Handling Translation Requests

[Jackkel Dragon]

After reading some recent comments on certain games (including one of mine), I felt like it might be a good idea to ask: what is the best way to handle people requesting a game be translated to their language? (Specifically, people who are not offering to make said translation.) As someone who is only fluent in one language and doesn't know any translators, I can't exactly provide such translations easily. Therefore, I'm wondering what the best policy is for responding to these comments. (I suspect the answer is going to be "ignore them", but I wanted to ask just in case.)

On a related note, what is the usual rate for a translation commission? I don't feel like that's the route I'm going to take (since the games I've made that people have asked for translations of are free games that cannot recoup costs), but it would be useful information to be aware of.

[ketskari]

I wouldn't say 'ignore them.' I'm more likely to say, "We'd love to be able to offer translated versions of our games. However, we're a small indie developer and don't have the budget to do so at this time. Thank you for your interest and we're sorry we can't offer [Game Title] in [Language]."

It's a good sign when people are interested enough in your project to feel disappointed when it's not available to them.

Translation prices will vary drastically. For certain languages, currency exchange may work in your favor if you hire a translator in a different country. For other languages, not so much. If you look up "localization" or "translation" on Gamasutra, there are a couple of good general guides.

If it's a free game, though, perhaps someone will volunteer or trade skills for it at some point. (Which happened for me).

[MapletreePaper]

I wouldn't say 'ignore them.' I'm more likely to say, "We'd love to be able to offer translated versions of our games. However, we're a small indie developer and don't have the budget to do so at this time. Thank you for your interest and we're sorry we can't offer [Game Title] in [Language]."

I second this. As long as you're not getting buried in requests, which in that case you might want to just make a public statement on Twitter or Steam. I'm also curious about what language they're commenting in, since you mentioned you're monolingual. Are you Google Translating their requests or are they actually writing in English? If they don't speak English, they probably won't see a Twitter/Steam post written in English.

[Jackkel Dragon]

One tricky thing about the way people have asked about my games specifically is that it's usually in a usually non-interactive medium, like a Steam review. I feel like it's a bit weird to respond to a review saying "we want XXX" by saying "I can't provide that". As for which language was used, I've seen both on other people's games (translations of their request into English or just in the original language), but so far I've only seen translations into English on mine, as far as I can recall.

The people-pleasing part of me wants to put up some sort of survey asking about what languages people want the games to be translated into, but without the funding to actually do that I don't think that would be a good idea. I'd like to be able to offer translations, but I don't think I have the resources to accomplish that sort of thing. (Especially for my free games, the ones that are more popular but don't get me any money.)

[Cereal Guy]

One tricky thing about the way people have asked about my games specifically is that it's usually in a usually non-interactive medium, like a Steam review. I feel like it's a bit weird to respond to a review saying "we want XXX" by saying "I can't provide that". As for which language was used, I've seen both on other people's games (translations of their request into English or just in the original language), but so far I've only seen translations into English on mine, as far as I can recall.

The people-pleasing part of me wants to put up some sort of survey asking about what languages people want the games to be translated into, but without the funding to actually do that I don't think that would be a good idea. I'd like to be able to offer translations, but I don't think I have the resources to accomplish that sort of thing. (Especially for my free games, the ones that are more popular but don't get me any money.)

You shouldn't bother with translation if you don't want to. yeah sure you'll make a some people happy, but their gratitude towards you won't bring much and it's not worth the effort. Just keep pumping out English titles and if you REALLY get good and successful, then you MAY think about hiring a professional to do the translation.