quirky twist: the game is set to be reborn as a new MMORPG named Star Resonance, courtesy of Tencent-backed Chinese studio Bokura.

So, is this goodbye, Blue Protocol? Or just another chapter in your strange saga? Only time will tell.