Anybody keen to jump into Regnas and try out Blue Protocol in Western waters won’t have to wait very long. Amazon Games expects to drop a port of the anime-themed MMORPG on us in 2024, but a lot of in-game information still seems to be Japanese player opinion. Outside of the odd hands-on, Reddit uproars and the feedback of some Japanese players, there isn’t much information on Amazon’s version of this intriguing action MMO.
When It’s Ready
One thing that’s been niggling at my own sense of urgency is the limited play opportunities as yet. Players certainly didn’t get hands-on during Gamescom 2023, and even promotional PR pushes have been muted. When I had an opportunity to ask Mike Zadorojny, Franchise Lead at Amazon Games, about progress on the port and what’s coming west, I couldn't say no.
MMORPG: What is the current state of the Western release? Are we on track for the expected release window?
Mike: There are several ways to answer that question
MMOPRG: When it’s ready?
Mike: [laughs] Well, that's part of it, right? A lot of the things that we're focusing on right now include making sure that on day one, we can turn the servers on and players have the best possible experience.
Mike confirmed that this doesn’t just mean the elastic capacity of Amazon’s underlying AWS architecture, but the player feedback loops too. Catching problems, bugs, and experiential issues were noted as a key component of that launch day experience.
“The worst thing we can do is rush the game out and then not be set up to be able to respond to feedback.”
This is where upcoming beta tests will be crucial. Amazon has a testing period planned before launch, and I expect this to give us can indication of more than just the Foe Breaker’s performance.
A PORTion of the work
Moving from a Japanese audience to a more international one has already had its issues for the online giant, but it’s hardly an easy process in any scenario. Anybody sitting down to watch One Piece might understand the trepidation.
Amazon, however, seems to have faith that Bandai Namco are ready to make Blue Protocol a success outside of its original launch, with Mike asserting, “Bandai is listening and has the ability to understand what makes Western players different, and also ensure that the game continues to resonate at a global level.”
Bandai was referred to as, “a very collaborative partner,” and while we’ve not had a chance to add our own analysis to the feedback, it’s being collected already. Expert reviews, user research, market research, and community reports are just some of the ways Amazon is already plugged in and providing data so that Amazon “Make sure that they (the community) know that we're listening.”
Localization is, however, more than just sending emails back to Bandai. It’s a mix of cultural aspects that is more than a simple translation. I wanted to know how heavily involved Amazon has been with that work and how deep it goes.
“We look at localization as a couple of different things, and I'd say it's more about regionalization than it is about just the straight localization. Our intention is not to take word for word this is what was said in Japan. and this is what's. You miss the nuance, right? There is a word choice that happens in Japanese if they're trying to make the character sound witty or smart. We can't always one to one that and have that same impression, because our culture is different.”
This is telling, in a way. Mike clearly has an affinity for Japanese culture and anime that I managed to tease out a little further. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to quiz him on it more. Maybe I’ll prepare a ranking list of Log Horizon class skills for next time.
From what Mike tells us, Amazon is “trying to give a full representation of the artistry that is built into the game and the representation of the characters and give them the depth that is required but in a way that Western audience will understand and resonate with.”
Delayed Launch
While the teams in various time zones toil away to prepare, the game continues to press on in Japan and provides its own details, feedback, and challenges. While that’s caused a plethora of animated thumbnails declaring the game dead, I asked if it’s actually something of a benefit to go second?
"I would say there are advantages and disadvantages for them going first. I think we missed the excitement of having a global launch everywhere at the same time. I think there also are some advantages. They might have needed to launch in order to learn certain things about how the game was designed or what they need to develop. Obviously, Western players are going to get the advantage of what's already happened and what’s already been learned. We can make sure that we're following up certain things that were there during the Japanese launch.”
Content
Even after launch, that isn’t the end of Amazon’s work to port the game. Content in an MMO works differently to other RPGS. Mike came from ArenaNet into Amazon, and nothing says burnout like the Guild Wars 2 two-week cadence.
With a player expectation for content, time to plan, and the pressure of this regionalization, Mike confirmed that, “The thing that's been talked about so far is the first four-month cadence that they're doing in Japan. The 1st update was kind of a small update, just bug fixes, a couple of skills, few requests. The second one, which was a little bigger, is more of a medium size. It added like dungeons and additional actual content beyond this, like some festivals.”
Update 3 adds a new class, which is the Blitz Lancer in Japan. Mike did confirm there isn’t likely to be a bunch of additional content in this update. Update 4 loads up an entirely new story chapter, dungeons, and more.
“Four drops four months. That's the general flow that we are looking at in terms of how to stagger some of the updates being small, smaller and larger and focus on really big beats, but also provide meaningful things like new classes, new big story chapters, and so on.”
The mention of festivals is intriguing. While preparing for dungeon drops is an obvious call, seasonal events in Japan might not translate here. So, are we going to see Summer Matsuri? Well, that sort of decision still seems to be in flux. Mike noted that “there's a logistical challenge with what we're talking about if we are trying to catch up to the Japanese version, then there's going to be some number of these things that aren't going to be a one-to-one translation. Some might get shortened. If it's a month-long piece of content, it might only happens for a week in the West. Overall, for that part, I can't answer. Yet!”
This largely aligns with Mike’s previous assertions that we will see an authentic, if modified, version of the game’s intent.
But Why?
Even if Amazon gets it right, they’re still going to have to overcome a major obstacle. Inertia. I’m already well invested in Genshin Impact, and HoYoverse isn’t exactly going away. So, I asked directly, why are people going to play?
“Because the art style is very iconic, you immediately get the comparisons to other games that are on the market already. I think it, ultimately, goes back to the design decisions and the design intent as to why this game stands apart and why it is different.
First is it was designed from the ground up to be a multiplayer game. When you're running around the open world and you see other players you know interacting with them in a positive way has always been, from day one, one of the goals. There's no kill stealing. Everyone has their own resource nodes. If everyone attacks something, we all will get experience.”
In many respects, this is core to a modern MMO, and with the recent Kaveh hack in Genshin, you can see how difficult co-operative online experiences can be to build. Mike was at pains to note it’s just easy to play together. Coupled with content that rewards skilful play, this helps make a great package.
Money and The Capsulator
As a free-to-play title, maybe that initial move isn’t too difficult to get over, but keeping the game going requires cash in the front door. It’s pretty clear by now that power and vertical progression have no part in free-to-play monetization. I’d imagine Amazon has plenty of sway over this area, and while I haven’t seen the global cash shop yet, Mike confirmed that there are “3 vectors that we're talking about already for monetization.”
The Battle Pass will include a free and paid-for tier that works as you’d expect. Anybody putting up the cash can expect greater rewards or more levels with more rewards. This will likely cycle every few months and should include more in-game cosmetics, too.
The second is the gacha system. Renamed the Capsulator for Western markets, it’s more than just a rebranded loot box system.
“It's not just about rebranding. There are subtle differences for the Westernization design. We are making sure we are taking into consideration for the Western perspective of random boxes. From the very beginning, we've had a limit like a hard cap after X number of, purchases, you're guaranteed a box that has all of the top-ranked items, and you pick which one you want.”
Finally, if you do get cosmetic items from the Capsulator you don’t want, these can be recycled. They will generate a new currency. This can be spent in a dedicated shop, meaning there’s always another choice.
How the balance and numbers stack up for that are yet to be seen, but maybe when things go live in 2024, the Blue Protocol stand at Gamescom will be full of cosplayers out to recreate their favorite outfit, too? You can sign up for beta or just keep an eye on Blue Protocol over on the official website now.
