Following the Korean and global servers of Blue Archive, Nexon will also take over the Japanese service of Blue Archive starting January 2027.
Yostar, which handles the Japanese service of Blue Archive, hosted a Blue Archive live stream today (the 25th). Held for the autumn season, the broadcast featured a large cast of voice actors for key characters, introducing upcoming merchandise for Japan, offline collaboration events, and the in-game event 'Start Your Engine.' Notably, the stream generated buzz in the Korean Blue Archive community as it featured a long-awaited alternate version of Azusa, 'Azusa (Racing),' as a limited character.
Like previous autumn live streams for Blue Archive, this broadcast was set to conclude with ticket sales and a general overview of merch for Blue Archive Fes—scheduled for January 23–24, 2027. However, Hengda Li, CEO of Yostar Japan, appeared near the end of the stream to announce the publishing transition.
CEO Li stated, "Through mutual discussion, both companies have agreed to transfer the service of Blue Archive to Nexon. The transition to Nexon's operational system is scheduled to take effect starting with the in-game update planned for late January 2027 and Blue Archive Fes." Moving forward, Nexon will also handle all official broadcasts and events in Japan, with specific schedules and details to be released later. Outside of the Japanese server, the Chinese server currently operated by Yostar will remain under Yostar's publishing.
In connection with this, Nexon Japan has been conducting comprehensive recruitment for subculture game roles since early this year, spanning marketing, live service LQA, localization, IP business, and customer support. Beyond laying groundwork for Mabinogi Mobile and new title releases, this hiring drive is understood to have catered to preparations for self-publishing Blue Archive.
Meanwhile, following the publisher transfer announcement, Kim Yong-ha, Executive Producer at Nexon Games, delivered a letter to players via the IO Division's official social media channel. Executive Producer Kim stated, "We sincerely apologize for causing concern with the sudden publisher change announcement. While the operating company is changing, we will do our utmost to ensure there are no worries regarding the story of Kivotos we will continue to craft, the content we will deliver, or the direction of our service." He added that he will soon explain the background behind the transition decision and future plans alongside CEO Li.
In tandem with this, Yostar posted an additional announcement regarding future schedules on its official website. Following the release of a discussion video featuring Executive Producer Kim Yong-ha and CEO Hengda Li in November, the account transfer process page for Blue Archive will be made public, with the service transfer taking place in January. Furthermore, following the transfer update, various rewards—including 100 free recruitments and an anniversary-exclusive 3-star student selector ticket—will be provided separately from the 6th-anniversary event benefits. Detailed information can be found on the FAQ page, and users can complete the transfer process later via the account transfer page.
