Helping an Indie Publisher Overcome their Language Barriers under a Tight Schedule
After previous bad experiences, Spain-based indie developer and publisher Meteorbyte Studios needed a trustworthy LSP. And to successfully launch their game Running on Magic, its localization had to be completed under a tight schedule. Read how we helped them overcome their fears and language barriers.
The Project
Meteorbyte Studios are an indie video game development studio based in Asturias, Spain. In addition to making their own games, they help smaller developers through the publishing process.
This was the case of Running on Magic, by Gusarapo Games, a runner platformer where the player takes control of a mage in a desperate race against death itself. It features gorgeous pixel art, dynamically created levels, a catchy soundtrack, and most importantly localization-wise, a small story with a humorous touch. Meet an amusing Grim Reaper who will constantly try to convince you to fail!
The Challenge
Meteorbyte Studios had had some negative experiences with creative translations. After all, they couldn't possibly check every language, and they had to rely on post-launch feedback.
This was especially relevant with languages that don't use the Latin alphabet, such as Russian or Chinese. According to Carlos Barredo, Meteorbyte's Marketing Department Manager, "sometimes we received a bad review because someone found poorly translated words or jokes, as if machine translation had been used or the game's context hadn't been taken into account". When Running on Magic's player experience relies so much on humour, this was no joke (pun intended).
In addition, when the localization process began, the game already had a launch date, so there was no time to lose.
"Sometimes we received a bad review because someone found poorly translated words or jokes, as if machine translation had been used or the game's context hadn't been taken into account"
Carlos Barredo, Marketing Department Manager, Meteorbyte Studios
The Solution
Time was of the essence, so we analyzed Meteorbyte's exact needs, assigned the project to a team of experienced linguists who would localize their game to Simplified Chinese, German, Japanese, Korean and Brazilian Portuguese, and set up a simple but effective style guide and a query sheet. This ensured not only that our linguists would have all the reference resources they needed, but also a smooth communication with the studio whenever a question arose.
Running on Magic's localization was efficiently finished within the agreed timeframe, so it was time to see if our services could live up to players' expectations...
"Sunstone Localization has given us a very good attention and they have done a great job, offering localization in a lot of languages without any reported errors", says Carlos. "We have received very good feedback with the localization work in several languages. In addition, the service was both fast and reasonably priced. We are very happy and will count on Sunstone for future projects that require localization".
You can read more about Meteorbyte Studios visiting their website, or buy Running on Magic on Steam.
And for all your game localization needs, do not hesitate to contact us.
"We have received very good feedback with the localization work in several languages. In addition, the service was both fast and reasonably priced. We are very happy and will count on Sunstone for future projects"
Carlos Barredo, Marketing Department Manager, Meteorbyte Studios
