Localization, is it worth it ?

Discussion in 'Public Game Developers Forum' started by Hercule, Apr 27, 2011.

  1. Hercule

    Hercule Well-Known Member

    Dec 16, 2010
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    I'm developping my first iphone game and I need to decide right now what budget I will allocate to translation.

    I've worked in a java game mobile company. Games I've made during that time, were translated in at least 7 languages. I know that some translations were more political than effective in term of extra sales.
    And my compagny have a big advertisement budget ( around 100 000$ ), and a minimum number of sales guarantee.

    Is it worth to add several languages for my iphone game form the first release ?
    Is it better to allocate a little more money in the art, and support new languages in an update, if the game has enough sales ?
    Which language is worth ?

    I will at least translate in French ( I'm french..), and get a native english speaker to proof read texts.

    If some of you have any feedback ( % sales numbers feedback!), that would be helpfull.
    Thanks
     
  2. Astraware

    Astraware Well-Known Member

    Jan 22, 2010
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    Games Studio
    UK
    First question to ask yourself is how much text does the game include? If it's just a few buttons and the rest of the gameplay is pretty obvious, then you may not need to. If it's a game with lots of text, dialog and tutorials, then localizing becomes more important if you want to sell outside of just French and English speaking countries.

    We did localized game descriptions for the App Stores for one of our first titles and found it made very little difference to sales when we added it. We suspect that's because a lot of people don't bother to read the game descriptions.
     
  3. ArtCoder

    ArtCoder Well-Known Member

    In a word, no. At least not at first. Unless your game is more of a graphic novel (loads of text), it won't really affect your sales. If your game has good reception, you can consider translating to different languages to help your international sales.

    We do the same. English and Spanish (we're from Argentina) to begin with. That at least makes sure your game is ready for localization.

    In our experience, localizing a game has little to no impact on sales. We've localized some of our games more as a service to our customers than a marketing strategy.
     
  4. DrummerB

    DrummerB Well-Known Member

    Jan 17, 2009
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    Switzerland
    I think in most cases it isn't worth it. I suggest to build the game localizable and translate it to the languages you (or helpful friends) speak fluently, but don't spend a lot of time and money on translating to other languages.
     
  5. starjimstar

    starjimstar Well-Known Member

    Sep 28, 2008
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    Entrepreneur
    Canada
    It is a nice gesture but I don't see any evidence of increased sales. I wouldn't allocate any money for translations. Maybe find out if there is a group of international developers who will translate each others' game text. If there isn't one already, there should be.
     
  6. Hercule

    Hercule Well-Known Member

    Dec 16, 2010
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    Ok thanks. I thought localisation have more impact on sales.
    I will focus on art.
     
  7. Photics

    Photics Well-Known Member

    Jun 1, 2010
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    I think Localization is worth the effort. Well, I'm not prepared to pay like $5,000 to translate my textbook to Japanese. But for BOT, I designed it with localization in mind. It's a sci-fi RPG with no words. The only word in the game is the title.

    Why did I do this? :confused:

    Without any words, I only need one binary. I can create descriptions for all the different languages. It's not that expensive to have a short description translated. It's easy to manage and it's smart marketing. Now I can reach the entire iTunes App Store, not just the English speaking players.

    I had Commove and some of my other apps translated into German and I think it helped.
     
  8. ArtCoder

    ArtCoder Well-Known Member

    Even with words you'd still only need one binary. :confused:
     
  9. Photics

    Photics Well-Known Member

    Jun 1, 2010
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    Yes, if you added an option for changing languages.
    (Commove has this. It even has Polish, which is surprisingly not a language choice for iTunes.)

    But if your game has a lot of text... or a lot of text as images... localization adds a lot of bloat to your app. If you're just under the 20 MB over-the-air download limit, adding multiple languages could push the app over the edge.
     
  10. pchukwura

    pchukwura Well-Known Member

    Sep 15, 2010
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    Co-Founder/Software Engineer
    Atlanta
    I think it's worth it to have your game/app translated. I've read countless stories about folks topping the charts in other non-English markets.

    Besides you can get translation for as cheap as $0.05/word at MyGengo http://mygengo.com/

    There are also free crowdsource alternatives such as Get Localization: http://www.getlocalization.com/

    I also think most games out there have a very low number of words to begin with so it shouldn't break the bank to have it localized
     
  11. Ovogame

    Ovogame Well-Known Member

    Sep 25, 2010
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    Game Developer
    Morestel, France
    Not at all. Smileys Pop was translated in 31 languages. Yes, that is riddiculous :)
    I did find people helping me for free (with their names in the credits for the translation). I have just 1 binary and no options to change the language. If your device is setup with Polish language, I simply display the Polish translation. (Polish isn't an option for itunes but it is for your device language).

    Mind you, my engine is VERY localization friendly.

    JC
     
  12. Hercule

    Hercule Well-Known Member

    Dec 16, 2010
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    Have you any effect on sales ( maybe you get the first place on some country ? )
    I read that translation in Russian will decrease piracy in this country. But I didn't understand why someone will less pirate a g ame if it's in his own language.
     
  13. Ovogame

    Ovogame Well-Known Member

    Sep 25, 2010
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    Game Developer
    Morestel, France
    No, the sales were pretty poor to be honnest. But this is probably because there are many others match 3 games.

    JC
     
  14. starjimstar

    starjimstar Well-Known Member

    Sep 28, 2008
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    Entrepreneur
    Canada
    I would like to clarify that I added localization support in an update so I saw the sales figures before and after. There was no observable effect. I'm not saying you shouldn't do it. I would not allocate any of my budget for translations. Just do it for the warm, fuzzy philanthropic feeling.
     
  15. DrummerB

    DrummerB Well-Known Member

    Jan 17, 2009
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    Switzerland
    I thought about doing this before. But how can you trust people you don't know and who do it for free? You can't verify it if you don't speak that language. What if they just used Google Translate or something else?
     
  16. pchukwura

    pchukwura Well-Known Member

    Sep 15, 2010
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    Co-Founder/Software Engineer
    Atlanta
    I also meant to mention, simply localizing your app won't be enough in most circumstances. You would need to also concentrate on marketing in these languages, such as getting reviewed by perhaps a French TouchArcade equivalent if you're going after French speakers for example, just as you would in the US English-speaking market..
     
  17. zbeeblebrox

    zbeeblebrox New Member

    Jun 14, 2011
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    Hmm, see I think we need more information here. You saw only the overall sales figures then? So you didn't see what percentage of those sales figures were coming from the new overseas markets? App sales naturally trend downward, but rarely do so smoothly. There could be natural spikes or valleys without any marketing input on the one hand, and on the other hand a surge from a new demographic could supplant dropping interest from an old demographic, resulting in a net gain of zero if you're only looking at the overall sales figures.

    So saying there was no observable effect isn't very helpful unless we know that lack of effect was directly tied to a lack of foreign sales.
     
  18. JTown

    JTown Well-Known Member

    Jun 11, 2011
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    Independent GameDev
    Dallas, TX
    I could see them just showing appreciation for localizing it by buying it legit.
     
  19. ghostdogstudio

    ghostdogstudio Active Member

    May 13, 2009
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    iOS developer, Beer drinker, Zombie puncher
    Convict Hill, TX
    Or they know exactly what the game is about and can make a better up front decision rather than the "try it and hope to like it" mentally which drives a lot of piracy. Does anyone have any sources for that supports localization decreasing piracy? I'd love to see the metrics.
     
  20. pchukwura

    pchukwura Well-Known Member

    Sep 15, 2010
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    Co-Founder/Software Engineer
    Atlanta
    I agree with this. Especially for popular apps. If a game like Angry Birds had all this popularity and hype behind it but it was in Greek, you would think about "trying it out" first to see if you can understand what's going on in the game enough to get by without knowing Greek.

    I also think part of it is the feeling that you wouldn't get in much trouble since it appears the company/developer doesn't have any sort of presence on your home turf, which more than likely would mean you're not going to see any legal notices in your inbox anytime soon.
     

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