After 16 years, the wait for a new Mega Man game is nothing compared to the wait fans have had for the next act of the rock opera based on Capcom's legendary action series, but The Protomen's third album is finally upon us

protomen act 3 art showing a figure looking over a city — (Image credit: The Protomen | John DeLucca | Caspar Newbolt)

The band who have been creating a rock opera based on the Mega Man series has announced that their third album will finally release after 16 years.

Back in 2005, The Protomen released their first album, a self-titled album based on the events of the NES Mega Man games, detailing Mega Man and Proto Man's face off – except spliced with an Orwellian dystopia and a healthy dose of 80s films and rock bands. Capcom even invited the group to play at its SDCC booth in 2007.

And then it was followed up in 2009 by Act 2: The Father of Death, which was a prequel storyline about Dr Wily and Dr Light. The second album dialed everything up, with more elaborate tracks, storytelling, and production from Bonnie Tyler and Meat Loaf producer Alan Shacklock. This album produced the band's biggest hit, "Light Up the Night," which was featured in Rock Band 4, and more recently in the trailer for The Wolf Among Us 2. And since then, fans of the band have been waiting for the eventual Act 3.

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However, in what is a fitting move for how long we've been waiting, the band is releasing the 15-song album in stages. "Only the first 2 tracks are available now, but new ones will be added every week," the band said in the Instagram post announcing the album, saying, "It’s like watching HBO on Sunday nights in 2002 and waiting to see the drama unfold for a couple months!"

On the Bandcamp page for the album, the CD release is listed as releasing on January 9, 2026, which is 14 weeks away, meaning we're probably looking at one song a week (with one week missing, as two of the 15 tracks are already available) until the album launches. Because after waiting 16 years, what's another three months?

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Scott has been freelancing for over three years across a number of different gaming publications, first appearing on GamesRadar+ in 2024. He has also written for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, VG247, Play, TechRadar, and others. He's typically rambling about Metal Gear Solid, God Hand, or any other PS2-era titles that rarely (if ever) get sequels.

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