Quality over quantity in localization

Last Friday I started working on a translation of an action RPG game. I always get such a kick out of these jobs. ONE TINY DETAIL in the project instructions however, completely made my day:

“Please never apply any Machine Translation Engine/feature to any of our jobs. This is strictly forbidden.” 👏 

It’s refreshing to come across localization agencies that use this approach nowadays without compromise. They know that for certain projects (which for example involve creative storytelling), MTPE will fail to meet the quality standards.

Why? 

Because automated translation often sounds bland, mechanical and unengaging, which won’t impress the target audience. The humor, playfulness, casual jokes and cultural nuances that everyone craves aren’t captured. The story deserves to be translated from scratch. Cleaning up MT output simply isn’t good enough.

I think this is especially true for in-game character conversations that need to sound native, funny and on-point to entertain the gamers.

So, hats off to agencies like these who value human translation and focus on quality over quantity.

It shows that they’re professional and respect the consumers as well as the translators. They’re also clearly aware that translation is an investment, not a cost. This is a strategic move. A carefully localized game will create a ripple-effect across the world and sell well. Word of mouth travels fast.

P.S.

Picture of me holding my Kodansha’s Dictionary of Basic Japanese Idioms. 

If you translate from Japanese and love idioms just like me, I can highly recommend it! This book is a real goldmine.