Nexon will take over Japanese publishing of Blue Archive from Yostar on iOS, Android and PC around January 2027, Yostar announced during an autumn special of the game’s official livestream on 25 October 2026, AUTOMATON reports. Nexon published a transfer page the same evening. The game is made in Korea by NEXON Games, and Yostar has published it in Japan since its launch there.
Why NEXON Games ended the contract
The request came from the developer: NEXON Games asked to end the publishing contract with Yostar, and the two companies agreed after discussions, Game*Spark reports. Nexon’s stated reason, according to 4Gamer, is to handle development, operation and IP expansion together inside the Nexon group. NEXON Games remains the developer, and the global version is already run by Nexon; this change concerns the Japanese service. On the stream, Yostar CEO Li Hengda (李衡達) stressed that the announcement is not a notice that the service is ending.
Yostar is best known in Japan for publishing Azur Lane and Arknights, AUTOMATON notes, and Blue Archive has been one of its flagship titles there. The move brings a major Korean-made game back under its developer’s own group for its biggest overseas market.
Timetable to the January switchover
Nexon’s transfer page gives these dates:
- November 2026: a video conversation between overall producer Kim Yong-ha and Li Hengda, and the account transfer application page.
- January 2027: maintenance for the publisher change. An exact date has not been announced.
- 23–24 January 2027: the Blue Archive Fes event.
- 4 February 2027: the Japanese version’s sixth anniversary.
Reports say operation under Nexon is expected to begin with a late-January game update and the festival at Makuhari Messe.
What players must do before January
Nexon says all account data carries over, including the paid and free currency Pyroxene. Purchased packages and items carry over too, and time-limited items keep their expiry dates. The condition is a one-time transfer: players must link their game account to a Yostar ID and complete a pre-registration before the maintenance begins. Guest accounts that are not linked to a Yostar ID cannot be transferred, so anyone still on one has until the January maintenance to link it and apply, or lose access to that account.
After the maintenance, Yostar IDs will no longer log in to the game, and players will use a NEXON member account instead. Names and addresses stored with Yostar are not transferred, and each NEXON membership can hold only one game account. The current PC version and Yostar’s web top-up centre keep working until the maintenance starts; Nexon says the post-change PC environment and a web store for paid currency are still being prepared. Every player will receive compensation, including 100 free recruitment pulls and a select ticket for an anniversary-limited three-star student, with distribution dates not yet set. Nexon says the full procedure will be published in November.