Episode Transcription

MELISA: Hello, everyone, and welcome to the last episode of Open World. I’m here with Lali and Ale, and we are finishing this season on a high note. We have a very special guest today, Arthur Flew. We’re so excited to have you with us. Thank you so much for coming. We are big fans of yours. So would you like to introduce yourself to our audience?

ARTHUR: Sure. First off, thank you for having me. So my name is Arthur Flew. I’ve been doing localization for 17 plus years at this point, most recently at Epic Games. And then previous to that, I worked at Blizzard Entertainment.

MELISA: Nice.

LARA: So cool. How can you say that being so chill?

ALEXIS: This man’s luck is like this, you know?

LARA: Yeah.

MELISA: Well, we wanted to start talking about cultural adaptation. And, my first question is, can you share a specific instance where cultural adaptation led to unexpected but fantastic results in some of the iconic games that you worked through the years?

ARTHUR: Yeah. I mean, I think generally you’re always pleasantly surprised whenever you try something new when you’re doing localization. But I think… I think it’s easy to sort of go through the motions of doing the same thing over and over again. And so, whenever we have an opportunity to try something sort of out of the box, you never know how it’s gonna land. We had this one opportunity once where the game I was working on decided to have some DJ radio station in the game, and, you know, the normal way to go about it would be to, you know, hire some local voice actors and have them record those same lines. But we decided to go a little bit extra on it and talk to the marketing teams and the regional groups and things like that, and see if we could actually find some local DJs for the different countries that we localized in and try to maintain sort of the same vibe and feel of what the English DJ was doing, but kind of adapt it more culturally for those countries in it. We found some up and coming or just, you know, recently popularized DJs in every one of those countries and have them record, and it really gave those countries, like a little bit more, authenticity, right?

ALEXIS: Authenticity. That’s the word that I was thinking, yeah.

ARTHUR: Yeah.

ALEXIS: It’s authentic.

ARTHUR: Exactly. And the DJs really liked it. And I think it really hit a chord with all the audience in those countries. And it was a really good, good experience. Everybody loved it. And it was outside the norm. We had to, you know, make all kinds of new contracts and work with them on, you know, what we could and couldn’t do and what they could and couldn’t do and all that kind of stuff. But it was, I think, a fun vibe for everybody.

MELISA: That is so cool. I love it. That’s definitely what cultural adaptation is about, at the end of the day. Like you want to connect with the different audiences and, you know, have a similar experience. If you had a DJ in your original language, you would be like… It’s just so cool that everyone had the same experience, like different countries. So it’s really, really cool.

ARTHUR: Yeah. It was a fun experience.

LARA: Yeah, with the rise of diverse voices in gaming, how do you approach inclusivity within localization? Because, I mean, I think this is very related to what you’re saying right now, having diverse voices to approach these different cultures. I think that’s amazing.

ARTHUR: Yeah. It’s always an interesting topic when you try to do inclusivity. Obviously, from a cultural standpoint, you really want to try to be as authentic as possible. So where you can, you know, you don’t try to do a straight adaptation of the content, you try to make it make sense for the region you’re adapting it to. But even more so, like, not even just cultural adaptation, but LGBTQ+ adaptations and things like that. It’s a bit harder for some languages than others. You know, some cultures are less inclined to support that kind of content. But where we can, we try to do that stuff while staying true to the source material, right? We don’t want to rewrite the original content, but try to adapt things so that it fits and works for that culture. But yeah, even within the language itself, right, you look at a lot of the Latin based languages which have genders, like, this is this word is a masculine noun, a feminine noun. Try to figure out ways to kind of get around that so it doesn’t feel like we’re injecting that stuff into the content using neutral pronouns and things like that, we don’t need to specify masculine, feminine, that kind of stuff. My team at Epic was really good about that.

MELISA: That is really cool. It’s happened so many times that I, like, choose the feminine character and then the text in Spanish is masculine, even though I chose a feminine character, so like talking to me as if I was a boy. So, yeah.

LARA: It happens. Yeah, I’ve seen that.

ARTHUR: Hopefully, it’s never happened in any game I’ve done.

LARA: No. No, don’t worry about it. No, no.

ALEXIS: I really don’t think so. I really, really, really don’t think so. So, Arthur, beyond these things that are… that really cater to gamers of different identities, from different places, you know, where accuracy is also involved. You were talking about different things that you’ve tried to make some elements of the games pop. What do you consider to be the secret sauce to some really outstanding game localization? Maybe this is too much of a broad question, you know, but take it wherever you want it to be, whatever you want it to take it.

ARTHUR: Sure. So, you know, so accuracy is important, but I don’t think it should be the number one driving force behind the approach to localization. So like, you want to be accurate, but you also want to adapt, you know? The easy example is, an English joke may not land in French, right? So you want to try to figure out a way to make that joke have the same sort of feeling that you would expect it to have. But, beyond that, there’s a couple of things that I think are truly important when you’re dealing with trying to localize content is, you want a team that really understands the source material. You know, anybody can translate a sentence into another language, but if you really hone in on trying to understand what the original source is trying to convey, you’ll get a better translation than you would otherwise. So like a good example would be, like, if you’re trying to translate something sort of goofy, like Cuddle Team Leader from Fortnite, you could take that in a lot of different directions, in every language. And so you really want to try to hone in on what the source material was trying to do with it, find something that makes sense for those languages. But the other part of it that I think often gets overlooked is the tools, specifically the tool set that you’re working out of. A really good pipeline and functionality behind everything really makes or breaks what you can and cannot do with localization. So the flexibility inside the original product, you know, even things like allowing gender tokens or allowing plural forms, all that stuff really determines whether or not you can provide a quality localized product. And so a lot of times what ends up happening is you have a bare bones product from a localization standpoint, it’s just you have a string and you can localize it. And so you will often find those situations like you described where you might have picked a female character, but they only had the opportunity to write one version of a line, so they default to male or something like that. And so that flexibility needs to exist inside the product. And I think it’s an often overlooked aspect of localization.

MELISA: Absolutely. What you were just saying it’s like, a lot of the things have to be considered in a previous stage, like, in the developing stage.

LARA: Yeah. Once it comes to localization, you’re like, what do I do with this? So this is like the perfect intro for my question. Like, have you ever encountered major ethical dilemmas while localizing and how did you navigate them with your team?

ALEXIS: That’s a great question. Sorry, but that’s a good one.

ARTHUR: I don’t think I’ve worked on a product that hasn’t had ethical dilemmas. It’s one of those things where they’re often innocent, like people who are making the content or things like that, they don’t know everything about other cultures. I don’t pretend to know everything about other cultures. And so, you know, they’ll build something and they think it’s cool. And then, you know, it comes to us and we take a look at it and go, you know, “This is maybe not the best idea.” And, you know, it’s not that uncommon for it to happen. And so what we usually do when that comes across our plate is we take a look at it and we try to sort of build a document explaining why this is a problem. If it’s minor, it’s something that we might just directly talk to whoever designed the content. But if it’s something more significant or we think it might have legal repercussions or significant impact on sales or something like that, then we would definitely draft something up that we would then bring up as a concern to the team at large and try to find a solution from there. And usually it’s resolved, it’s a matter of discussing things. The designer is usually not so gung-ho about something that, you know, that they wouldn’t make changes to it. And there’s compromise there always to be found, right? Like, the only thing we need you to change is this little thing over here, and then the problem goes away because nobody’s going to associate it with whatever it is.

ALEXIS: That’s a good way to put it as well.

ARTHUR: Yeah. I think it’s fairly common, and it’s just a matter of discussing it with… The issue is if it happens too late and it doesn’t get caught and it goes live. But thankfully, I think that’s only happened sort of once for us. For me. Long time ago on Diablo, during beta. Diablo 3 during beta. We hadn’t noticed it, but at some point, I guess, somebody had taken the cover of the Quran and placed it as the cover of one of the books inside the game. And, if you play Diablo, you can click on the bookshelves and all the books fall off onto the floor, and you can’t have the Quran on the floor. So that caught a little bit of an uproar. And it was fixed as soon as we were notified. But that’s something that, like, sometimes those slip through the cracks.

ALEXIS: Now, to be fair, when the books fall on the ground, they’re like this.

ARTHUR: Yep.

ALEXIS: Very, very small. That’s having quite a keen eye for detail.

ARTHUR: And for sure the artist didn’t realize that he had grabbed the cover of a Quran either, right? So it was completely an innocent mistake that happened to fall through the cracks. But since then, you know, we’ve put things in place to make sure those types of things don’t happen.

ALEXIS: Nice.

MELISA: That was really, really interesting. And I think that’s also cool kind of like to talk about more for… Because, like you said, a lot of times it’s like, most of the times it’s not even, you know, intentional. So just, if culturalization is taken into account beforehand is always good. So thank you for that. And now I wanted to ask, can I change topics here and introduce the metaverse? I know you’ve worked in this, like, developing concept of the metaverse, and I was curious about, like, what’s your vision about it? Do you think it’s something that will be localized? Like, how do you envision that happening?

ARTHUR: So the metaverse is interesting. I’m going to preface this by saying that I have no idea what shape or form the metaverse will ultimately take. And I think anything can happen between now and that day, should it ever happen, that could dramatically alter the course of things. But in my opinion, and I’m no engineer, I’m not a professional in this space, but in my opinion, I think, like, the technology of today or the near future wouldn’t necessarily allow us to build a world that millions of people could be in at the same time. So I would expect something where we have, like, you know, worlds within a platform that exists, that can be thematic. Something like, you know, this is the Japan world, or this is the Star Wars world, or this is the…

LARA: I will be there.

ARTHUR: The Nike world, or whatever.

LARA: You can find me there.

ALEXIS: If you build it, they will come.

LARA: Yeah.

ARTHUR: Yeah. And so you’d have these… I don’t know if you saw Ready Player One, but I think they do something similar where they have one world for, like, the school and a world for, like, you know, gaming places and blah, blah, blah. So I think sort of that idea is probably the most immediately achievable concept of the world. And… As far as whether or not we localize it, I think yes, I think the answer to that is yes. But I think that it’s going to take a few different approaches. And I don’t think that one solution to encompass the entire thing makes sense, right? So like if, as an example, if the Government of Japan had decided that they wanted to make a replica of Tokyo inside this world to allow people to come visit Tokyo for whatever reason, I don’t know that it necessarily makes sense to localize all the signs in the streets and things like that. Like you want that authenticity forthe people that are going there. But I could see something like, you know, an overlay where, like, you look at a sign and there’s some kind of translation that pops up over it or something that’s optional for you if you wanted to actually understand what you were seeing. So I could see that making sense. But if you’re looking at a Star Wars world or something like that, I think that you would want to localize and make that experience more I guess inclusive of all the different cultures that are out there. And I think, like, if you look at something like that, it’s absolutely way too much. If you’re building a platform that anybody at any time could submit content to and prop up the world, there’s no way one single entity can try to localize all of that, right? Like, it’s just too much. So I think that… sort of similar to how, if you want to put out a content on Sony PlayStation or Microsoft Xbox, you have to submit the localization for it, I would expect something similar to that where, like, Nike wants to put out a Nike building where you can go in and look at all the different shoes that you can buy from Nike, that they would supply whatever localization is that they want. And there’d be certain requirements that the platform would have, like number of languages or, you know, no cuss words and blah, blah, blah, whatever it is. But that they would supply it and it would maybe go through a round of QA or things like that to make sure everything looks okay, just like any other content submission platform. But yeah, that’s sort of what I would expect, where the people making the content would provide the localization, and there could be an option of hiring providers by whoever makes the metaverse to help localize it as well. But, yeah, that’s sort of how I imagine it working.

MELISA: That makes sense, yeah. This is such a such a fascinating topic, honestly, because, like you said, we don’t know, like, what’s going to look like in a few years. But it sure would be very interesting to see what happens.

LARA: Yeah. And if you find out, like, some kind of metaverse world about Star Wars, call me, please. I will be there. Yeah, yeah. So beyond video games, what other forms of media or artistic expression do you think will benefit from your unique localization expertise?

ARTHUR: Uh… So… So, for me… This may sound a little weird, but I think localization as sort of like a solution that’s been solved, in a lot of ways. Like, we know how to take a file and localize it and give it back. Like, that’s not a complicated process. What I really enjoy is solving the pipeline of localization, like going to the roots of, like, hey, we have this product, we want to localize it, how do we get the product in a way that makes sense to get localized and make it easy for the people to do that actual work? That’s what I really enjoy ultimately out of the work. So it’s not so much about the content for me, I guess, as much as it is the technology and trying to figure out ways we can make that better. And for me, something like the metaverse would be a super interesting challenge. Something like AR I think would be super interesting to try to solve, like how do we overlay content on the real world without it being annoying? That kind of stuff to me is super interesting. And not to say like, you know, a movie or TV stuff wouldn’t be interesting, but like it’s a solved problem, right? The problem is the volume, right? Like how do you tackle so much content and get it back in time? But that’s, you know, more hours or more time. Pick which one gets done.

ALEXIS: Yeah.

ARTHUR: So, yeah, for me, it’s the technology. It’s finding ways to make lives easier for everybody finding solutions.

LARA: I love that. Beautiful.

ALEXIS: Yeah. And especially AR. I mean, AR really… I mean, with the VR thing, I get dizzy, on a personal note, but the AR thing, I think that once it explodes, once it’s done like just right… And there are many companies that are really aiming towards that. I’m looking forward to what’s going to come in, I don’t know, I wanted to say five years, but even a year from now.

ARTHUR: See, for me, like, I’ve tried the VR headsets and I’ve tried, like, I’ve looked at the new Apple Vision Pro or whatever you call it, I don’t remember, but, like, they’re still too big and they still require you to have cables and all that kind of stuff.

LARA: Oh my God, yeah.

ALEXIS: It’s like the initial cell phones, right?

LARA: Yeah. Ughh!

ARTHUR: I need it to get to a point where it’s literally like my glasses.

LARA: Yeah, exactly.

ARTHUR: That’s what I want. And the day that happens, I think it blows up. Like if I don’t need to carry around like this heavy headset, if I can just put my glasses on. And I think Google announced like years ago this Google Glass thing, which is supposed to be a tiny thing.

ALEXIS: Yes they did. I think they didn’t move forward with it.

LARA: It failed because society was not ready for it at the moment. It was just like, no.

ALEXIS: You know what I want? I want to go like Aloy, you know? Like… The Focus. Something like that would be fine.

LARA: You’re asking way too much, bro. We’re just asking for glasses.

ALEXIS: Okay. With the glasses.

MELISA: He’s thinking further into the future, kind of like when we’re grandparents.

ALEXIS: Hey, ten years from now. For my kid.

ARTHUR: But that’s what I want, I want it to be simple, right? And I think the public at large is waiting for that, right? Like, it needs to make sense for people to walk around with these things. And until that happens, I don’t think these things are really going to take off. They’re cool, but they’re not massively popular until then.

ALEXIS: Arthur, let me change the subject a little bit. And for someone who has been in the industry for so long, in such massive companies for so long, working in so many IPs, projects, developing pipelines, I’m sure you have funny anecdotes. This question, it has a structure, right? But I just want to ask if you could share something funny, unexpected, without breaking any NDAs, of course, but something that really still makes you giggle to this day.

ARTHUR: Yeah. So let’s see. I guess this one isn’t a secret anymore. So back in the day, we were working on Diablo 3 and we had already shipped the PC version, and we had decided to ship a console version post-launch.

ALEXIS: Yeah, because it took a little longer.

ARTHUR: Yeah. It required a lot of changes to the UI, and we had to add couch co-op and things like that to it. And so it took about a year for us to get the console version out after PC. Don’t quote me on that, it’s been so long. But yeah, we were nearing the end of the release, it was getting close to submission time, and the designers had come up with this cool idea of creating a secret level where you can…

ALEXIS: The cow level?

ARTHUR: No, that one was in the original PC version. But it was a secret level you could access where, if you got in, you could kill all the people on the team, so all the developers on the team. And they would have, you know, their names and then a title underneath them. And… I was one of the monsters that you could kill in there, as with everybody else. But… The title they ended up giving me was Destroyer of Dreams, and it was sort of a funny tongue-in-cheek moment because, as we sort of neared, you know, the console submission, this was Blizzard’s first console title, I want to say, in 15 or 20 years or something like that, I had to more regularly tell them, no, you can’t do that, that that would cause a lot of changes for us, so no, you can’t do this thing. And so, that was the nickname I was dubbed.

ALEXIS: Inside joke.

ARTHUR: Yeah. The Destroyer of Dreams. It was a fun one. Everybody laughed when we saw it, but it was it was….

MELISA: Is that your bio on social media now, “Destroyer of Dreams”?

ARTHUR: No, no.

LARA: It should be. So cool.

ARTHUR: I try not to say no, usually. I want to give designers and UI people as much freedom as they can do. But, you know, there comes a point in the project where you can’t change everything anymore, where we need to ship things. So… Yeah.

MELISA: That’s hilarious, I love it. Arthur, thank you so much for everything you’ve shared so far. And the last question I wanted to ask you, looking back on your career, what’s one piece of advice that you’d give to someone aspiring to get into game localization?

ARTHUR: So as I mentioned, I think one thing that often gets overlooked is understanding how everything works behind the scenes. So one thing that I often encourage everybody that’s worked for me is really sort of dig in and understand what happens when you press run. What does that button actually do? Because it helps you troubleshoot things a lot when things break unexpectedly. If it breaks in a certain way, you can go, “Oh, it’s because of X, Y, Z,” and you can go and either fix it yourself or tell whatever engineer you’re working with, “Hey, it’s broken in this location and we need to fix it.” Really understanding how things work I think is an undervalued skill set for anybody working in localization.

MELISA: That’s like really good advice. And I’ve never heard anyone say it. That’s awesome. So thank you for that.

LARA: So I want to know, Arthur, what are you playing at the moment?

ARTHUR: Right now, I am in my fourth playthrough of Baldur’s Gate 3.

LARA: Oh, my God, same! Yes!

ARTHUR: I’ve played the first time as a goody-two-shoes Paladin. And the second time I played as a Dark Urge character and went the full evil route, which was harder than you would think. Not in the sense of difficulty of the game, but actually pressing the evil options.

LARA: Oh, my god, yeah. “Minthara would be so proud of you.” “Minthara is thrilling for you right now.” I hate her.

ARTHUR: It’s harder than you think it is, but yeah, I managed to pull that off. And then, I think my current playthrough is, I wanted to try a Bard because it’s not a class that is part of the companions that you can get, so I just wanted to get a feel for what it plays like.

LARA: That is my class. I’m a Bard.

ARTHUR: Yeah? You like it?

LARA: Yeah I love being a bard.

ARTHUR: So…

MELISA: There’s something…

ARTHUR: Go ahead.

MELISA: No, it’s just it’s really funny because it was the same thing we were doing. We’re playing with my boyfriend, and I’m always like, “No, we can’t harm this person,” so I’m always choosing… And then he was like, “Okay, but then we can have to start again and choose all the evil options.” So I will have to go through that thing very soon.

ARTHUR: Yeah. It’s harder than you think because you feel bad.

LARA: Yeah.

ARTHUR: But yeah, it’s fun. It’s really interesting how different the game feels based on the choices you make. They did a really good job. I don’t know that I’ve played a game before where, you know, it sort of doesn’t matter what choice you pick, the game just keeps going forwards. So if you just take too long to do something, the game doesn’t care, just moves on. And it’s really interesting. Normally it’s like you can just sort of wait until the right time to make decisions. But now here it’s just like, okay, you’ve made this choice. We’re just going to factor that into everything that you do going forward. And it’s very interesting, it plays out surprisingly differently. And believe it or not, I have found things in the game on my fourth playthrough that I did not know existed. I somehow missed them in my first three times around, so I think that’s really cool.

LARA: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, the hardest part for me in the game is not to fall in love with Astarion, because I love him so much. But, yeah, I mean, I’m in my fourth playthrough and it’s just like insane the amount of things I’m finding out the fourth time I’m playing.

MELISA: It’s a well-deserved Game of the Year for sure, in my opinion.

ARTHUR: On my Dark Urge playthrough, I decided to romance Lae’zel, and it was fun because on my good playthrough, she was probably sort of the meanest or most, you know, reproachable character in the game. And then, in my evil playthrough, she was the nicest, because everybody else was super mean, right? Like, you know, you get Shadowheart to go evil and you get Astarion to follow his questline and become evil, and so she was the nicest.

MELISA: Wow. That’s amazing. I love it. Honestly, I would make this episode like three hours long.

LARA: Yeah.

MELISA: It’s so great to hear you and all of your kind of like wisdom that you shared with us in this episode. We really appreciate it. And for everyone hearing, thank you so much for all this season. It’s been a wild ride. And yeah, thank you for listening.

ARTHUR: Thank you for having me.

ALEXIS: Thank you, Arthur. Thank you, everyone.

LARA: It’s an honor. It’s a pleasure. Thank you so much.

MELISA: Bye-bye!

ARTHUR: Bye!

ALEXIS: Bye-bye!

Episode Transcription

MELISA: Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of Open World. I’m Melisa, I’m here with Lara and Ale.

LARA: Hi!

ALEXIS: Hi, everyone!

MELISA: And today we have a little different of an episode. So what we did is ask our community what they wanted to hear, what they wanted us to talk about. And after a few days of voting, the people spoke, and the topic that was chosen is culturalization. So this is what we’re going to talk about today. And it’s a term that we use a lot in the industry and sometimes it’s mixed up with localization. So how would you guys define culturalization?

LARA: For me, culturalization is taking that little step forward from localization because it’s just a little bit more than just localizing our content, because we know that localization, it goes with words, with everything. But culturalization just makes it more of the culture, more of the target culture. You can see things that, yeah, maybe I localized these texts, but this is offensive in my country. You know? That’s just an example. So it has to be rewritten or it has to be rethought or… I don’t know.

ALEXIS: Yeah. I mean, it’s tailored even more to the game, even regarding current events or news that are relevant to when the game takes place. It’s taking a step further.

LARA: Yeah, it’s taking a step further in the meanings of, I don’t know, making something more accurate or something more relatable because maybe, if I have this joke and I localize it, right? Maybe the joke doesn’t have the same punch if I add my culture into that joke, you know what I mean?

MELISA: Absolutely.

LARA: So it’s just like, yeah, it’s taking that step forward from localization and trying to own that content that you’re trying to localize.

MELISA: Absolutely, and it makes me think of our episode about Spanish from Latin America and Spanish from… European. If you haven’t watched it…

LARA: Please, go watch it. We explain a lot about the differences and how to appropriate your own language.

MELISA: Exactly. And how can these cultural differences, in the case of, you add that step of culturalization, how can that change a video game?

LARA: Well, in the case of video games, it changes because sometimes you have this absolute great idea of a video game, but you don’t realize. I don’t know, for example, in Fallout, you don’t realize that cows are sacred in some religions in India. And in the Fallout series, you have a two-headed cow that you can actually shoot and kill. So it’s just like, that had some sort of repercussion over the culturalization part of it, because maybe if the game was culturalized for that specific market, you can remove the cow entirely. I mean, it’s just like you can remove it. Just it won’t be as offensive as it looks like right now. Even though it was not the intention, of course. It is unintentional, right? But because only one person cannot know all the cultures that they have in the entire world. So that’s why I think also it’s so important, because you do your research and you try to make your game for that specific market.

MELISA: Absolutely.

ALEXIS: Yeah, I mean, also it’s taking into account the symbols, body language, gestures… even hands, I mean. In Japan, fictional characters like, I don’t know, Crash Bandicoot has five fingers instead of four, like it has in America. Even Bart Simpson has four.

LARA: Yeah. It’s amazing because I remember seeing pictures of the Simpsons, and in this side of the country… in this side of the world, we have four fingers for all of the characters, but in Japan specifically, they have to have five. And it looks so weird.

MELISA: It’s so interesting. Yeah, definitely.

LARA: And another example talking about Japan is that, in Fallout, you have a gun that is called The Fatman and the name has been changed. This is not like a major change of the entire history of the game, but it has been changed because it was too close, it was too relatable to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, so they had to change it for cultural respect and everything. But yeah…

ALEXIS: But it can get extreme, like Far Cry 3. I mean Far Cry 3 was completely banned from Indonesia because the local authorities thought, they weren’t that wrong, but the game makes it as if living in Indonesia was a living hell. So they don’t think that that’s appropriate for their culture, for their people, and they banned the game.

MELISA: Yeah, so I think culturalization must be like really important to avoid these type of things from happening, like when you have your game banned from a country, and you want to reach that audience and, you know, sell your games in those countries. So in that way, would you say that culturalization is a market enabler for video games?

LARA: Yes and, at the same time, I would love to add that culturalization for me is that little step that you’re taking to take care of your community. Because you might find some things offensive. I don’t know, I’m thinking, if you’ve seen the latest episode of European Spanish and LATAM Spanish, I mention this Grim Fandango character that is supposed to be evil, right? And he was Argentinian, and the depiction of the Argentinian character and how… It didn’t sound right. It was just like, “Um…”

MELISA: Yeah, it’s like a stereotype…

LARA: Stereotyping. Yeah, you could’ve done your… I know it’s a really old game, but I think you could’ve done your research. I mean, it’s a matter of researching or having a diverse team on your own team so you can see different perspectives or in which ways this can be offensive. So to open these kinds of discussions between the teams and make the game go into a very much interesting direction, I believe. Another example that comes into my mind regarding culturalization and laws is that, for example, there was a law in Germany that prohibited every single thing that had to do with Nazi propaganda. So when you have, for example, the game Wolfenstein…

ALEXIS: Yeah, you can’t even show Adolf Hitler’s mustache.

LARA: Yeah. Or the Nazi symbols and everything. But then, when the law got removed, because I think they removed that law, the game was patched so that everyone could see how the game was in the rest of the world. So it’s just like, it is a constant thing of changing, of making the game more suitable.

MELISA: And adapt it to different…

ALEXIS: As the world changes, I mean, video games should change as well. I mean, culturalization is a market enable… a market enabler, sorry, if you think about it as a tool, you know, in order to better reach the market that maybe the game that you originally made has things that just don’t see eye to eye with, with an audience, you know? But it’s a tool.

MELISA: Like a tool to avoid disasters.

LARA: Yeah, and as a translator, I believe it’s so important to be, like, the gatekeeper of your own culture and flag the things that you believe are going to be offensive on your culture or on your language. I believe it’s so important because it’s going to deliver a better experience, and maybe the client is going to be thankful for your input.

MELISA: Yeah, so culturalization goes beyond just language, right? It can be a lot of things in your game, so it’s kind of a bit more like a holistic kind of view of your game in general, how it impacts different cultures, different, like, geopolitical situations. And I think our point in this episode is also just to bring awareness again to a topic that is really important in our industry.

LARA: I believe also what is really important in terms of culturalization is context, because, without context, how can you culturalize something, right? And we have, I believe, as translators, we can culturalize things in a way, but sometimes we don’t have the chance to change completely or an entire video game, right? So sometimes we have to adjust things as we can, or maybe the client doesn’t want that, so we have to take also that into account. So, as a translator, we want to be, like, the gatekeepers of our culture and everything, but also taking into account what the client says, the content…

MELISA: Having enough context for sure.

LARA: Enough context is just… Yeah, absolutely.

ALEXIS: I like that expression, the gatekeepers of our culture. I mean, in order to do that, you need a clear communication with your client so that they’re satisfied with what you’re bringing to the table.

MELISA: Yeah, and it shows that you really care, right? About your work.

ALEXIS: “Hey, this is not gonna work.”

MELISA: Yeah, because you want the game to be successful in the market that you want to…

LARA: Absolutely. And talking about context, because imagine what kind of culturalization you could do if you had enough context and if you knew your culture. Then you can maybe transform this into transcreation.

MELISA: Yeah, that’s another term that is quite used in the industry. And, yeah, like transcreation, culturalization, and they all refer to different aspects…

LARA: Transform… Yeah.

ALEXIS: Yeah, not translating, transforming into something that makes sense in the target language.

LARA: Exactly. I’m just thinking, when the first thing that came into my mind is, we all know Pikachu, right? But there are other Pokémons that have changed names in different countries, in different languages. There are a lot of examples of this.

ALEXIS: Well, just to name one, Lickitung, that we all know in Spanish is also Lickitung, in German, he’s called Schlurp, like the onomatopoeia. Or, I don’t know, the first three legendary Pokémon. I’m gonna mention the first era because I lost after Cyndaquil, Totodile and Chikorita.

LARA: We’re too old.

ALEXIS: I’m too old.

LARA: Even though I played Pokémon Scarlet, I don’t know why I’m throwing myself away from…

ALEXIS: But I don’t know where to start if I… It’s fine, let’s talk about it later. For instance, the first legendary birds Moltres, Articuno and Zapdos. That’s clearly, like, one, two, three, you know? But actually, in Japanese, the names are Freezer, Thunder and Fire, straightforward names with the elements with which they attack, right? Like, the legendary bird of thunder, Zapdos.

MELISA: Yeah, and it definitely, of course, has to do with the culture, what they think will impact…

ALEXIS: Be appropriate.

MELISA: Yeah, exactly, like people will, you know, get it a bit more if it’s more straightforward, maybe. Like, you know, all of that has to do with the culture, the country that they’re targeting.

LARA: Yeah, absolutely. And sometimes, not taking these extra steps as a developer, right? Because, as a translator, I believe we all do this, we all try to gatekeep our culture and everything, but sometimes developers don’t take this extra step. And sometimes there is like some bad and negative information or, like, repercussions with that game. Maybe you even kind of have legal problems with this too. And I believe you want to avoid that at all costs. So maybe your game that is doing so well in America will not be properly done if you want to launch it in Japan. I don’t know.

ALEXIS: You need to make some changes that are things that don’t actually impact the game, but they’re gonna work best, they’re gonna be better.

MELISA: Yeah, absolutely. I think that’s what part of culturalization also, what’s known as, like, the proactive and reactive culturalization, which depends on the moment in the process. And there are certain things that you can think when you’re planning your game, you know, you can think, “Ok, these aspects, I can change them a bit around so that people…” Because you already know you wanna ship your game to different places, so you think, these things can be culturalized and they can connect a bit more with the target audience. What types of things do you guys think can be adapted?

LARA: To me… Yeah, there are some things. For example, there’s no need to adapt everything, because I know you might want to keep the essence of your game.

ALEXIS: Yeah, you’re gonna lose something in the process.

LARA: And you’re gonna lose something. But to me, the things that have to be changed, the things that could be prohibited because of religions or insulting or offensive, or goes against any laws. So to me, those things have to be changed.

MELISA: That is more like the reactive side of…

LARA: Yeah, that’s more the reactive side of things. For example, if you have a game like Far Cry 6, right? And you want to create this cultural immersion into the game and to let you know that you are in Latin America, that it’s today and you are in Latin America, you’re in 2023 in Latin America, the first thing that comes into your mind is the music. Because, for example, for me, that’s the best case, because whenever you get into a car with Dani and she turns on the radio and she starts singing with the radio, all these Spanish songs and all these… I mean, at least for me, that I know, Gente de Zona, all these bands that are so welcoming and from Latin America. The level of culturalization that they have done to make things culturally appropriate for that game is just, to me, amazing. I cannot believe how… how is it possible that you make me feel like I was at home.

ALEXIS: On that same spirit, I think it’s a constant that we mention Ubisoft as doing many, many things right.

LARA: Yeah.

ALEXIS: Like keeping the players in mind first. But I also remember some cultural aspects that were taken care of with absolute love in the latest Assassin’s Creed games. I mean, in Odyssey, they worked with Greek actors with actual insults that they used back then. And even in one game before that, Origins, one of the key elements of the story is Bayek finding some stones in a certain form or shape help him remember things and has some visions that each of these stones represent constellations that were meaningful for the Egyptians, even back then. So all of those things that are from the developers themselves, are so well-thought-out, you know? And that’s what I appreciate as a gamer.

LARA: Yes, absolutely. And sometimes you hear music, for example. I just… When you hear, for example, the radio in GTA 5, you are transported into the place, you know? And… yeah, I love it because they took like normal songs and, for some reason, your brain now is attached to that memory, and you’re like, yeah, I’m driving my car into the highway like… It’s so good. I mean, when the culturalization is taking part in the development of the game, you can really tell.

MELISA: Yeah, exactly, because there’s these, like, tools that you can plan ahead and then connects really well with your audience.

LARA: Absolutely. We had last year Kate Edwards, she worked on Age of Empires. If you haven’t seen that episode, please go check it out, because, when she talks about culturalization, she takes it to the absolute next level because she’s a genius. And when she explains about the maps and how that could be culturally inappropriate, you start thinking, oh, my God, this is not… good. I mean, you have to make it good. That’s what she does for a living, she just goes researching culture everywhere. So yeah, maybe also it would help having a diverse… I know I always say the exact same thing, but for me it’s important to have different perspectives of the world because it will make the game more rich and more beautiful, in general, right? Like, it is going to hit that spot.

ALEXIS: On that same note, one of the things that is important to have culturalized is what gamers see in the stores, right? The message that comes to them before they buy the game. And even the currency that they buy the game in.

MELISA: Yeah, yeah, yeah. The marketing content, I mean, how important it is culturalization, transcreation in marketing. I think that’s already really established, as well.

LARA: To me, it’s just simply, to make like a conclusion of this, it’s just do your research. If you want to get to a specific market and you think that the content that you have is not going to be suitable for that market, please do your research. Have a diverse team. I think everything could be so beautiful like that, it could flow so well. And, yeah, it could avoid disasters, to be honest with you. It could avoid you losing money, too.

ALEXIS: And it can make you earn far more fans.

MELISA: Exactly. I think people will definitely appreciate you going the extra mile, it will have a positive impact, we can assure you. Thank you so much for watching or hearing this episode. And if you wanna know more about culturalization or you have any questions, please let us know. We’re happy to hear… we’re gonna be reading all the comments. And yes, that’s it. Thank you so much. Bye, everyone.

LARA: Bye-bye! Thank you!

Episode Transcription

ALEXIS: Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of Open World. Today we have the pleasure of interviewing Emily Scahill, head of Client Success and key member of the Skillsearch games team. With a background in HR wizardry and people charm, she’s not just a pro at ensuring client happiness, she’s also a founding member of the Skillsearch Dungeons & Dragons Society, and more recently, a brainiac on the Skillsearch quiz team. Emily is the go-to guru for client satisfaction, keeping their game studio partners grinning from ear to ear throughout their relationship. Emily, thank you so much for joining us, and thanks to my two co-hosts as well.

EMILY: No problem at all, it’s lovely to be here.

MELISA: Hey everybody!

EMILY: Thanks for having me.

ALEXIS: Awesome.

MELISA: Thank you, Emily.

ALEXIS: Let’s jump right into the questions. So I’d first like to know if you could describe your role in the recruitment process within the video game industry and if it differs somehow from other industries. You take it from wherever you want, the question. The floor is all yours.

EMILY: Sure, thanks. Myself and the wider team at Skillsearch partnered with video game studios and also interactive studios to help them find the best candidates for their positions who will ultimately be happy there long term with the culture and everything else that comes with being in a job, whether that’s experience, skills, etc. We really partner with studios so we provide lots of training and advice on processes and EDI, and on how to create an amazing candidate experience as well as just sort of bringing the expertise to any given role, so, what they’re likely to be able to find in the market in terms of candidate talent and skills and the salaries that go with that. So, yeah, that’s kind of what we do, and in terms of how it differs from other industries, I think it’s the creativity, really, within video games that’s kind of the major thing. People have their kind of “passion” projects and sometimes, not always, but sometimes they will take a lower salary because they just love the project or they might be offered the best salary they could ever get but still not really be interested in it because they’re not… the project doesn’t spark…

ALEXIS: The passion is not there.

EMILY: Yeah, exactly. So, that’s kind of one of the main things. And then I think as well studio culture is a big thing for this industry. It has a higher percentage of people with neurodivergent diagnoses than other industries, so, more autism, more ADHD, as an example. Having an environment that’s inclusive and welcoming of that, it can be a big factor. And I’d say remote working is a big one because it’s an industry where you can. The opinion varies wildly on this topic, and I’m sure a lot of people would be happy to get into a debate about this. But a lot of studios, or some studios, think that, certainly a lot of candidates think that these jobs can be done remotely. So, that’s a big factor. That’s often high on the list of desirables for candidates in this industry. So, I think those are the kinds of areas where it can differ, on the whole, a lot from other industries.

LARA: I love to have you in this interview, honestly, because 2023 was a year of a lot of layoffs. It was something that impacted the industry in general. So, it was hard to see, when you entered LinkedIn, all these heartbreaking posts and everything. Having you here to give this fresh perspective on how we can help, on how we can make things easier for applicants. So, I wanted to ask, for individuals aspiring to join the video game industry, what advice or tips would you give them to stand out in their applications and interviews? And what are the key qualities or skills you look for when recruiting for positions in the video game industry?

EMILY: Yes, I mean, this is where it can be very similar to other industries. Any well-designed job should have a job description with the requirements for that role. So, that’s where we always look at the job description, we talk with the studio, we find out what is required for any given role. I think some of the skills that maybe people don’t always realize, or might not necessarily be highlighted on the job description, but ultimately will be the difference between success and failure, are things like communication skills, the soft skills. You can know everything there is to know about game design or programming, but if you annoy everyone around you, or you’re rude to everyone around you, you’ll get nowhere very fast. So, making sure you can work with people, and be a team player, and communicate well, and set boundaries, and manage expectations. All those kinds of things are areas where people need to keep an eye on or develop.

MELISA: So interesting what you just said, because in previous interviews we asked managers from studios, they said the same things, how much they value those soft skills. So, now hearing it from you as well, from the recruitment process. How do you usually say those things? How can people present themselves with these soft skills? Or how is it part of the recruitment process that you can evaluate a person in those regards?

EMILY: Well, it varies a lot. Different studios will take different approaches to how they assess these things. Hopefully every studio will go through each point on their person specification and their job description and make sure that’s covered at some point during the selection process. But it’s about kind of being friendly and personable at interviews, listening, basic things, like not interrupting people. I’m sure we’re all guilty of it now and then by accident but apologizing if you do, that sort of thing. Just basics like that and then it may be that you’ll have sort of… an interview where you meet different members of the teams and thinking about how you tailor your approach to different team members and really that again comes back often a lot to listening to what it is they’re looking for and responding to that.

ALEXIS: Yeah, that’s very interesting. So, any advice that you could give to professionals to prepare for potential job uncertainties. Lara was talking about the layoffs or the deflation that 2023 had with the working, with the jobs in the video game industry. So, how can people prepare themselves for potential job uncertainties? Do you have any recommendations or any methods that people can prepare?

EMILY: I think it really varies, and, yeah, obviously, as you’ve pointed out, it has been, sadly, a really unfortunate time. Let’s hope this year is a bit different and not at all like last year.

ALEXIS: I’m hopeful.

EMILY: Yeah, I’m hopeful, we’ll see. So yeah, I think it depends on your goals. Obviously, if you are someone who’s just kind of recently got into the industry and you desperately want to stay in the industry and continue building out your experience there, make sure you make a good impression on those you’re working with now. It’s your existing network who can be a huge asset if you are put in a position where you’re no longer employed. Yeah, just being good to those around you, making a good impression and kind of making sure you keep your CV and your LinkedIn profile up to date. You might want to make notes as you go throughout the year just now and then, on things you’ve achieved, if you can write down any metrics or even if it’s not numbers, things that happened as a result of the work that you’ve done, that will make it much easier if you then have to suddenly write a CV or update your LinkedIn profile. So, kind of keeping a rolling record of that. It doesn’t have to be a very great detail but all of that stuff you might thank yourself for. If you find yourself in that position, you’d be a bit less daunted. I would say, if you’re someone, however, who maybe is at a later stage in their career or has a family and so can’t really afford to hold fast to the video games industry, no matter what happens, it’s worth considering where else you might want to spread your wings. The interactive industry is also an option as well as many others. So, you might want to move into that space where VR is being used for things like training in more corporate environments, those sorts of things, those industries might not be struggling quite so much. So, yeah, you could kind of spread out. And just because you leave the industry, it doesn’t mean that you can never come back. You’re never going to lose that experience that you’ve already got. It’s not going anywhere.

ALEXIS: That’s true.

EMILY: You’ll always be able to point back to it. So, don’t be afraid to have a bit of a change. You might even find it’s a nice, welcomed change and you learn a lot of new things.

MELISA: Good advice. And, I mean, I was curious. Do you think, in your experience, have you seen, that’s an important thing, networking and building industry connections for these types of challenges, like shop changes? How important do you think that is? And do you have any advice on effective networking strategies for the people listening?

EMILY: Yeah 100% networking is a huge factor, whether you do that online, via connecting with people on LinkedIn or joining Discord communities or finding local groups, there’s sites like Eventbrite and Meetup where they have game dev communities, potentially, in your local area of people who are meeting up to discuss different topics. That and your existing network can be a huge factor in getting a job. I’d say, and this applies also to people who are looking to break into the industry. There are hundreds of applicants for some of these jobs, particularly the entry level ones, and even some of the more senior ones. So, it’s thinking about how you would stand out from the crowd if a hiring manager has five minutes, if that, to spend on your CV, how are they going to remember you? What’s going to make you stand out? If you’ve met them at an event or online, just sent a little message just to say, “Hi, I really like your studio, I love what you’re doing.” Those things can be a huge factor. And not only that, but talking about LinkedIn in particular, what you see in your newsfeed and who sees your newsfeed, your posts in their feed is affected by how close of a connection you are. You’ve got first degree and second and third-degree connections and then people who are out of your network and you’re not going to see posts from people who aren’t within your network or your first-degree connections. So, interacting with people on there, in that space, will make your name popping up, will make your name stick in their head a bit more. So, when they see your CV they’ll go, “Oh, I recognize that name.” But also it’s affecting their feed and making sure their news, their job posts, and their updates are in your feed so you can be one of the first people to reach out. They’re kind of huge things. And going back to your earlier question about how you can prepare for layoffs and redundancies, there are a couple of other things you can do, like looking at job descriptions for your current role or roles you might be looking to move into, if you find yourself in that situation. And seeing if there are any common skills gaps that are coming up again and again. Is there a particular language or a particular bit of experience you don’t have that’s coming up time and time again that you could potentially either do a little bit of training in online now or speak with your manager to see if they can help give you experience in that area. Those are also extra things you can do. So, if you, hopefully you don’t, but if you do find yourself in that situation, you feel a bit more confident.

LARA: Thank you so much, that’s really interesting, honestly. I know we’ve been talking about this, people getting these uncertainties in their everyday lives. So, I was asking, can you recall a specific instance where an application stood up for you? And what strategies or recommendations can you offer to those that are looking to upgrade or get advancements within the industry?

EMILY: Yeah, so it really varies depending on the role. That’s, I think, why recruitment agencies are often set up, or at least our agency is set up with each consultant specializing in their own area, whether that’s design and production, engineering, art and animation, etcetera, because you kind of need that expertise for what’s required for each different role. So yeah, tailoring your CV, I recommend reaching out to a recruiter to kind of get that bespoken specific advice but I think there are kind of basic, clear principles. I generally make sure it’s nice and clear and well laid out and well-spaced. Some people have incredible experience or are even quite senior and you look at their CV and you think, “How have you…?” “How is your CV like this? It looks terrible.” “I’m sure there’s lots of great experience that you’ve got but this hurts my eyes.”

ALEXIS: It’s something that you have to actively get done. That’s why, to come back to another one of your replies, LinkedIn upkeep and CV upkeep are things that you need to save some time on your calendar to get it done, right? Otherwise you can be the most senior, most expert person in your role but your CV is gonna look the same as it was 10 years ago.

EMILY: Yeah, absolutely, 100%. So, yeah, it’s things like making sure it’s nice and cleanly spaced, it’s got coherent formatting, it doesn’t have fluorescent colors and things like that. Color is fine, as long as it’s nice and readable. It’s probably no more than two pages. Again, it comes back to that point of a hiring manager getting hundreds of applications a day, and they’ve got a very small amount of time you can spend on reading your CV. So, you don’t want to bury the lead right at the end, four pages deep, try and keep it concise right down to the highlights, your achievements and things like that, those are really key. And if you’re in a creative role, such as an art role, make sure you link to your portfolio or your website, those things are really key. Link to your LinkedIn so you can add more detail there if there really are things that you think, “Oh, I just I really want to include this but I can’t fit it in the two pages.” Think of your LinkedIn as an appendix to your CV or your resume. You can add stuff there and embellish and make sure there are clear things, like your location. It doesn’t need to include your full address and stuff like that, or your date of birth or your picture, even. It’s not about trying to get your identity stolen, it’s about making sure you’ve got the basic information that we need to know. Okay, where is this person located? Can they commute? Are they interested in commuting? Or are they only looking for remote work? And all those kinds of basic details are really, really key. And don’t forget that kind of paragraph at the top, as well as your experience, a little paragraph that’s just about you, what makes you tick, what are you interested in, and a couple of sentences summarizing your experience overall. Again, brevity is key, but it can be a nice, easy way to get a summary of your experience and you as a person.

ALEXIS: I love that. I love it. It’s to take notes, for everyone watching or listening or reading.

LARA: I was about to start taking notes, honestly. I was like, “Oh my god, this is so interesting.” This is really good advice. Thank you.

ALEXIS: Thank you so much, Emily. I wanted to change the topic for a little bit because we’re talking about video game industry, video game industry, video game industry. So, I have a two-part question that is directly about video games. So, I want to know what you’ve been playing recently that you just can’t get enough of or that you would like to play, and if you have any game that you’re really looking forward to in 2024.

EMILY: Far too many things. Take your time. Too many uncompleted at the moment.

ALEXIS: Oh, god, don’t get me started on uncompleted games.

LARA: We don’t talk about those, they are still hunting me, honestly. They are looking at me right now like, “What are you doing?” I just want to uninstall it. I know.

MELISA: You get new games and these uncompleted games are looking at you like…

LARA: Yes, they are like… “Yeah, yeah, hi.”

ALEXIS: Every new game that pops in is like, “Oh yeah, welcome.”

LARA: Yeah, yeah. No, yeah.

EMILY: I’m actually like, “Stop, stop releasing games. It’s too much, it’s too many, I want to play.”

MELISA: Oh, yeah, yeah.

EMILY: It’s funny, I did a little post today, I’m not affiliated with IGN in any way I should say, but I over the Christmas break discovered that if you go to the IGN website and register, you can log the games that you’re playing at the moment under like playing or taking a break, or on your backlog of games, or once you’ve quit, and I was like, “Oh my god, I can actually remember what it is I’m halfway through.”

ALEXIS: You can have that information uploaded at the IGN website?

EMILY: Yes, you just go on. You write it down, yeah. And then you just search for the game. So, like I’m playing Pikmin 4 at the moment and then you just click on the game and you go to “Add to library,” or something and then you can put it under “Playing” or on “Taking a break” or “Quit.” It’s really, really good. I was like oh I can finally now not have all this information in my brain I could just put it in this thing.

ALEXIS: But that’s an interesting way to also have interaction on the website, right? That’s smart, really. Go, IGN.

EMILY: Yeah, it’s very smart, very clever. I wonder if they’re using the data behind that for anything. That’s interesting.

LARA: I’m sure they are, yeah.

ALEXIS: Being the type of website that they are, I’m seeing it the best way possible, right? They are doing a great job at it.

LARA: Yeah.

EMILY: Yeah, but yeah, I’m playing Pikmin 4, Dredge, I’m still trying to finish God of War Ragnarök. Too many things, Diablo 4, I think.

ALEXIS: That’s never ending, right? Diablo 4, with every season. It keeps getting better, that’s the good news.

EMILY: I know there’s a main campaign I still haven’t finished, and beyond that, I’ve heard some things.

ALEXIS: No, but the main campaign alone is worth it, so take it.

EMILY: Yeah.

ALEXIS: And is there a game that you’re looking for in 2024 that is just like a first day of pre-purchase?

EMILY: Not that I can think of off the top of my head, but there are still games from 2023 that I haven’t even started, like Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. And I want to play The Expanse: A Telltale game. So yeah, I’m sure there will be more coming up that I’m just like: “No!”

LARA: I hope you enjoy it, that’s the only thing I’m going to say because Tears of the Kingdom for me was… I mean, I got this huge statue of the dragon so it was…

EMILY: Amazing.

LARA: Yeah.

EMILY: It must have made an impact.

LARA: Yeah, 100%!

ALEXIS: Well, no one asked, but for me, I want to say it anyways. For me personally, I’m waiting for the next Final Fantasy VII Remake game, that’s coming out in February, and the Silent Hill 2 Remake. I want to get scared again. I mean, thank you Konami. Thank you for hearing my years and years of asking for another Silent Hill game. So, everyone, Emily, thank you so much for being a part of Open World. Thank you so much for every input, every advice. Thank you, Lara, Meli, for being a part of this show all throughout the year and this date of 2024. And to you on the other side of the screen, of your headpiece, or if you’re reading on the other side of the screen, thank you so much. We’ll be seeing you next time in another episode of Open World. Bye, everyone, thank you.

LARA: Bye-bye, thank you.

MELISA: Thank you.

Episode Transcription

LARA: Hi, everyone. Welcome to another episode of Open World, your videocast, podcast, wherever you’re listening to, about video games, localization, and memes. Today’s topic is about conferences. I’m here with Ale and Meli, and we’re going to be talking about the importance of video game conferences in general, not only for localization. Or, if you want to get into the industry, and you are an accountant, and you want to get into the industry, maybe a video game conference is what you need, right? Do you guys know video game conferences apart from Gamescom?

ALEXIS: Yes, we have matching t-shirts.

MELISA: If you didn’t notice.

LARA: Yes, or if you’re listening to this and not watching us, we have matching shirts.

MELISA: Yeah, Gamescom was a great conference. In general, I think video game conferences are really fun because some of them have that B2B section for businesses, and then you have the B2C section, which is usually just really fun. All the new games are…

ALEXIS: Just to experience what you get from the other side of the joystick.

LARA: Yeah, I love them both. I knew video game conferences from the B2C side because I am a consumer. It means “business to consumer”, because I consume video games. I love that part. I think that’s so much fun. It can get a little bit tiring after being on the B2B side.

MELISA: It’s intense.

LARA: And it’s crowded, yeah. It tends to get a little bit crowded. But I love the B2B part too, because that’s where the magic happens. Personally, I believe there are many opportunities in the B2B side of conferences for everyone that wants to get into the video game industry, because you can go networking, you can meet new people, maybe you meet your favorite person in the video game industry in person and you’re like, “Oh my God!”

ALEXIS: It happened to us at the BIG Festival when we met the creator of Diablo, remember?

LARA: We met the creator of Diablo and we were like fangirling. So, we wanted to make this episode for you if you are doubting yourself, if you want to go to a video game conference, to the B2B side, and you don’t feel prepared, you don’t feel ready, we got you. We aren’t, but we have some amazing tips for you that might help because every conference is different. We have Gamescom, we have the Tokyo Game Show.

ALEXIS: Yeah, in different parts of the world, there are different conferences. You have E3 in LA, GDC.

MELISA: GDC, G-Star in Korea.

ALEXIS: Tokyo Game Show in Japan.

MELISA: Yeah, some of the biggest conferences to which you can go. But also I think it is nice, when you go to these conferences, to leave a little time to go to the B2C. So important.

LARA: Yeah, absolutely. So, what is the best advice for each of you? What is the best advice you could give to someone? Please name one because I know we’re going to start naming a lot.

ALEXIS: For the conferences. I have an example.

LARA: An advice, talking from your point of view, from your experience, to everyone that’s listening, because, as you may know, we are translators, we are localizers, and we work for a localization company. Our B2B side of the event is actually going to get and meet new clients, and meet new people, and get connections and networking because that’s how you get the job going. If maybe you’re a programmer and you want to get into the video game industry, this might relate to you as well because it doesn’t matter which side of the industry you are. If you’re an accountant, if you’re a programmer, if you’re into design and visuals, I don’t know, if you’re into localization too. These tips might help you to organize yourself and to be more prepared for these B2B conferences that can be really exhausting.

ALEXIS: I would say, first tip: know what your goal is in that conference. For instance, you’re attending a video game convention and you are a lawyer, or an accountant, like you said. Try to narrow down what type of contacts you want to create, you want to network with, in that conference. If you’re a publisher and you’re looking for services, most conferences have a list of attendees, and you can use filters. I think what I’m trying to say is I’m advising against bulk contacting with a single message.

LARA: No, that doesn’t work.

ALEXIS: That’s not useful. Know why you’re going to that conference and make your networking happen around that.

MELISA: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And I think for me it would be… I’m very related to that and what you just said, to prepare all that pre-conference work that you should do, because if you’re going somewhere and you’re making an investment, booking the tickets, everything, you shouldn’t just appear there.

LARA: Like, “Hi, I just spawned here!”

ALEXIS: “Hi, this conference is cool!”

MELISA: It’s possible that you’re going to meet very interesting people. But you can make the most out of it if you prepare. And then you do your research with the attendee list and really select the people you want to meet. Some of these conferences have a platform where you can send meeting requests.

LARA: Absolutely.

MELISA: All of the work that goes before that.

ALEXIS: It makes your job easier.

LARA: Yeah, I’m going to say something that might sound a little bit creepy, but you have to do your research. You have to investigate the people that you’re going to meet with. Because, as Meli mentioned, on these platforms, you can see who is attending. You can see who is your potential buyer or the potential person that you’re going to speak to. And I think it’s so important that you do your research because maybe that’s a point of contact within the company that you want to reach, but maybe it’s not in charge of what you really need. So, try to do your research so you don’t end up pestering that person.

MELISA: It takes time, but also it will save you a lot of time.

LARA: Absolutely.

ALEXIS: That happens, and also you’re mindful of people’s time as well. I mean, for instance, you’re looking for… you’re a translator and you’re looking to enter, to find localization companies, right? And you see on the attendee list that no one is from the HR team or the Careers Department, or whatever. Maybe contact them and say, “Hey, can you give my contact to someone who I would like to talk to?”

LARA: Yeah, that’s the magic of networking, because it happened to us a lot, a lot of times, that we get to meet you, we get to meet a lot of translators that want to work with us, and yeah, it’s the only thing that we can do, because it is not part of our jobs to actually recruit people. So, the best that we can do is recommend you to the department that is in charge of recruiting people, but maybe it will be a waste of energy for you to try to get us to like you. We already like you!

ALEXIS: To contact everyone, regardless of their role, just because… I’m going to take my job as an example. I want to work with a company, with a triple-A publisher company. And everyone that’s attending the conference is not people from the department that I would like to contact. So, it’s like, “Does it make sense for me to contact them, request a meeting, look around for them?” What I’m trying to say is: optimize your efforts in the conference so that you can make it a lot easier.

MELISA: I think, still, another tip, is there are a lot of networking events, things happening around the conference. Sometimes I’m not part of the conference. You should always go see if there are things happening, you know, drinks, breakfast. There are a lot of things happening and to make the most out of it, it’s definitely a great opportunity to meet people. It’s going to happen that you’re introduced to someone that is not maybe the right person, but still, that contact is very valuable. That person can be…

LARA: …the link for the other person, yeah.

MELISA: And I think a great thing about networking is that you get to meet people and then see it from a selfless point of view where they refer you. And maybe you meet someone you can refer to someone else. Maybe you meet someone and it’s nothing related to what you do or your industry, but you know someone else who might help them and you’re like, “You know what? Let me put you in contact with this person, this might be helpful.” And I think everything that you give, comes back. So, it’s a nice way of looking at it.

ALEXIS: I think that when you say networking, it almost sounds like it’s cold, right? The term. But it’s actually the entire opposite. I mean, you connect with people on a level that goes beyond just an email on a professional level. You connect on a personal level.

MELISA: What can I get from you? What can you get from me?

ALEXIS: I can help you in this way, you can help me that way. Let’s connect, I know someone that can help you.

LARA: Absolutely, and I want to go back to what you mentioned, Meli, about the new networking events outside the B2B event, because that happens a lot of the time. Maybe you have breakfast, maybe you have drinks, maybe you have lunch. My tip here will be: plan a schedule, make yourself an agenda so you don’t look like a headless chicken running everywhere. So, you know where you have to be, you know what you have to do, and you have your day planned to work as you want to. I think, for me, that’s… I need organization in my life.

ALEXIS: You go with a team so that everyone knows what the other person is doing.

LARA: Absolutely, absolutely. I want to go back to this scheduling thing, guys, because, how are days during a conference? Because sometimes people see pictures of you at the conference, like you’re having a great time and everything, but how is really a day at a conference?

ALEXIS: I think that it depends on if you have a booth or if you’re just attending. But I like what you said. That’s great advice, to know what you’re doing that day.

MELISA: Having that schedule planned. Makes it a lot easier.

ALEXIS: Be mindful of other people’s time and of what you can or can’t do. What does a day look like? I mean, you have your schedule, you know what to do. I would advise, again, another tip, to leave some room between meetings.

LARA: Oh my God, yeah.

ALEXIS: Because having four back-to-back meetings before you even have lunch, it can take a toll on you when you hit 2 p.m. or 3 p.m.

LARA: Yeah, absolutely.

ALEXIS: If you did your scheduling right, I’m guessing that your days are going to be busy.

MELISA: Yes, they are very intense. That’s definitely how I would describe them. There’s a lot going on. And it can be overwhelming. So, I think that all of the, you know, preparing, researching, and planning ahead. Even if you’re already watching this, and I hope it’s helpful, it’s all work that would make it a little easier when you’re there and so you’re not like, “Oh no, where do I go, what do I do?”

LARA: Yeah, absolutely.

ALEXIS: Another thing that I would recommend is to have, if you’re presenting a service or if you’re presenting a game, or if you have something that the person that’s meeting you, you would like them to know prepare a deck or some sort of pitch, even an elevator pitch, something short and sweet that, if you have an impromptu meeting, you meet someone on an aisle or even on a different booth that you’re visiting, for them to know really quickly without taking too much of their or your own time.

MELISA: “What do you do? What do you offer?”

LARA: You realize when you’re… that’s my opinion, right, but when you go to a conference and you leave your desk job, where you might be working for six, eight, or four hours, to actually be ready to be standing or walking for more than 12 hours. So, to me, another great advice is: get comfortable, wear comfortable shoes, comfortable clothes, be ready to have your hygiene products close by because you’re going to be there for 12 hours and not going to be able to go back to your hotel. Just make sure that you’re taking care of yourself because with all this excitement, all of these things happening at the same time, you had great meetings, you had bad meetings: your body is going with you everywhere. So, be sure to, yeah, be sure to have…

MELISA: Maybe you’re not feeling it in the day, but then at the end of the day, and then you can feel it the next morning. I don’t know if I can come to this thing.

LARA: Yeah, make sure that you’re drinking enough water. That’s so important, too. Make sure you take breaks between meetings, like you said.

ALEXIS: And have a good breakfast.

LARA: Yeah, that you are eating properly, and you’re not only eating fast food and everything because…

MELISA: And also people to take notes, it’s so important.

LARA: Yeah, I wanted to go to that because your brain, as a part of your body that you have to take care of, is going to get so exhausted at a moment and you’re not going to be able to remember everything that you heard in a meeting.

MELISA: Yeah, the most notes that you can take is going to be a lot easier for after because at every meeting… maybe at that moment you’ll be like, “I’ll remember, I’ll contact this person to tell them this.” And then, at the end of the day, you have all these contacts and you’re like…

LARA: “Oh my God, who was he?”

ALEXIS: You have to remember.

MELISA: Yeah, you’re like, “Oh, no, what is that?”

ALEXIS: “Who was this guy?”

MELISA: “It would be so good if I had taken notes of it.” I mean, it happens.

LARA: And that takes me, absolutely, that takes me to the other part of B2B conferences, because everything is great when you are at the conference, when you are at the networking events, when you are chill, when you are relaxed, having a few drinks with some partners, and you get to meet them, and you get to have a really great time because you know they all work in the video game industry, they all know what it’s like. But there is an after part of B2B conferences. That is the most important because we are talking about follow-ups. Following up after you meet someone is so important, and you have to make yourself memorable. So, when you do the follow-up email, they will remember you.

MELISA: For sure, and if you don’t put in all the work, you planned ahead, you gave everything and then you went to the conference, you followed your schedule. If you don’t do all of the work that goes afterward… So, it’s definitely the most important part.

ALEXIS: And for that, the notes that you took help a lot. And also make that follow-up customized, I would say. If you talk to someone about something, talk about it in your email. Don’t send the same message. A standard message to everyone.

LARA: For me it’s also… remember the meetings that maybe were not that good, and maybe you met someone and actually it was a mismatch. Because it can happen: it was a mismatch. They don’t need your services. You don’t need their services. But it was great contacting them and having each other’s card for future references, because if I have someone that might want to work with you, I can give them your card. But be mindful of taking those notes too, because at the end of the day, when you are doing your follow-up and you find yourself with a name and you don’t have notes, you only have a card, and you send them, like, “Yeah, I’m sending you a generic email, I’m trying to sell you this.” The person is going to be like, “Yeah, no, but we talked about this. Don’t you remember?” And that’s when it can get tricky, because it might look like you did not do your research properly, and you are kind of going back again with the same topic and the person is clearly not interested or is not going to be able to help you at the moment. So, be mindful of taking notes in those meetings that go so well and also on the networking opportunities and the meetings that maybe are a mismatch because it’s important to have those contacts and to remember what they do, how we can help each other.

ALEXIS: Totally, I agree.

MELISA: For sure, that can definitely help in the future, because a lot of people that you meet at the conferences, you will meet them again, maybe the following year, if you attend. It’s also just really nice and enjoyable, because you sometimes make friends, sometimes you see them again the following year, and you catch up, and it’s part of… it just makes it easier when you see a friendly face when you’re there, someone that you already know.

LARA: Absolutely. And another piece of advice I want to give: sometimes there are networking events that happen after the days of the event. You have parties, you have dinner parties. Remember to sleep, please. It sounds so silly, I know, but sometimes you can get so caught up with everything. Take care of your voice because you’re going to be singing, you’re going to be talking a lot with a lot of people. Maybe you go to a party, you’re going to be singing with the dude you want to do business with. Take care of your voice.

ALEXIS: That sounds familiar.

LARA: Take care of your voice, take care of yourself. I think that’s one of the best pieces of advice for this. And yeah, preparing for a conference is always tiring, but it’s always so much fun.

MELISA: And rewarding. I mean, sometimes you find yourself in a position you wouldn’t have thought of, or meeting someone you never imagined. So, it’s great.

LARA: Yeah, absolutely. So, I hope we helped you guys out when preparing for a conference. Also, remember to enjoy. I think that’s the biggest part of all.

MELISA: And a great part of our industry.

LARA: Yeah. If you love video games and you have the chance to attend these events, you’re going to have a great time.

MELISA: Everyone who also loves video games, you’ll be surrounded by those people.

LARA: It’s always so much fun, yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much for joining us today. If you have another tip and you want to share it with us, please leave a comment down below because we are going to be reading them.

ALEXIS: Or if you have more questions.

LARA: If you have more questions, if you want to reach out to each other, we have a Discord server for you to join, so please be mindful of that too. Thank you so much for joining us. This was another episode of Open World. Bye-bye.

Episode Transcription

LARA: Hi, everyone! Welcome to another episode of Open World. Hi, Ale. Hi, Meli. Today we have a special guest with us, Olga Petrova. Hi, Olga! It’s so nice to see you here with us. Thank you for joining us.

OLGA: Hi! Thank you for having me.

LARA: It’s a real pleasure. Like, we are really excited to have you.

MELISA: Yes, thank you so much for joining us, Olga.

ALEXIS: Olga, for everyone that’s watching us, can you please introduce yourself, provide some background on your experience on video games localization, and a little bit about your journey?

OLGA: Yeah, sure. Once again, thank you for having me. I’m super excited to be here and share a little bit about what I know about localization and what keeps me going, for more than 15 years already, going on 20, I think. Yeah. I’m mostly in project management throughout my career, managing teams and projects and video games localization. I have participated in localization of over 200 games, roughly. Triple A titles, MMORPGs, mobile games. So when I started, I was just a freelance translator, so I actually took the full path from being a freelance translator to being a professional. And I was lucky to have worked on some of the most successful projects in the gaming industry from…

ALEXIS: I was gonna ask you if there was any OP that you’re most proud of or that was very successful.

OLGA: So big companies like Activision, 2K, Capcom, Bethesda, Rockstar, I did projects for those.

MELISA: Dropping names.

OLGA: Yeah, I know. And then, yeah, so I used to work for a big… for the largest original publisher in Russia, and that’s when I got acquainted with big names. And then I moved on to work in the development studios, where I was able to do some influence on the development process and become a localization advocate and evangelist. Yeah.

ALEXIS: Yeah, it’s needed. It’s needed. Especially in indie studios. I started…

LARA: Not only in indie studios, but yeah. It’s just like…

ALEXIS: Everywhere. I remember one of my first steps in the video game industry was to be a localization something, you know, advocate, consultant or whatever in an indie dev studio.

LARA: Yeah. Yeah, it’s really needed. And you can tell when someone puts into the game localization early in the stages because you can tell that everything runs smooth, the localization is perfect, all the cultural aspects are taken into account. So, yeah. That’s awesome.

ALEXIS: Sorry I interrupted you, Olga.

OLGA: Oh, that’s okay. I couldn’t agree more to everything you guys are saying. Yes, it’s extremely important. And I’m, like, I’m still… It’s hard to believe that in 2023, we’re still talking about why we need localization to be a part of the game development, right?

LARA: Oh, my God. Yeah.

MELISA: Absolutely. That’s why I think it’s so important what you were saying. And since we’re already talking about this, I hope it’s okay, I’ll ask you the next question, which is very related. And that’s, what are some common challenges that arise when localization is brought in too late in the development process? And how can these challenges be mitigated?

OLGA: Yeah. Where do I start?

MELISA: A lot to say about this.

OLGA: Yeah. I sometimes call localization a Cinderella of the game development. We rarely get invited to the ball.

LARA: I love it!

MELISA: I love it. That’s so funny!

ALEXIS: Can I use that? I’m using that. I’m sorry, I’m using that.

OLGA: It is true. For a lot of companies, we are the least favorite stepchild, and it is what it is, right?

LARA: And we are so important. Like, come on. How? How can this happen? We’re like… We’re like Cinderella, you know? And you’re inviting us like… No, there’s no way.

MELISA: If you invite us, we’re gonna make an impact. Just saying.

OLGA: Yeah. Maybe drop a shoe or two. But yeah, in all seriousness, just, I think, for the most part, it’s never intentional. It’s just because the developers don’t know better and they just don’t think about it when they start their journey. So… bringing us late in the process essentially cost you. And you end up doing a lot of reworks, a lot of changes or just accepting a quality in localization that is… that is lower than what you have in English or whatever original language your game is created in. So you might be telling a joke that, when it is translated, will not get understood by most of the players who don’t speak English. You might have a puzzle in your game that a person who doesn’t speak English won’t make any sense and will leave them confused. Um… Your user interface might not support text expansion and it will just end up playing font size Tetris when you try to put in the translated text in that small box. What else?

MELISA: These are great examples. They’re very practical, like, very to-the-point ways to know how, like…

OLGA: It’s like, I am a manager, but I’m always very close to what I’m working on. So that’s also one of the things why you have to have localization people on your team. They will spend time, they will invest and make an effort to get your game. They will be on your side. They will be protective of the product that you as a developer are creating, and they will try to make it as good in other language as it is in the language that you used to conceive it. So yeah.

LARA: Yeah. I mean, when you were mentioning…

OLGA: And we haven’t even mentioned the cost here, right? So all that comes up when you bring in localization late, that means more money is gonna be spent on the work that can be done early in the process and therefore be cheaper.

LARA: Yeah. So when you were mentioning the challenges, I could easily like recall games that had those problems that I already played, you know? And I was like, oh my God, this could have been such an easy fix from the early stages, but here I am, playing this game, facing these challenges, and it’s like, Oh, this joke is not even funny in my language. So I totally agree. Um, I have the other question now. From your experience, what are the benefits of having a localization expert collaborate with the development team from the early stages?

OLGA: It’s a really good question, and I think we touched a little bit on that already, but let me just expand and see what else comes to mind when I think about the benefits for the developer. Well, let’s start with money. Because I think that proverbial return on investment from localization that everyone expects is one of the things that you can really justify and can really separate what exactly was the localization role apart from the marketing or user acquisition campaign or the game itself. Maybe the game is so genius that it doesn’t have to have all the bells and whistles that localization brings into. But the money is just, you keep the costs down. You… You avoid the expensive do-overs because you get it right the first time. So one of the games in my last workplace turned out to be extremely successful, but it was not created with localization in mind. They had it in English for the longest time. At the same time, the management realized that they’re leaving a lot of money on the table because, well, there are players who don’t speak English all over the world that could be enjoying the game and bringing in money, the revenue. So that need, it was there, so the decision was made to actually finally have the localization in the game. So without like even any numbers, I’m just gonna tell you that it took nine months of work for two engineers revamping the code and making the localization possible.

LARA: Oh, my God. Like the amount of money, time and effort. Oh, my God!

OLGA: The translation itself didn’t take that much time.

ALEXIS: Right.

LARA: I imagine. Oh, my God, it’s insane. I get, like, goosebumps. It’s insane.

OLGA: It can be really expensive. It can be, like, it can save you a lot of money if you think about internationalization. If you have the right people in the team who can guide the developer and tell them that there are certain things that are better avoided or there are certain things that need to be done from day one that, even if you don’t launch with multiple languages, even if you only launch in English, by the time that you make a decision to localize, it’s not exactly going like that, but very similar. And it does save you a lot of money and time to make it happen.

LARA: Money and time, two things that we could all have more of.

OLGA: And that’s the famous triangle, right? Money, time and quality.

LARA: Yeah.

OLGA: At least you hit two of those. And then quality is up to the professionalism of the localization people that you have.

ALEXIS: Olga, you’re talking about the quality, the professionalism that translation, localization, when taken in the right time and place of the development process, saves you money, saves you time. But I want to go back to the professionalism aspect and the cultural considerations that come with the localization process. Do you think that there are any cultural considerations, like in a broad aspect, that are particularly important for game developers to be aware of when creating content for different markets?

OLGA: Absolutely, Alex. It’s a very good question. Again, like it’s very relevant to the daily work that localization teams are doing around the world, right? We are bridging the cultural gaps. We’re doing it every single day. And we help because we’re bringing players together, and making us all a little bit closer to each other. So there are linguistic considerations. So language and humor, you don’t want to have any puns and jokes that might not translate well. It’s like, if you tell a joke that only makes sense in one language and you hear crickets from the audience, right? So you don’t want to run into this. And don’t get me started on geopolitical sensitivities. I can give you two very fresh examples and one not so fresh one.

ALEXIS: I was gonna ask for examples. Please, go ahead.

OLGA: Oh, that’s fine because I do have it. Say that Spider-Man game that was just released and the flag SNAFU with mixing up Cuban and Puerto Rican flags.

ALEXIS: Yes. I saw that.

OLGA: If they had a culturalization expert on the team or if they paid maybe more attention, they could’ve easily…

LARA: Oh, my God. Yeah.

OLGA: And that was…

LARA: It was so simple.

ALEXIS: It’s simple. We’re doing the same expression, Lali. We’re both like…

LARA: It’s just like, oh, my God. Yes, I saw it, and it was like, no way.

OLGA: It takes a certain like… It takes some skills, right? It takes a certain… Um… You need to be attuned to certain things in a game or in a movie or in a book to be able to catch up on these things. And that’s why you need people who can help you with that. The same thing with the Barbie movie that was banned in Vietnam because of the nine-dash line and that map that they were referring to, it didn’t even look like a map, but it was significant for Vietnamese people, right? And it was a big issue for them, so it was justified in their eyes. From my own experience, I can tell you that we had really big problems with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 that was released in Russia with the level that Activision actually took away from the Russian edition with the terrorists killing civilians in the airport.

ALEXIS: Yes, that famous/infamous level.

LARA: Oh, my God, yeah.

OLGA: But we had quite a big backlash from inside the country that was pointed at the company at that time, the publisher. So they blamed us for neglecting this particular sensitivity in this particular case, even like considering releasing the game in the country. So just like, you know, like three quite bright examples, but there are so many more and they happen all the time. I actually, myself, I have a collection of the movies that make some funny things with the Russian language just because they sort of entertain me, and I find it interesting that, with the amount of money and the budgets that Hollywood has, they just neglect double checking so many things.

MELISA: I would love to see that collection.

OLGA: Well, the movies that have actually Spanish speakers in them, you probably, like, you can totally relate.

ALEXIS: We can do the same with the Spanish. It’s a horror.

MELISA: Yeah. But I think the point that you were making about the movie and why this, like, those are great examples. And it’s so painful, there’s a lot of effort and money and people working for years sometimes in some of these games, and just, you know, to get ruined or banned completely for a completely full audience like of several countries and stuff like that just for these tiny mistakes that, you know, can be avoided. That’s like how important I think this message that we are here trying to spread thanks to Olga. It’s like… You know, I think that’s a great proof of our point.

OLGA: And it’s heartbreaking for the teams because, like you said, they’re working so hard, they’re putting their heart and soul in the game and then they’re being criticized for something that could be easily corrected or avoided at all. So, yeah, those were my examples.

MELISA: Yeah, those are a great examples.

LARA: Great examples.

ALEXIS: Thank you for those great examples.

MELISA: And related to what I just said, can you share some advice for those game developers who may be listening to this episode and may need to become more familiar with the importance of early localization involvement?

OLGA: Yeah, let me try. So, I would tell that they need to be curious, because a lot of times, the developers speak only one language. And there’s nothing wrong with that. You can’t expect everyone to be bilingual or be interested in learning something about the different culture. But it pays off when you try and do that. So just be curious. Try to understand and embrace the landscapes of different cultures and languages. Do the research, ask questions. I think not being guilty to ask questions, and not be afraid to ask them is one of the most important things that a person can actually have in them. I think that the ability to ask questions and to show curiosity is actually showing that people are not indifferent and they’re passionate about what they’re doing. And that’s really important. And it usually shows in the results. What else? So besides curiosity and asking questions, building a diverse team.

LARA: Oh, my God, yeah.

MELISA: I love this.

OLGA: Different backgrounds from different countries speaking different languages. That usually helps. My biggest release so far was a game that was published on Netflix platform, and we launched in 15 languages and we ended up having 33. Obviously, I don’t speak 33 languages, but we had a lot of team members who were able to help out with a lot of them. And that did help. And because, again, like having people on the team who were able to give you advice about their culture, who can tell you what’s acceptable and what’s not, what is… what aligns with customs of the country and what doesn’t, and sometimes are able to tell you the peculiarities of the language. And, if you have a problem with, say, Hindi, which we didn’t know that Unity had, but we had some Hindi speaking people on the team and we were trying to assess how serious this issue is, can we actually release the game with this issue or do we need to change all the words in the game that have this particular glyph or this particular character in it to something else and try that approach instead? Right, so, there are those small things, but they add up to being very important and the quality, never going down. So, yeah, that’s… Definitely brings a unique flavor to the table, for sure.

MELISA: This is some great advice. Thank you, Olga, that was…

OLGA: In fact, with the Netflix release, there was… My mom was actually… Well, I was bragging on my social media, and she was seeing that and was asking, “But how do you translate in 33 languages?” Like, “Mom, it’s okay…”

LARA: I love that!

ALEXIS: I love that. It’s a constant that I found in many people working in the localization industry, that moms usually don’t quite grasp what we do.

OLGA: And that was after 15 years that I’ve been doing that, she was still very naive.

ALEXIS: “My daughter is a translator.” Right?

LARA: Yeah, that’s what my mom says, like, “Yeah, my daughter works translating video games.” She doesn’t even have a clue what goes into it.

OLGA: And I think that’s actually a common misconception that we also have to fight, because for… A lot of times for the management, we are just glorified translators, for some reason, who earn more than they deserve. But that’s not the case. Like a lot of work that we as localization professionals do is language agnostic. It needs to be done in your product no matter how many languages you support. You need to have your conversation with the Game Designer to find out what was put behind each and every player phrase and string in the game, you need to have it documented and you need to know the context for that game because the translators, they’re gonna ask you. And if not the first time, then maybe the second time around. And you need to have that localization Bible like I call it, like it’s usually based off on game design document, but it’s so much more, right? So you build up on that and you use the questions that are asked by the translation team, you add on to that and then, when it’s time to launch in a new language, you have it already and a lot of questions are already answered. So yeah, it’s so much more than just translation and just sending files back and forth. You have to think about so many things besides just having the text translated, starting from, I don’t know, choosing the right font, making sure that all the characters are there, like I said. When I started in localization, I was translating into a language that was not part of EFIGS. So very rarely the developers had an idea that there are certain sets of characters that will be used for displaying the text in the game. So a lot of times, we were receiving a localized version, no characters were seen or, the best case, we had like the tofu squares.

ALEXIS: Yeah, I remember those squares.

OLGA: I can’t count the times I had to get back to the developers and ask them, “Where’s my Cyrillic font? Why don’t they have a Cyrillic font?” So, it’s better now for sure. And a lot of phones have like a full set of characters for alphabetized languages, but it’s still, like, for a lot of them, it’s still a work in progress. And usually, the… the game designers, the UX, UI people, they like to work with the fonts that are pretty, that create a certain atmosphere. Like, imagine something like Bioshock, with its art deco vibes, right? So those fonts, they rarely have support for all the glyphs. So you need to think about that because your engineers, game designers, even your UI, UX people might not, and you need to help them. So, yeah, it’s part of the job. Very exciting, actually.

LARA: Yeah. Yeah, I love that. I love that. I mean, we in Spanish, we have special characters all the time too. And it’s actually funny because the tofu squares that, like you mentioned, I find them always, all the time, and it’s just like, oh, it was just as simple as changing the font. But yeah, there you have it. It happens.

OLGA: Yes. Or just testing, right? So just bring the pangram, use the pangram and you will be able to tell right away if any of the characters are missing. But it’s just because engineers are not trained and the game developers rarely think about it from the start, especially Hindi, right? Like they’re thinking about creating something so special, so new, so exciting that they just don’t have time to think about all the intricacies that might come with actually making a global release. So it’s just the nature of the work. And that’s why localization exists as a discipline and that’s why we need it.

LARA: I love it. I love it. This episode has been one of my favorites. Like, thank you so much, Olga, for your time. This has been amazing. Guys, I don’t know if you want to say anything else.

MELISA: Olga, everything you said was so on point. I think everyone listening, like, it’s just great, great advice, great examples. So thank you so much for joining us.

OLGA: Oh, thank you for having me. I really… I love my job. I really like what I do.

LARA: We can tell. We can tell, we can see the passion that you have.

ALEXIS: Thank you for sharing your own personal stories as well. That’s very important.

OLGA: I find it that some people usually want to hear something personal rather than just very abstract…

ALEXIS: We do it, too.

LARA: Yeah, 100%. We really appreciate it. Thank you so much, everyone. You that you are listening or hearing or watching this episode on YouTube or wherever you are listening this, too, thank you so much for joining us today. We will see you again in another episode. Bye-bye!

MELISA: Bye, everyone.

ALEXIS: Bye-bye.

Episode Transcription

MELISA: Welcome, everyone, to a new episode of Open World. I’m here with Ale and Lari, and today we have the pleasure to interview Hi-Rez’s Localization Director, Estelle Bailly. We are extremely excited to have you with us today, Estelle. Thank you so much for joining us.

ESTELLE: Well, thank you for inviting me. I’m very excited too.

LARA: Yeah, this is extremely exciting. And I have the honor to ask you the first question. So here it goes. What inspired you to pursue a career in linguistics?

ESTELLE: Oh, I’ve always been interested in having an international career. I wanted to be a diplomat, actually, so… I thought that, you know, languages would open new horizons to me, so I studied German and then English. And after college, I thought about maybe studying international business, but I wasn’t too sure, so… and I was a good student. So I went to what is called in France Hypokhâgne. It’s a preparatory school. And basically, once you’ve done that, you can apply to very elite schools to have international careers or do politics, you know, fancy jobs. Well… it depends on what you want. So the program is in two years and I did… one month. So, yeah, it was my first fail. There were so many things to learn, to be honest. So many books to read, essays to write, lots of things. It was like being back to college, but… worse. And you’re 18 and you want to have your student life you’ve been hearing about, right? You want to go out with your friends and do stuff, still, do some studies but, you know… have a good balance. So, after a month, I decided to quit and I signed up at uni to study English and German because that was the only two courses that I really enjoyed during this preparatory school. So that’s how it all began, I think.

MELISA: Great that it was just one month. Your decision was pretty quick. I mean, a lot of people start a career and then you’re like after a year or two… “Actually, this is not for me.” But you, immediately… “No.”

ESTELLE: “Diplomats? That’s really cool!” And after one month you’re like… “These people are not for me.”

LARA: That’s so cool. Yeah, I wasted like a year doing a career I didn’t like, and it took me a year to figure it out. So, if you figured it out in a month, that’s incredible. Yeah.

MELISA: And sometimes you force yourself, like you want to like it. Okay, I already made the decision, like, I have to do this now. But, you know, you don’t, so… It’s always good to, you know…

ESTELLE: Yeah, exactly. Or maybe I was just too lazy to, you know, to stay more than a month. I really enjoyed it.

MELISA: There was something telling you you had to go a different way, so…

ESTELLE: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uni was better for me, I think.

ALEXIS: So, could you describe how was your journey in the world of video game localization from where it all began to where you are now?

ESTELLE: Oh, sure. So I was at uni, and I had to work to finance my student life.

ALEXIS: That’s always a good drive away. You know, I need money.

ESTELLE: Yes, I needed money. I did various jobs and then one day I saw this offer at uni, actually. It was to translate video games and it was in an agency not too far from where I studied, so I thought “Oh, that’s perfect.” And at that time I played video games quite a lot. And I have never thought… It was in 1999. Oh, the last century! Oh my God, I feel so old.

ALEXIS: Okay, wait. But do you remember what were you playing?

ESTELLE: Um… yes, it was more… more a girly game, but more like adventurous game. The 7th Guest, Grim Fandango. Remember Grim Fandango? Yeah, it’s the best one. Yeah, these kinds of games. I really liked it. The 7^th Guest, and I think the second one was The 11th Hour. It was not that good. The 7^th Guest was good, I remember that one. And then console games like The Mario thing and, you know…

ALEXIS: Sorry, I wanted to ask, but I love that you remember all the games that you were playing.

ESTELLE: Oh, yeah, yeah. Grim Fandango is still one of the best I’ve ever played. And that was… Yeah, last century, right? So anyway. Yeah. I didn’t know there was a job who could really need both my passions at that time, translation and video games. So, you didn’t know it existed, right? It was very… a while ago, I mean, a long time ago. Anyway… long story short, I applied, I got the job. A minimum wage, maximum working hours. You know, it was a true… How do we call that? Startup, you know.

ALEXIS: Putting your foot in the door.

ESTELLE: Oh, yeah. And you do everything yourself, right? But the team was lovely, very small. We would not outsource anything. And we were working almost nights and days, you know, seven days a week, for sure. On Friday nights you could go out, but then Saturday would be in the office. But I liked it. So it was a team of passionate people. And we all got along very well, so… When I think about it today, I think “Oh, that was a bit crazy.” But, um… actually I really enjoyed it at that time. And because we were doing everything ourselves, I learned so much. I really worked on all aspects of the localization pipeline. Well, obviously translation, but proofreading, project management, account management, I even did some assistance for our direction in the recording studio. Also recruitment, training of the new hires, going to conventions, and meeting with clients and team management throughout the end. So it was really hard work. I learned so much. I also discovered that I wasn’t that good after uni. You know, at the end of uni, you think that you know everything but actually, you know nothing. But it’s okay. You learn. And I had a mentor and good people who were passionate enough to teach me stuff, so I learned how to do it. And working at a localization agency, you adapt. You have to adapt so many… I mean, so much, because during the day you will work on six, eight different projects for as many different clients, jumping from one translation guide to another, one tool to another. And one day my boss told me: “Once you know how to handle the pressure and the work in a loc agency you can do anything… publisher, developer in localization because it will sound easy to you.” And I was like “Oh really? I want to try that. I want to go on the other side.”

ALEXIS: I want to see if you were right.

ESTELLE: Yeah, I want to work less. And so I tried to go to the other side to developer or publisher several times. I was looking for a job in France and there was not that many opportunities. And each time I got the same thing, you know, I ended up in the last two candidates and people said: “Oh yeah, you have some experience, but you don’t have experience as a publisher or developer. So we are going to pick the other candidate.” And you’re like… “Yeah, that’s why I applied to get this experience.”

ALEXIS: That’s what I’m trying to get.

MELISA: It’s a typical cycle. “You need the experience.” But I need to get in to get the experience.

ESTELLE: It’s like when you’re looking for an internship and you’re like… “Yeah, but you’re too new to know.” “Yes. That’s why I’m going to be an intern.” “Yeah, but, you know, you have no experience.” Yeah, it’s always the same thing, right? So, anyway, in parallel I became a mum and Paris is a lovely city, a very busy city. And it’s great. Just if you want to have a family life, especially with young kids, it’s not probably the best city you could live in. So, with my husband, we decided that maybe I could apply somewhere else. He’s self-employed, he just needs an internet connection. A good one, but, still… that’s convenient. So I started to apply to jobs in other cities and other countries, and that’s how I joined Hi-Rez in 2016. I didn’t know this company, actually, before applying to it, but the Free-to-play monetization model really interested me as well. So, anyway, I got the job once again and we all moved to Brighton in the UK with the kids who couldn’t speak a word of English at that time and that was quite an adventure, I have to say.

MELISA: How old were the kids then?

ESTELLE: They were six and eight. Yeah. In France, we start learning foreign languages very late. That’s why we are bad at foreign languages. But yeah. So, when we arrived here, a teacher said: “Well, you know, after three months, they’re going to pick a few words here and there. After six months, they’re going to start to understand. And after a year they’re talking.” And that’s exactly what happened. And now, you know, when I talk to their teacher and tell them that their native language is French, they say: “Oh, really?” They don’t know. While, when the teacher hears me, after 5 seconds: “You’re French, right?” I wonder how you guessed.

MELISA: It’s such a big change for everyone in the family, right?

ESTELLE: Yeah, but, I thought…

MELISA: It turned out good.

ESTELLE: Yeah, exactly. It was a great change.

MELISA: I love hearing your whole journey and through how you got to your current role. And now my next question is: What do you find most rewarding about your current role and why?

ESTELLE: Team management, definitely. I like being a team leader. I started in France. I had a great team in France as well, brilliant project managers. I was very lucky to have them. When I arrived at Hi-Rez, we developed the team, the localization team, and we had great people joining and learning with all of them. It was a multi… it was a multicultural team obviously, and that’s so interesting and I love being a team leader, taking care of people. I think… I’ve always known I like caring for people. But I think the older I grow, the more interested I am in human beings, you know, rather than projects. Sorry, no offense to Hi-Rez projects. I still like our projects. But I do love our people at Hi-Rez. And I think this really reflects my way of managing people. You know, if you ask me or if you talk to me about OKRs. Do you work with OKRs? Do you know what OKRs are? Well, if you don’t, you can Google it or just don’t Google it. It’s just like setting objectives and to each of your team members, you know, in a specific period of time and you need to achieve these and that and, and if you ask me to do this, I probably would run away because I’m more like on the human side… “Okay, tell me, what are you interested in? What kind of games do you want to work on? What kind of skills do you want to develop, to focus on?” You know, I try to keep that in mind when I sign a new project. It’s not always possible. I’m not saying: “Oh, I’m perfect.” I’m not perfect. So, definitely it’s not always possible to please everyone. But to me, if I can give a project manager a game they want to work on as a project, then I’m quite certain that they will do their very, very best to deliver an excellent job just because they would be motivated. You know, some people say “pressure makes diamonds.” I really don’t like that. I really prefer “motivation makes diamonds.” You know, that’s my motto, actually. And let’s say that when you’re motivated, I think half of the job is already done. Kind of.

MELISA: I love it. Motivation makes diamonds. I love it.

LARA: Yeah, it speaks wonders of you, honestly. You’re putting people first. I mean, nowadays, in this industry in particular, it speaks wonders, so.

ESTELLE: I try to do it. I’m not saying. Yeah.

LARA: But you are trying it at least. That’s something. Yeah.

ESTELLE: I think it is quite well, so, yeah.

LARA: Yeah. I have the next question. And how has your career evolved over the years and what lessons have you learned along the way?

ESTELLE: Oh, um… Well, as I mentioned earlier, I think I did all the roles I could possibly do, I believe, in the video game loc industry, not that I can’t learn anything anymore. But you know, from translation, proofreading, project management, recruitment, I even did some LQA at some point on casual games, and it was in my early years. But yeah, Team Leader and now Loc Director… Yeah, that’s pretty quick. I did a lot of things. There must be other things I can do. But the lessons I would say, a few lessons. Well, motivation. Motivation is key. Try to motivate your team. You know, that’s how they will want to stay in your company. Not necessarily stay in your team, but at least, you know, make them feel part of the they belong to a group, a team. I think that’s important. To focus on their motivation and on your own motivation as well. And obviously, communication, communication is key. Work-life, private life… communication is always key. I keep saying that to my kids. And communication is key. Not always when it’s bad, you know, to talk about the thing that went bad. If things go well, say it as well, you know, because, like, when you work with a vendor, you know, don’t be too shy, you know, and send them an email when you’re happy with them delivering the job with good reactivity, because they respected all instructions or because it went well. It’s not because you don’t have a bad comment to say that you shouldn’t communicate with them. So, yes, communicate. When you’re not happy, but also when you’re happy. It’s important. Communication is key.

MELISA: I think this is such a good point because I feel like feedback, a lot of times it’s like you just give feedback when something wrong is happening and so the other person might feel like… “Well, I’m doing everything wrong” But that just little positive feedback might give them that motivation. “Okay, I did a good job.”

ESTELLE: Yeah. And when you’re French, you know, French tends to focus on the negative. “Oh, you should have done better this, that.” And all this is not really good. “This is not really good.” It’s not really the positive education, even at school. So I think it’s really important that once in a while to send an email just to say thank you for your commitment, thank you for being there because, you know… you’re really part of our success as well. So it’s good to say that. And also send feedback when they didn’t think exactly what you were expecting as well, because otherwise they can’t know what they have to improve, obviously.

ALEXIS: And that’s something that you need to know how to do as well, right? To give that feedback the best way possible.

ESTELLE: Yes. Yes, exactly. Exactly. And also to accept the feedback. But yeah, definitely it’s super important. Communication. Be humble as well. Always. Don’t be afraid to be too vulnerable. I think, especially, when you are in the leadership team and Yeah. You can’t know everything. You can’t have the answer to every single question or you can’t solve every problem. You’re not perfect, so, yes, accept it. And try to just be humble and be open. You can learn from everyone any time. Well, overconfident people tend to make me feel very uncomfortable. That’s my impostor syndrome. So, yeah, humility is key. I prefer humility in human beings. Also don’t be an asshole. That’s one of our motto at Hi-Rez. Don’t be an asshole.

MELISA: I really like this message. Because usually it’s confidence that gets praised. Like you have to show yourself really confident, like you know everything. and, you know, being humble… is also really, really important. It shows really good things. For me, at least, you know, when I see a leader that is humble and it’s open to learn new things like you were saying, you’re like… “Oh, wow, okay.” You know, we connect a bit more, I think.

ESTELLE: Yes, exactly. Don’t be an asshole. Be nice with others. Assholes, they never win, in the end. Except in politics, but that’s another discussion. Yeah. And the last thing I would say it’s maybe this is just work. It’s important as well to remember that because especially when… If you are like me and tend to feel like an impostor and then you tend to push yourself to work as hard or as much as possible because you want to show to people that “Yes, I belong here, I deserve my promotion.” Or, you know, you want to prove something to others, then the burnout is never really too far from you. So learn to stop before it’s too late. I went through burnout as well in my early years in France, and that’s really not something you want to go through. It’s not nice. And it takes time to recover. So we’re not saving lives. We’re just doing video games, right? So it’s cool. It’s really cool, but just don’t forget it. It won’t change anything if you answer this email in half an hour. Just go for a walk. A short walk. Get a break. Yes. I mean, it’s just that you would be so much more productive. And yes, I don’t need to answer you email constantly. Because I was like… I would stay in front of my desk. Not going to the toilet or to go and get food. And, you know, just because I thought… “Oh, if I go back to my desk, there would be so many emails to answer. And you know, I need to answer right away because the clients need to know I’m on it. I’m on it.” You know, that was always my… “I’m on it,” you know? Yeah, actually yes, I’m on it, but I can be on it, like in half an hour and take care of yourself as well. It’s really important. And I think after COVID years, oh, I got to realize a bit more that it’s important, but it’s definitely the most important thing. Yes. Yeah, absolutely. You know? And yeah, yes. Because I’ve been working on my impostor syndrome recently, I try to be more gentle with myself and to accept that I’m not perfect. And some people have been in my team no more than I do, and actually it’s fine. Probably it’s because I was good enough to hire them. So I hired the right people probably. And I shouldn’t be afraid if they are better than me. Um. Yeah, I try to be more comfortable with my weaknesses as well. It takes time. I’m not going to lie, but, I’ve been there.

MELISA: That is such a good point. Being gentle with yourself. And you know how people say all the time there’s things like how we… we are so used to lifting other people up, and how a lot of things when something happens around a situation, we talk to ourselves like we would never talk to a friend, like we talk to ourselves and say… “Well, how is that possible?” We’re not being that compassionate with our own selves.

ESTELLE: Or we don’t have a lot of friends, right?

LARA: I mean, it’s so important because also I believe after COVID and remote working and everything, it was just harder to separate your personal life from work, you know? And for me personally, I have to constantly remind myself it’s just work. Like tomorrow is going to be okay If you send these like two hours later, no one’s going to die.

ESTELLE: Yes, my manager in Paris used to say that all the time. And I keep saying it because it’s true. No one will die. It’s just work. It’s just games. Even games are important.

LARA: Yeah, a hundred percent.

ESTELLE: But, yeah, no one will die, and that’s the most important thing.

ALEXIS: So, Estelle, with so many people experiencing impostor syndrome at some point, beginning or even when they get a high position. But you have presented some excellent talks about this subject, right? So, I don’t know how to phrase this question, but maybe it would be what strategies or techniques have you found effective that you’d like to share with us in fighting these feelings of inadequacy, self-doubt? I don’t know. You take it from whatever you want.

ESTELLE: Okay. First, allow me to… because of the terminology, because of my translation background. So it’s going to be a terminology minute.

ALEXIS: Yes.

ESTELLE: I know we all say “impostor syndrome.” I do say it all the time. In fact, the official historical term is “impostor phenomenon” or “impostor experience,” because it is an experience rather than… When we say “impostor syndrome,” it makes people feel that it’s a clinical diagnosis, which is not. So the right term should actually be “impostor phenomenon.” But, that’s the end of the parenthesis. “Impostor syndrome” is the term that is widespread. Indeed, just to confirm what you were just saying, it does affect 70 to 80% of the global population at one point in their lives. So if you do feel this way, you’re not alone. And I’m here.

ALEXIS: I have to say that I love that it’s a phenomenon, right? It sounds more interesting than something clinical that something is actually wrong with you.

ESTELLE: Yeah.

ALEXIS: We should spread around that it’s “impostor phenomenon,” not “impostor syndrome.”

ESTELLE: Yeah. I’ll try to use phenomenon in the rest of the interview. Yeah, talking about some tips or strategies or things I’ve learned with my research and my training so far, the best one, or what I find is the best one, at least to me, is to consider myself as a work in progress person. Someone who is constantly learning things. And then it allows you to make mistakes. It allows you to accept that you’re not perfect because no one is. You are not perfect, sorry, team. I’m not perfect. And it allows you as well to accept that good enough is actually quite excellent. Sometimes, as an impostor, you just… “I’m not good enough.” But actually you are. And good enough is good because you can’t be perfect. So, considering myself as a work in progress person is actually one of the best advice I received. And I keep repeating it to myself very often when I don’t have the answer. And that it’s fine. I’m learning. I’m open to learn, you know. Yes, I keep learning every day from everyone, so that’s fine. Don’t be afraid, we mentioned that earlier as well, you know, to ask for feedback or to ask for help, wise people actually ask for help. There’s nothing to be ashamed of and to be vulnerable as well, you know, especially as a leader, but not only as a leader. Yeah, asking for feedback is actually a good way to know where you are or where you think you are. And there might be a big difference, especially if you feel like an impostor. And be gentle with yourself because yes, believe it or not, you are entitled to make a mistake once in a while. So don’t be too hard with yourself. Self-compassion, I mentioned that in my talk. You know, if you’re good at being an impostor, you probably suck at self-compassion and you should consider self-compassion as a new friend, actually, because it can really help you to silence the negative self-talk or message that pops up in your mind each time the impostor syndrome, impostor phenomenon, is triggered. You know, well… “I’m not good enough.” “I don’t deserve my role.” “What am I doing here? I feel so stupid.” “They know better than me.” “They are better than me.” All these negative thoughts, they don’t define you. And, you know, self-compassion. Try to be more gentle with yourselves. And of course, talk about it. Normalize it. Break the silence. It sounds easy to say it like this, but in fact, when you’ve spent most of your life trying to hide that you feel like an impostor, trying to hide one of your biggest weaknesses, it’s not that easy to talk about it, but it’s really worth it. And also, consider the source, right? Try to contextualize the impostor phenomenon. Are you the only woman in this board meeting or the only person of color? Are you a student whose skills are constantly assessed? Exams, tests. Are you the first graduate in your family? Do you work in a creative field? In a highly competitive field, or in a field where everything changes so rapidly? You know, we talk about AI a lot at the moment, and I think you can quickly feel overwhelmed if you work in this field. So there are lots of societal and situational factors to take into consideration if you want to get a bigger picture of the impostor phenomenon.

MELISA: That’s such a great point that you just made. Like Ale said before, you know, the thing about “oh is there something wrong with me?” And a lot of times you can explain it, like you were saying, with the context as well. There’s a lot of things, you know, inequalities in the society and in the private sector, in companies and leadership roles, so a lot of times it makes sense that people feel that way because they’re not actually being represented. There’s no other people like them in the room. So it’s really hard not to feel that way.

ESTELLE: Yeah, exactly. It has a lot to do as well with diversity, inclusion, equity and yeah…

MELISA: And like you were saying, talking about it, you know, the phrase “fake it till you make it” and then people just feel like they’re faking all the time because they can’t really feel like they deserve what they’re doing, they know what they’re doing. And I was very shocked, also for everyone that’s listening, how we met Estelle. It was one of her talks at a conference, and I’d like to say it was one of the most popular talks in the conference. The room was full. Everyone was so interested in participating. And then, when you were asking people to raise their hands, everyone, in different parts of the talk, they were feeling represented. Everyone in the room. So you can tell how many people actually feel this way.

ESTELLE: And, you know, I’ve done these talks several times and each time I can’t help but being surprised, but in a positive way to see how actually people in the audience feel comfortable to open up about their own impostor experiences. You know, at the end I tried… Well, we didn’t have enough time in the talk when we met because it was limited, but I did another one with more questions at the end and I tried to do… I’m not a medical expert. So the Q&A at the end is more like an open discussion for people to share their experience if they want. And you know, rather than really… “Oh, what should I do when I feel like this?” And each time people really open up and talk about their experience in front of people they’ve never seen before, you know. And sometimes in front of their own colleagues as well, you know, who discover that “Oh, that’s how you feel,” you know. So that gives lot of discussion as well. It’s super interesting. It’s a topic I’m really passionate about and talk about it for…

MELISA: You’re very passionate as well.

ESTELLE: I’ve just completed a new training. It’s actually an impostor syndrome informed coach, so I can coach now. And it was delivered by the Impostor Syndrome Institute, who is actually co-founded by Dr. Valerie Young, and the conclusion of this training was actually the only way to stop feeling like an impostor is to stop thinking like an impostor. People who don’t experience impostor phenomenon, they just think differently when facing a challenge. They are not more intelligent or more capable or more competent than people with the impostor phenomenon are. It’s just that they think differently. I think it’s a good thing to keep in mind.

LARA: Yeah. I mean…

LARA: Yeah, I started, early in my life, doing some sort of switch. I still suffer impostor syndrome. I still have that monster in my bedroom. It’s still there.

ESTELLE: Oh, a monster? I call it my friend.

LARA: Yeah, it’s a monster. No, mine is a monster because it haunts me all the time. It could be a ghost, too. You just throw the Halloween theme there. They’re like…

MELISA: You have to turn it into a friendly monster.

LARA: Perfect Halloween costume: The impostor syndrome. Yeah. I mean, I started doing something about it. I am really hard with myself, you know? So every time I make a mistake, usually I will go like, extremely, super hard on me. But then I realize that if I don’t make that mistake, I’m not allowing myself to learn from that mistake. How else am I going to learn? So that’s something that like, I don’t know, interrupt in my mind one day and I was like… “Oh, well, it’s not that bad then,” but it’s so hard. So hard. I always try to remind myself it’s extremely hard.

ESTELLE: It is extremely hard, that’s for sure, but it’s worth trying to remember that because you’ve done this mistake that you are who you are today. Sorry, that sounds a bit cheesy, but it’s true. And you learn so much from your mistakes. It’s just… you have to do mistakes. Otherwise, you would never really improve or change. It’s part of the experience, the whole life experience, I think. During the training, I forgot the name of the guy, but we talked about this TED talk about a guy who thought about… We were talking about the importance of failure and the way you could see how failure actually helps you grow up and help you grow. And this guy actually presents himself only with his failures. You know, rather than… I’m going to try that in my next talk. I think I noted that down. But I want to try. You know, when you do this talk or presentation, an introduction, and there you would say… “Oh, I’ve done this and I’ve worked there and I’ve worked on that many projects.” And so it’s a good…

MELISA: All your achievements.

ESTELLE: Yes. And then, when you see these TED talks is just like focusing on “No, I’m not the best.” “I failed this, I tried this and it didn’t work” or “I had this company. Well, you know, I had to close it down.” And that’s what I learned. And that’s another way of presenting yourself. But I think that’s so much better. That’s my opinion. But yeah, I really liked it. I was just like… “Yeah, actually, you know, people know about your achievement.” They could just go to your LinkedIn profile and they have your achievements. Because you sell yourself, right? If you send your CV to a recruiter, you might not just list your failures, obviously. But I really like the way of introducing yourself or presenting who you are to an audience and see how they react as well. So. Yeah, in doing other talks I would try to do it.

LARA: I love that. It’s so cool. So I have the final question for you, Estelle. Are you ready for it?

ESTELLE: Oh, yeah, sure.

LARA: What advice do you have for those aspiring to follow a similar path in the video game localization industry?

ESTELLE: Uh, that’s a tough one. You get the tough one at the end. So. Um, my background is translation. Right. So first I was a translator. So, if someone wants to be a translator right now or aspires to follow these kinds of paths, my gut feeling would be to pick another career path, maybe if you still can, or at least be prepared to evolve in your job as quickly as the technology or AI does. You need to work with the machine, not against it, right? Talking about it. Actually, last week I had a realization. Yes. It happens sometimes. Do you know Asterix? The comic books, Asterix and Obelix.

ALEXIS: Yeah.

ESTELLE: Yeah, you know.

ALEXIS: The little guy and the big guy.

ESTELLE: Yes, I was in France, and so the new Asterix was out. I think in English it’s The White Iris. I bought it. I read it in French. And now I’m actually desperate to buy the English version. I need to order it. There are so, so many references, like cultural references, to the French culture. Songs, proverbs, obviously all the names of the characters are puns or references to French persons or culture. So honestly, it’s full of it. So reading it, I was like… “Oh, I hope translators had notes and contextual reference.” I’m sure that they had it for such an important release. But when reading it, obviously I thought with my translation mind. So I want to read it in English now because I want to see which miracles the translators have accomplished, to be honest. I think even for the English version, you would need a British English version, an American English version, an Australian English version to adapt this Asterix properly. I checked. I think there’s only one English version, which is sad, but I really want to see what they’ve done. My point is… my realization was actually Translators: yes, they have a future. Yeah, it’s good? I’m sure you’re relieved.

ALEXIS: That’s a great take away.

ESTELLE: But I mean, yes, because one of the most important aspects of translation is all the cultural and linguistic context of the texts, right? So, yes, AI has made amazing progress in natural language processing. I won’t deny that. I can’t deny it. But AI is still unable to get all the nuances of a culture or language, you know, like idioms, proverbs, puns, jokes. I mean, while AI can be useful in certain fields for language professionals, it cannot replace, I think, the expertise and the cultural awareness of a human translator, at least for now, right? So what I’m trying to say is that most probably my job… because it was a question. My job as it’s been over the past decades or as it’s still today, will keep changing, evolving as new technologies, AI progress are used. So probably for students today, it might be more useful to study linguistic engineering, maybe, if such a thing exists. Or if you’re not really into IT, to focus your studies on the cultural aspects of languages to become a cultural expert because we will keep needing that. And our chance in the video game industry, I think, is that the texts we translate are mainly creative and our human expertise adds a massive value to the final localized products. And, as I said earlier, you need to work with the machine, not against it. So you also need to know where your added value is. And as a video game translator, your added value is most definitely in the knowledge of all the linguistic nuances and the cultural references of your native language.

MELISA: Yeah. I think that’s a great advice, that you can adapt. And there’s a lot of changes happening in the industry, so… we’ll see what the future holds for us.

ESTELLE: I think there are a lot of uncertainties that we are trying to navigate, but it’s still uncertain at the moment.

MELISA: Absolutely, yes. Well, Estelle, thank you so much for joining us. This was a great episode. I’m sure everyone listening will agree. And all your advice is very valuable. So thank you so much.

ESTELLE: Thank you for inviting me. I had a great time. So, hopefully everyone had too.

LARA: I had a great time too, so I bet they have.

ALEXIS: Thank you so much.

LARA: Thank you so much, Estelle. It was amazing.

ESTELLE: Thank you.

ALEXIS: See you, everyone.

ESTELLE: Bye.

Episode Transcription

MELISA: Hi, everyone, and welcome to a new episode of Open World. My name is Melisa, I’m here with Lara and Ale.

LARA: Hi!

ALEXIS: Hi!

MELISA: And today we’re going to talk about different Spanish variants. So we told you guys that our first language is Spanish. But the challenging thing about Spanish is that it’s the official language of 21 countries. So it definitely, like… it raises some questions about which Spanish should you translate your video game, in particular, of course, if it’s, like, European Spanish or… There’s something that we know of like Latin American Spanish, which is not, you know… How would you guys describe the Latin American Spanish?

ALEXIS: One size fits many?

LARA: Yeah, one size that tries to fit all of them.

MELISA: Exactly.

LARA: But, yeah, it sounds weird, it doesn’t sound natural, but it’s something that we are exposed on a very young age. From TV shows, from series, from movies and everything that you’re consuming that is media, you hear this neutral Latin American Spanish that doesn’t actually represent any dialect or any country in particular.

MELISA: Exactly. So it’s like it’s not spoken in any country, but it’s more like it was designed so that everyone can understand it. So you take out all of the like, regionalisms, idioms and…

ALEXIS: Yeah, you’re not gonna hear how you speak, but you’re gonna understand the same thing that a person from Colombia, Uruguay, or Venezuela understands.

LARA: Exactly, yeah. And sometimes it is… they call it the Mexican Spanish and it is not even Mexican Spanish, because not even Mexicans speak like that. It’s just like they try to make it the most… understandable for all the countries in Latin America, and it still sometimes sounds weird for us.

MELISA: Yeah, especially as, like, adults, I think now we can understand it. But when we were kids, I mean, like you said, all our cartoons are dubbed in like this neutral kind of Spanish. I don’t know about you guys, like, if you used this when you were kids, like, playing using neutral Spanish or if you heard like kids speaking this way.

LARA: Oh, my God, yeah. I mean, every time you find yourself with a little kid, you probably might hear them speak in this neutral Spanish, and it’s just like, oh, my God, why are you talking like that?

ALEXIS: Why are you talking like that? It’s neutral.

LARA: It’s so neutral and it sounds so weird. Maybe when it’s coming from like a movie or a video game or something, it doesn’t sound that weird. But when it comes from another human’s mouth, it’s like, “Why are you talking like that?”

ALEXIS: Right, because it’s not your own.

LARA: No, it’s not your own. Yeah.

ALEXIS: In Spain, movies, video games, they sound like they do. So that’s the main difference. I mean, it’s one for everyone, but that’s for them. It happened to me that I was talking to a colleague from Spain, from Madrid, and she told me that it’s very, very important for them.

LARA: I think it is something, it’s even stated by law, they have to have all the media voiceover and subtitled and everything. So it’s just like, it is something that’s very important for them, and we have been consuming their content because of the lack of this Latin American neutral Spanish, right? And both of them sound weird for us, but one of them gets closer to what we understand now.

MELISA: Definitely. I think that the difference between like European and Latin American is really big. They should definitely be considered like two different languages when you’re translating.

LARA: I mean, you can understand each other. Like sometimes maybe, when you, as a Spanish speaker, you might understand something from Portuguese or Italian too, because we share some similarities with the languages, but yeah, it’s just completely different languages.

MELISA: Yeah, and in the case of video games, I mean, we always talk about that immersive experience that you get, especially when you’re playing a game and it’s spoken in your language. Have you guys played any games that were translated into Latin American Spanish?

LARA: Luckily, yes.

MELISA: Or European Spanish?

LARA: Yes. But the thing is, sometimes you don’t get the voiceovers in Latin American Spanish.

ALEXIS: Yeah, just the text.

LARA: Just the text. Which I don’t like, to be honest with you, because the voiceovers sometimes are weird.

ALEXIS: I prefer the voiceovers in English if it’s not done properly, myself.

LARA: Otherwise, it’s just some weird… because if they try to do like a voiceover using neutral Spanish, and sometimes you may have different nationalities in the game or something like that, they might sound a little bit… racist?

MELISA: Yeah.

ALEXIS: They go to stereotypes.

LARA: Yeah, they go to stereotypes. I don’t… I don’t like that.

MELISA: Yeah. I mean, I know, it happens sometimes in English as well, like when they’re making up accents according to that character’s background or something. But yeah, in Spanish it’s used as well, and it can sound a bit strange.

LARA: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, but, like, the first thing that comes to my mind is actually, when you have something to grab, to pick up, and you have the Spanish…

ALEXIS: That’s the easiest… Yeah. It shows.

LARA: Yeah, it’s just like, when you’re going to grab something, in Spanish it says “coger,” but in Latin American Spanish, that means “to have sex.” So it’s just like, how can a word be so different and have these kinds of… ugh!

ALEXIS: Two different meanings altogether.

LARA: Yeah, and I’m not saying to be like, yeah, you should totally make this game in Argentinian Spanish, so every time I have to put on a T-shirt, it will say “remera.” No, it’s okay, I get it. Because not every country from Latin America will understand that this is a “remera” because in Chile, this is called a “polera.” So it’s just like, it changes.

ALEXIS: Or “money” in Mexico is “lana.” We in Argentina don’t call it “lana.” But it’s used.

MELISA: Yeah. I mean, one of the most challenging things when you have to translate into Latin American Spanish is exactly like, you know, it’s just to not have any offensive words that can, you know, be interpreted in very different ways, like that word from Spain. But even in, like, Mexico. I mean, we have very different words that can mean something offensive in other countries. So what do you guys think is the best approach when you have to have like that kind of neutral kind of Latin American Spanish and try not to be offensive?

LARA: Yeah, for me, it’s like to find a common ground, to do your research. So maybe have people from those specific countries working in your team so you have a diverse team that can put their input and their knowledge or their words that maybe you don’t know the meaning behind that specific word. Yeah, for me, it’s a little bit of that, to find a common ground, but also having a diverse team that can put a good input into what you’re trying to translate.

ALEXIS: It needs to be mindful. I mean, Latin American Spanish works, of course, but if you have the resources to do further research and truly, truly tune, you know, everything, it’s gonna make the experience much more enjoyable for everyone.

MELISA: Absolutely. I mean, if it is… I mean, and some people are doing this, like, instead of having this Latin American neutral Spanish, having it localized to, like, Spanish from Mexico or Colombia or Argentina, for example, depending on your audience. And when you do that, you’re definitely going to make a difference on those countries that you’re targeting, because we’re not used to having content localized to our… So, you know, you can connect a lot better, especially, I mean, a lot of video games are full of, I don’t know, like, jokes and, you know, word plays…

ALEXIS: Colloquialisms.

MELISA: Yeah. And all of that is basically missed when you’re having it in Latin American Spanish because it sounds very like washed-up, like a bland version of Spanish without any regionalisms, without… And one example I always think of is Deadpool. I don’t know if you guys have watched this movie.

ALEXIS: Yeah, both.

MELISA: Of course, both. And, I mean, for everyone who has watched it, you know, in English it’s just full of…

LARA: So fun.

MELISA: Yeah, exactly. It’s full of swear words, everything, and, like, actually, when they translated it to Spanish from Spain, they won an important award because the adaptation was so creative and they used so many jokes and so many things from Spanish from Spain. But everyone from Latin America had to sit through, like, a very just generic movie that wasn’t, you know, a lot of references, a lot of jokes were kind of missed.

LARA: Yeah, some of the jokes were not properly targeted. I remember, like, maybe… If I’m mistaken, please correct me, but I believe Luis Miguel was one of the characters of one of the jokes, instead of another famous person. And we were like… Eh…

MELISA: Who can everyone from Latin America know? Let’s just…

LARA: Let’s go with Luis Miguel.

MELISA: Yeah.

LARA: Yeah. It was a little bit painful to watch in Latin America, in the Latin American Spanish. I appreciate the effort, though.

MELISA: Yeah, of course. Of course. I mean, we understand, sometimes it’s like the easiest way to target all of Latin America’s audience. I don’t know if you guys have watched the… There’s a version online that was a fan-dubbed version of Deadpool 2, from Argentina.

ALEXIS: From Argentinian Spanish, right?

LARA: So good.

MELISA: And it’s just so funny. It’s full of Argentinian swear words and references. It went viral, and it still nowadays is like shared, so it kind of shows the impact that can have when you…

LARA: Yeah, the importance and how can you make the movie actually resonate with an entire audience. And you can actually, like, really, really have good amounts of people watching your content and having a good laugh, instead of this Latin American Spanish that the jokes were like… Meh…

ALEXIS: It’s an extra step in your market research. I mean, you’ve done your market research, you know where your movie or game or audiovisual content is gonna work, why don’t you use that research and…

MELISA: Absolutely. Yeah. And to connect a bit more with the audience. And that’s basically what you want when you want to translate or localize your content. And going back to video games, can you guys think of any examples of, like, video games that you played and how that translation worked?

LARA: Um, yeah. I mean, I have… Do you wanna go? Ah, you have your shirt with the game you’re going to talk about. That’s…

ALEXIS: You go.

LARA: Okay. Okay, I’ll go.

MELISA: You’re a patient person, Ale.

LARA: I remember… I don’t know if this is still going, but I remember playing a video game that was called Move or Die. It was such a funny game because, if you stop moving, you die. You have to keep moving.

ALEXIS: Literally, move or die.

LARA: Exactly. And it is actually localized to Argentinian Spanish, and it’s so fun, the voiceover is so good, and everything. I don’t know if they kept going with that because, you know, with the updates and everything, sometimes it’s…

MELISA: Yeah, challenging. Of course.

LARA: Yeah. It’s super challenging. But that’s so good. And another example that is not that good.

MELISA: It’s a bit controversial.

LARA: A bit controversial. It is Grim Fandango, because when you play Grim Fandango, it’s not localized, at least, in Latin American Spanish, it’s just in European Spanish. And they have this bad guy that he’s supposed to be from Argentina, and they hired…

ALEXIS: That accent is horrible.

MELISA: That is such a stereotype like for every… If any of you guys from Latin America are hearing this, you know that Argentinians are sometimes targeted as the bad guy.

LARA: Yeah. And the voice actor, he was from Spain, obviously, because he didn’t speak like an Argentinian person.

MELISA: He was like making up an accent.

LARA: Yeah, he was making up an accent. It was a little bit of a miss. To be honest with you, I didn’t like it, I felt offended. It was like…

ALEXIS: Could we say in their defense that the game was done like in 98 or something?

LARA: Of course.

MELISA: Yes.

ALEXIS: Because it’s a good game. It’s an oldie but goodie, you know? Old but gold.

LARA: Yeah, but that thing, it caught my attention. How can you detach yourself when you find something like that, that it actually kind of hurts your feelings. You’re like, ouch.

ALEXIS: I wonder if it landed the same way in different parts of the world.

LARA: Or maybe you’re gonna hear another Argentinian person talking wonderful stuff about this, but that is something that really bothered me. I mean, maybe there are other people that is bothered too by this same exact thing, so it’s just like, um, yeah.

MELISA: Yeah, and I think it’s just, I mean, what we’re talking about, if you want to connect, that was probably, you know, not their intention. They just wanted to maybe like make it sound a bit more like, you know, people from different Spanish speaking countries in this game, but, you know, if you don’t follow like certain, and, you know, just try to avoid… you wanna avoid like offending your audience. I mean, that’s basically… How about you, Ale?

ALEXIS: I gotta say Batman: Arkham Knight. To me, it was like watching a movie. And if you play the games in English, you have Kevin Conroy playing Batman. Rest in peace. He died just last year. You have Mark Hamill doing The Joker. I mean, so…

MELISA: Insane, yeah.

ALEXIS: It’s a high standard, so it delivers. It delivers what you expect from a game of that quality with those voice actors. But, at the same time, it’s like what we’ve been discussing, it just doesn’t hit right, you know? Because, again, it’s neutral.

MELISA: In Latin American Spanish.

ALEXIS: You have the “bastards,” “bastardos,” and we don’t say “bastardos,” you know? Things like that. And it’s like…

MELISA: It’s like it puts you off a little bit, right? When you see like a really bad guy using a word that you would never hear from a bad guy.

ALEXIS: That’s the thing. I mean…

MELISA: It’s even a little funny sometimes, like…

ALEXIS: It was good. It was incredibly done, but it still doesn’t cut it. I prefer to play it in English because those expressions sound more natural in that language, you know?

LARA: But I’m thinking, we have the opportunity to play in English because we all speak English and Spanish, we’re bilingual, right? But I really, really appreciate when they try to go with Latin American Spanish because I have little sisters and I have little brothers, and they don’t speak English. So being able to localize your game into this neutral Latin American Spanish, it’s like an accessibility door, you know? Because you’re making your game accessible not only for me, and maybe I don’t appreciate that much the Latin American Spanish, at least the dubbing, but the text part of the Latin American Spanish is great, I love it. But the dubbing sometimes sounds weird, but I love it for kids. I love it for kids, and I think that’s a super way to go when you have a video game and you have it localized into Spanish European and you want that same game to have like a really good, successful industry or audience in Latin America, it is not going to work, because we don’t feel connected with that Spanish, we don’t feel the same feeling, you know? When you’re playing. You don’t feel the immersion…

MELISA: You can feel confused sometimes. I mean, some things just sound very strange for us.

LARA: You have a quest, you have a mission and you can’t actually… you don’t understand what you’re trying to do.

ALEXIS: There’s a lot of cases where you don’t really know, ok, what’s this item? I need to check what the item is.

LARA: Yeah. Well, the other day I was playing a video game, I cannot actually remember the name, but it had this specific like paragraph for a quest or something, and I couldn’t understand. I was like, I have to change the language of the game to English to be able to do this quest, because I was stuck, you know?

MELISA: Yeah. And your first language is Spanish, which is kind of insane.

LARA: And my first language is Spanish! You know, I was reading in it European Spanish, and I had to change it to English to understand what this quest wanted me to do. I thought, like, no. You have to make your game into neutral Latin American Spanish.

ALEXIS: I had something happening to me, the same thing. I don’t remember what game in PlayStation 1 days, with a tutorial. I was stuck in a tutorial for like an hour or two, before Google was a thing. I mean, PlayStation 1 days, like 97, 98, I was a kid. And I was like, I don’t know what I have to do. And I had to call my dad, and what he did was, he switched off the game, he reset the console, he put it in English and tried to… he read it in English and told me, “You have to do this.”

MELISA: Wow.

ALEXIS: I don’t remember what it was, like going side by side with a car or something, but he had to turn the game in English to understand, because he didn’t understand either in Spanish.

LARA: Yeah, and I’m actually, like, imagine nowadays with everything being so fast and so instant, having to do that to a game, to go back, change the language, maybe reset the game because you have to start over…

ALEXIS: No, it’s unacceptable.

LARA: It’s just… It’s painful. It’s so painful because… Maybe if I was so, like, tired, had a long day and I just wanted to sit and play and chill, maybe I wouldn’t do it. Maybe I would just turn off my PC and say goodbye for tonight. That’s not my jam.

ALEXIS: Yeah, but that’s not the case when you’re growing up.

LARA: Yeah. But in that specific game, I really wanted to do this quest because I was so immersed and… Well, immersed, let’s just say I was playing, I was having fun.

MELISA: Yeah, you were connected.

LARA: I was having fun and I wanted to do this quest because I thought, “This is going to be so much fun.” And I couldn’t start because I didn’t understand.

ALEXIS: Yeah, nowadays, it’s unacceptable.

LARA: Yeah, nowadays, I think it’s like, no. I wouldn’t do that.

MELISA: Yeah, it’s not like what you want for a game, definitely. So, I mean, I think the point from everything that we’ve been talking is, like, you should really know your audience and know what impact you wanna create on those people, you know? If you want to reach Latin America, you can choose, you know, there’s…

LARA: You have the option.

MELISA: Yeah, you have that option. If you wanna go like the extra mile, you can even, you know, localize it to different variants of Spanish in Latin American countries, which would be great to see more. We would all love to see a bit more.

LARA: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, but I think that’s asking for a lot, because, yeah, nowadays, they only think of Spanish, “Ah, European Spanish.” I just want to bring up to the table that European Spanish is not the same as Latin American Spanish. So please, if you have a video game and you want to make it successful here, go with Latin American Spanish.

ALEXIS: Yeah, know your audience. And if you don’t know how to do it, find a company that can help you and do your research. There are many places where you can just research for free. Just go to Newzoo. I mean, that’s gonna be a game changer for sure. At least in you knowing more where to look.

LARA: Yeah, and it’s a common practice that most Latin Americans will understand, we will understand this Latin American neutral Spanish.

MELISA: And the important thing is, like you said, you’re reaching, you know, if you have a game for kids, you’re reaching that audience, they can play it. Even if it’s not the same, if they don’t connect the same as if it were localized to your country, you can still enjoy it. And I think that’s a great thing.

ALEXIS: And adults that don’t speak English.

MELISA: Yeah, for sure.

ALEXIS: We’re privileged we speak two languages, but there are many, many adults that don’t understand anything.

MELISA: So this is it for today. Thank you so much for listening to this episode. If you have any games that you played in Spanish or if you’re curious about Spanish variants, anything, let us know in your comments.

LARA: In the comments down below. Also, find our Discord channel there, too, so you can reach out to us. Thank you so much for watching.

ALEXIS: Thank you, everyone!

MELISA: Bye, everyone!

ALEXIS: Bye-bye!

Episode Transcription

LARA: Hi, everyone! Welcome to another episode of Open World season 2. Today I’m going to be the host, I’m going to be the one making the questions. How is everyone doing today?

ALEX: Very good, very good! Excited about the topic today.

LARA: Today’s topic is diversity and inclusion. And as a woman playing video games, I strive to see more diversity and inclusion both in video games and in the video game industry too, right? So my first question for you guys today is, what is diversity and inclusion for you?

MELISA: Well, for me, I mean, this is a very, very important topic, and I think what I like the most about video games is that it just means different things to everyone, and I would like to see a place where everyone feels represented, they feel comfortable playing, they feel welcome. And, you know, we’ve seen that it’s not always the case, so we definitely need to do better at this.

LARA: I agree with you 100%. Ale, what about you?

ALEX: I agree, of course. I think that diversity and inclusion need to sum up places both in the companies and in what is represented in video games for everyone…

LARA: Absolutely.

ALEX: No matter who you are.

LARA: Absolutely, yeah. I think, um… In terms of diversity and inclusion, it should be easy by now, you know? It should be easier, it should be smoother right now.

ALEX: It shouldn’t be a topic.

LARA: It shouldn’t be a topic! But yeah, we have some cases where some companies or some video games try to be inclusive and diverse and it seems sometimes a little bit too off or too forced, and that’s not good either, you know? Just like, yeah, we’re working together, I think we’re striving together. So we understand that there’s like a B2B side of diversity and inclusion, and a B2C side of diversity and inclusion. What do I mean by this? I mean we have the business side, the companies encouraging their employees and their politics to be more diverse and inclusive, and we also have the video games that strive to be more inclusive too, right? I think the demographics show that more than 46% of people that play video games are women. Do you believe this is showing in the video games that you’re currently playing right now?

MELISA: Yeah, this is… I mean, it just seems that a lot of companies still think their target is, like, a 14-year-old guy, which is, you know, it’s no longer the case. There’s like grandmas playing video games, and they’re gamers too. You know, just to have more… And it’s kind of a cycle for me, that’s how I see it. We have not a very diverse industry, I mean, you know, developers and in general, especially in leadership roles. And we’re gonna talk about the numbers later. But, you know, that feeds into that also, games that are showing societies which are not diverse.

LARA: What about you, Ale? Do you see this reflected in any video games that you have played?

ALEX: Well, yeah, I mean… It’s getting there.

LARA: It’s getting there, right?

ALEX: It’s getting there. I mean, I think that the tricky part is when it doesn’t matter what type of character you’re playing, for instance, in a video game, right? What we experience on the other side of the joystick, as I like to say. If it doesn’t matter what type of character, what type of representation your character is because it’s unrelated.

MELISA: Yeah, it’s about the story, about the backgrounds, the character, how much you can do as a character.

ALEX: Like, it doesn’t matter. It could be an Asian teenager or, I don’t know, a black male of 57, whatever. Whatever the spectrum is, when that doesn’t matter, most companies usually just go for the…

LARA: Basic white dude. Yeah.

MELISA: Straight.

LARA: Straight. Yeah.

ALEX: I think that it’s getting there. There are games that have done it properly with the customization of the characters or…

LARA: Yeah, I think… Yeah, they’re missing out, I believe, in a huge part of the story, in a huge part of maybe making the game more relatable to the one that is playing it. So it’s just like, why don’t you make the jump? Why don’t you make your game more relatable to the community, right?

MELISA: Absolutely. Yes.

LARA: I personally love Overwatch because I believe Overwatch has this same amount of female and male players, and we also have non-binary characters too. So it’s just like, we have this diversity and inclusion in the game and it runs smoothly, and it’s like, nobody cares.

MELISA: Yeah.

ALEX: It’s not forced.

LARA: It’s not forced. Absolutely.

ALEX: You have representation of how life is. You go around your life and you get to know different people. Apex is another game that does it beautifully.

LARA: Absolutely.

ALEX: You have a wide spectrum of characters, they’re all different, they all have their own stories. And even though it doesn’t matter the stories of the characters for the game it feels natural.

LARA: It feels natural. I know that Harvestella is one of Square Enix’s new games that you can actually make your own character and you can actually choose to be non-binary, so I think that’s amazing. Another game that I’m currently playing is Tiny Tina’s Wonderland, where we’re introduced to a non-binary character and they’re addressed with their pronouns as “they,” and it’s just amazing, it runs smoothly, it’s great. I mean, I enjoy that kind of content because you get different perspectives, and nowadays, I think, that’s the most beautiful thing to see in a video game.

MELISA: Exactly. Like it doesn’t matter, you know… It’s not that you necessarily want to see someone that looks exactly like you, but it’s just that that magic of video games that you get to see, like, the world, whatever the world is, in someone else’s eyes, and then, you know, when that character has a very interesting and a very different background than your own, then you get a whole different perspective. And that’s just like… That just makes you grow.

LARA: I think it makes… Yeah, it makes you grow as a person. And, I don’t know, when you see and you can relate maybe to this non-binary character, for example, and then you see in real life, I don’t know, imagine I’m a 12-year-old boy that doesn’t know what a non-binary person is.

MELISA: Yeah, and then you play The Last of Us 2 or games like these.

LARA: Oh, my God, yeah! And then you find a non-binary person in real life, I think it gets easier. It’s just a matter of making things easier for everyone. Meli, I know you have the numbers about all of these diversity and inclusion topics.

MELISA: Yeah, we did some research about it just so, you know…

LARA: You did your homework.

MELISA: You think like, “I think there’s like more girls playing,” but then you see the numbers, like, almost half of the people who are playing video games are women. And then, you know, then you have it. One of the studies we saw was Newzoo, this is the one that published that 46% are women. And another number that we were very shocked was they showed that 1 in 3 gamers have not felt welcome in gaming communities. And that really, like, just made us sad because… You know, we’re gonna talk more about this later, but we, of course, strive to, you know, just not toxic communities where everyone can feel appreciated and, you know, comfortable and can connect with other people who, you know, think alike and…

ALEX: It’s a reality, it happens.

LARA: Yeah, I mean, and the fact that 1 of 3 gamers have not felt welcome into the gaming community… I have experienced this. Have you experienced this? It’s just like…

ALEX: Yeah. I mean, we all have our own whys, you know? Different reasons why we felt, at some point, I don’t know, off or not welcome. I’ve had… I don’t know. I don’t want to dwell too into this, but for being Latino, for being from South America, “No, you have poor internet, I don’t wanna play with you because we’re gonna lag.” – Yeah. I mean… “Okay, sure, whatever.” I’ve also had situations where…

LARA: Yeah, with the being Latino thing, I think that’s huge, because sometimes they don’t know what gender I am, that I’m playing. And the other day I was playing, and this dude just realized that I was from Latin America somehow… I think it was for the ping because I was having too much lag, and he realized that I was from Latin America. And on the chat he started saying, “Arepa, arepa, taco, arepa.” I was like, I don’t even… We don’t even have that in Argentina. But you were just being rude for, like, no reason at all.

MELISA: And also when you, sometimes, of course, you see, you know, someone else, like, people are being hard on someone else, and, you know, you feel uncomfortable for the other person, you feel like, “Hey, guys, this is not okay.” Like, just stop playing. You know?

ALEX: One of the other things… Sorry, guys, but I just remembered, I’ve had people bashing on me because I was a dad. Like I’m playing something, usually, I don’t know, PVP on Bloodborne or whatever, and my kid was crying or something, he was quite… He was an infant, like 1 and a half year old, something like that, and they were like, “Why don’t you go be a dad? What are you doing playing video games?” It’s like, “Dude, come on.”

LARA: Yeah.

ALEX: What’s your problem? What’s the deal? I mean…

LARA: There’s nothing wrong with that, yeah.

ALEX: Right?

MELISA: I think it’s all part of just realizing that, like, everyone please, be nice. And it’s just like, you know, open up a bit more, in the exchange, you know, so everyone can feel…

LARA: Yeah. Meli, have you experienced this?

MELISA: I mean, yeah, I’ve been… Like I said on our first episode, I haven’t been playing for a while, so not as many experiences as you had, Lari, but, you know, but even in the amount of time I’ve been playing online, especially, like in teams, I’ve met some wonderful people, I met some really nice gamer friends, and now I play with them always, but of course I also met some other people who aren’t as nice, and they just like, you know, either make comments or just… One person just assumed I was bi just because I’m a woman. He was like, you know, he just made a comment, and I was like, “You haven’t even… I mean, I am bi, but you haven’t even played with me.”

ALEX: “It doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that I’m a woman.”

MELISA: Exactly. So I got so pissed that I just left the party. I just have no time for that. I have no time for you. You know, I play to entertain myself, to have fun, and that’s the whole point. Like, what’s the point if you’re gonna just not have a great experience?

LARA: Yeah, I agree with you. I mean, sometimes I have PTSD from some video games. I cannot go into certain video games again because they have said so many awful things to me that I cannot go back in. It’s just like, every time I wanna go back, I get this anxiety attack, and it’s just like… I can’t. They ruined the game for me. It’s so low, you know? It doesn’t feel right… Why? I mean, just because I’m a woman. Just because sometimes I kill you, sometimes I’m better than you. Just, like, it doesn’t make any sense. Please.

MELISA: Deal with it.

LARA: I’m better than you, and yeah, I’m a girl. What you gonna do about it?

ALEX: I’m not a hacker.

LARA: Yeah.

ALEX: I’m not hacking.

MELISA: Cheating.

ALEX: I’m not cheating. You suck.

LARA: And listen, Ale, I know that you’ve been researching a little bit about this, but I know that Riot and Ubisoft are getting somewhere with this.

ALEX: Yeah. Two of the biggest companies, I mean… Unrelated to this episode, guys, but I’m an Ubisoft guy.

LARA: Yeah, we can tell.

ALEX: I love their games. Yeah, I mean, they’re working on something that they are calling Zero Harm in Comms, that they are using new technology to track the communications among players to avoid things like we’ve been talking about happen to people. Now the interesting part about the technology that they’re using is that, up until now, most if not all technologies were dictionary-based technologies, you know? Where they, like, I don’t know, pre-install some concepts or whatever, and that’s how they flagged it. But now they are trying to come up with something that takes into account the context and the actual things they are saying. But the interesting part of it is that, once they figure it out completely, they’re gonna share what they’ve learned with others so that more companies can implement it.

LARA: That’s great.

ALEX: So, we’re getting there. Thank you, Riot and Ubisoft.

MELISA: Yeah, it makes us hopeful for, you know, just that in the future, we don’t have to experience these types of things.

LARA: Yeah. We know that representation is important, right? Do you think it is important also to see, not only in video games, but in the video game industry too?

MELISA: Yes, absolutely. I mean, I think like… I mentioned something related to this before, but it’s kind of a circle in that way. And we also have some numbers about that. The International Game Developers Association shows that 22% of game developers are women. And it’s even, I mean, worse in the leadership roles, there’s only, like, 4% of game directors who are women. And, you know, when you see the demographics of, you know, the gamers and then, you know, who are the people who are developing those games, and… Like Ale said before, you know, it doesn’t mean… You know, it just brings different perspectives when you have a more diverse work environment. It brings a different perspective and you just make a better story in general, though it doesn’t mean, like, it has to be a story about, you know… Even if it’s, you know, set in ancient Japan, whatever, it’s gonna still bring a new perspective to your game.

ALEX: Yeah, I mean, diverse work teams… are crucial to bring different perspectives and different points of view into a video game story like you said, regardless of the games that you’re making.

LARA: And regardless of the character, because I could be a woman programming and not necessarily be working on a female character, you know? But it’s just the perspective, and not only the programmers, the writers, I think we should be getting more diverse experiences, we should be getting like more consultancy agencies, maybe, to get these types of…

MELISA: Yeah, exactly, that’s…

ALEX: Yeah.

MELISA: That’s something that’s been shown in those games that you said, you know, when they seem forced. They just don’t approach it in the right way, and you can get like backlash from, you know, your game community being like, “This is not…”

ALEX: There are companies that do consultancy for video game companies that maybe want to do it right but they don’t know how.

LARA: And it’s okay not knowing how.

ALEX: It’s okay not knowing how.

LARA: But yeah, open the book, I mean, let’s go for it, look for it, learn from it. I think that’s what makes the difference. And yeah, having a diverse team will teach you that, too, so it’s just like, you can make it like easier. You don’t even have to go to a consultancy thing if you have a diverse work team working with you in this specific video game, right? So it’s just like, no… Not only you can go get the help that you need, but you can also incorporate that…

MELISA: Yes. Yeah, absolutely. And I think we can also see, like, the type of stories… I mean, we’ve seen some amazing games coming. In the last years, the video games are, you know, they just look insane and the types of stories, they’re amazing. But, you know, they’re still missing that, and this is… I’m gonna keep talking numbers… You know, it’s just a fact. It’s not only how I feel about it, it’s just a fact. This study done by DiamondLobby where they took the main games, like the games that were played more in the last five years, and then they, you know, eliminated the ones that had customizable characters, so it’s only the games that have…

ALEX: The characters by default?

MELISA: Exactly. And there’s a list of 100 games, and those, like, 100 games, the biggest 100 games of the last five years. And they showed that 80% of the protagonists are male, 20% are female, and 8% of the main characters in games are females of non-white ethnicities, and 61% of all the characters in games are white. So, you know, not only main characters, but also like… yeah.

ALEX: It’s very square. It’s a box.

LARA: I think that’s why representation is so important, because, as I told you guys on one of the first episodes, I started playing video games with Lara Croft. Why? Because she was a girl. You know? And that was the only thing that took me into the video game world. Just because she was a girl. We need more of that.

MELISA: Yeah, absolutely.

LARA: And not only with a girl, with non-binary persons. Just, like, we need more.

ALEX: I mean, from my point of view, I love to play in a video game with a character that’s different than me.

LARA: Absolutely.

ALEX: I like that. I like the fact that I can go into someone else’s shoes, you know, and experience different things. I mean, take it… And not just like games that are based in current dates, you know? Even historical games like, again, Ubisoft, sorry, Assassin’s Creed, with Valhalla or Odyssey, that regardless of the gender that you pick for your character, the situations remain the same.

LARA: Yeah.

ALEX: Historically wise, romantically as well.

LARA: Yeah.

ALEX: I mean, that’s awesome. That’s an awesome thing to experience.

MELISA: Yeah. And I think it’s important to, like, acknowledge the social impact that games can have in general. You know, when you’re showing a society, it can be a completely, just like a fantasy world, where it’s just diverse and everyone feels welcome, and there’s like all these different characters with like really deep stories, and you connect with them and, you know, it just has a positive impact on everyone who’s playing the game. And just, you know, when you have a game and you’re missing that opportunity to, you know, make that social impact that just makes society better. Because when you’re portraying, you know, all the stereotypes we already have in our society and all the things that are wrong…

ALEX: You perpetuate that in video games.

LARA: I wanna bring something to the table because we’re linguists and we know the importance of language. What role do you think that language has in inclusivity and diversity? Because, for example, my mother tongue is Spanish, and Spanish is a gendered language. So every time that I sit to play a video game, the game just assumes that I’m a man, and I’m not. It’s just like, what do you think about this? How can we talk about this?

ALEX: It’s… It’s a different… Not different. It’s a difficult topic because, as you said, Spanish is gendered, but there are many other languages that are not.

LARA: Yeah, absolutely.

ALEX: So what I think… Some developers are doing it, they’re considering this from the get-go, from the start. I think that, if companies think of this as a part of the localization process as well, from the get-go, it’s gonna make every localization, every translation easier for all translators, you know? And for all gamers too. To receive something diverse, inclusive, properly done, in their own native language. Because, I mean, growing up, I remember… It doesn’t have anything to do with diversity and inclusion, but I remember playing video games in English or in Spanish from Spain.

LARA: Oh, my God, yeah.

ALEX: And it’s not my Spanish, you know?

LARA: It doesn’t help you feel related to the character, you know?

ALEX: Or even the immersive experience was broken. I mean, I remember playing God of War, and Kratos speaking like someone from Madrid. And it was like… this is off. It… It throws you off.

MELISA: Absolutely. And I think we’re seeing a bit more now that companies, you know, just find out how important localization is and, you know, how successful your game will be internationally. And we’re gonna talk a bit more about the history of localization of video games in another episode.

LARA: Yeah.

MELISA: Spoiler alert. But I think just, you know, having that… your game available in your own language, of course, it just helps you connect with the game. And then there’s also the fact about how language can go, you know, language is like a living, kind of like a living thing and it’s… You know, French or Spanish or Arabic, or other languages that are gendered, just finding maybe gender-neutral alternatives, that’s something that is happening now, and then you can choose, you know, from your game, do you wanna try to find gender-neutral alternatives? Or, you know, how you can use language to your advantage to promote diversity and inclusion.

LARA: Yeah, absolutely.

ALEX: To add to that… Sorry, Lali. I mean, language is super important when you play video games, when you watch a movie or whatever, I mean, it’s how you see, or how you express what you experience in life, you know? And if you’re playing a game that you can relate to on that level as well, it goes to your heart. I mean, how could it not?

LARA: Yeah, absolutely. What do you think can be done to improve this? What do you think video game companies can do to make games more diverse, more inclusive? Just… I want to hear your opinions, how things can get better, because I wanna end up in a high note. Please… let me dream.

MELISA: I think it is, I mean, we’re seeing a trend, it is getting better. We’re seeing some amazing games, you know. We don’t wanna be, like, here assuming that all the games are… There’s some amazing games that are doing a great job, like we mentioned in this episode. So I think we are getting better. There’s still a lot to be done, of course, but, you know, having more diverse… like, on the business side, you know, the companies, of course that would help, and then just talking a bit more about it, sharing more how the gamers feel and, you know, giving that the importance it needs, because that’s your demographic now, you just have to realize that. If you want your game to be successful, you need to, you know, just keep getting better at it.

ALEX: Keep on keeping on. Yeah. Yes, I agree totally. And what I think is that companies need to continue to listen to their gamers, they need to continue building diverse teams. And if companies have success studies… have success cases, sorry, to share it, to open up how they were successful in making their games and their companies more diverse. Because, I mean, I don’t know if we talked about this, but if your company is not diverse, it’s gonna be quite difficult to make a diverse game.

LARA: Yeah.

ALEX: So, for me it’s keep on keeping on, trying to learn more every day. I know that I learn every day. It’s okay to make mistakes, but it’s also… it’s even better to acknowledge them.

LARA: And learn.

ALEX: Learn and move forward and be better.

LARA: Absolutely. Absolutely. As for me, where to start? I think Women in Games is amazing. I’m a Women in Games ambassador, I’m part of, also, Women in Localization. And there are a lot of organizations that do this, there’s a lot of people that want to get into the video game industry, you just have to go knocking on doors. There are, like, a lot of organizations… LatinXInGaming.

ALEX: LatinXInGaming. You can go to the IGDA. The IGDA has amazing resources for everyone. You have associations like GamerX.

LARA: Yeah.

ALEX: We’re gonna list some of the companies we love so that you can access and get in touch with them.

LARA: Absolutely.

MELISA: And the studies where we took all the numbers from, also, if you wanna take a look.

LARA: Yeah, we’re talking facts here. It’s just, like, there are no longer only men playing video games. We are here too.

ALEX: And it’s been like that for a while now.

LARA: And it’s been like that for a while, so I hope things get better. And yeah, thank you so much for joining us in this episode. And drop your comments down below because we’re going to be reading them. And join our Discord. You can find the link down below, too. Thank you so much.

ALEX: Thank you, everyone! See you next time!

Episode Transcription

FLOR: Hi, everyone! Welcome to another Open World LocFact. This time we’re going to be talking about the cultural aspects in one of the most famous multiplayer online battle arena games… Yes, you guessed it: League of Legends.

ALEX: That’s right. Thanks to Riot, we got to know that some of our favorite playable characters have been influenced by different real-world cultures.

FLOR: Yes, let’s start with the beautiful Ahri. The initial concept was based on a mythological character known as Kumiho, a nine-tailed fox. The East Asian influence on Ahri further expanded into her skin lines, such as Popstar and, later, K/DA.

ALEX: Now, I remember the time when the Popstar skin came out, I know that many people were obsessed with it! In 2018, Riot ventured into the K-Pop world with K/DA. Now this is a musical group that is in the Korean Pop Genre. They’re led by Ahri and integrated by Kai’Sa, Ahri, Akali, and Evelynn.

FLOR: I absolutely love them! Another character that has an interesting backstory is Neeko. Neeko was heavily influenced by Brazilian references. A bold move by the localization team was to record Neeko’s English voice-over in Brazil with the support and supervision of the Localization team, of course. And that had a clear positive impact on the final product. Through these examples, we can see the importance of having a solid localization team behind the curtains.

ALEX: Totally. You can really tell when a team puts real work and effort in the localization of their video game. Another character with Latin American influences is Qiyana. The Qiyana concept was inspired by ancient Mexican civilizations, and we learned that the central teams even collaborated with some aspects of her voice-over.

FLOR: These are such powerful and strong characters! Thanks again Riot for this insightful LocFact!

ALEX: Yeah. We are so honored to have received this insight directly from the Riot Localization team. Huge shout-out to those folks and to the amazing work they did portraying different cultures and lore so seamlessly into the game.

FLOR: And thank you guys, our viewers, for all the support and love you show for Open World! See you all next time in the next LocFact!

FLOR: Hi, everyone! Welcome to another episode of Open World. How are you today? We have a very special guest with us today. Her name is Denisse, she’s the Head of Global Localization Production at Riot Games. Welcome, Denisse Kreeger. Thank you so much for joining us today. How are you?

DENISSE: I’m great. How’s everybody doing? Thank you for having me. It’s obviously different temperature where we are, right?

FLOR: Yes. We were just mentioning that because I feel like an old lady here, like with this blanket in my shoulders, because it’s chilly in Buenos Aires. Ale was mentioning that he looks like out of the “It” film.

ALEX: I look like George. I’m gonna find It in a sewer somewhere with this jacket.

FLOR: No, please, don’t bring him.

ALEX: No, we don’t need It today. Please.

FLOR: So, Denisse, we are super excited to have you here. And we really want to learn about your story and what you’ve been doing in the localization and the video game fields. So first of all, I wanted to know, because I know that you’re super active in different associations such as Women in Localization and Women in Games, as well. But I’m super curious on, where did you start and what motivated you to be involved in those associations? And if there’s any other association that you’re collaborating with nowadays.

DENISSE: Yeah. So I’m actually the Chapter Manager for L.A. on the Women in Localization group. That’s one of the organizations I officially am part of. But just to take a step back for everyone, I’ve been in localization for close to 15 years, but throughout those 15 years, I’ve had so many different roles, right? So I even worked for the federal government very early on in my localization career, which was completely different.

ALEX: Wow. I didn’t know that.

DENISSE: Yeah, So I worked in, you know, investigations, doing translation work and so on. And so, as I moved into the entertainment industry through my master’s degree, I went to the U.K. and did a master’s in audio visual translation, I got in touch with the localization community and as well as the academics behind it, because a lot of people in localization, especially in the United States, outside of Europe and other countries, learn localization on the job, right? There is no formal training for it. And so through my master’s in the UK, I really developed a network of academics that study, you know, why are subtitles timed in a certain way? How many characters, you know, who determines how many characters are used, and so on? And that there’s a science behind that. And so through these networks, attending conferences like Languages & the Media and so on, has allowed me to be someone that talks about the importance of localization through different platforms. And that’s one of my biggest goals. And why I’m part of Women in Localization is to talk constantly of the value of Loc across the board in all the different industries, because localization exists all over. Everything you’re interacting with has an option of localization. Are you using Google Maps? Are you using your Facebook? People around the world need localization to have that, right? So that’s one of my big missions. So to answer your question, I’m working with lecturers, academics, people who are doing research behind the scenes, and then through the Women in Localization network, just trying to join more events and expanding that network. And whoever wants to talk to me about localization, I’m always open to it.

FLOR: If there is someone listening to this show and is interested in joining these associations, should they reach directly to you or is there any specific platform they could access to get more information about this?

ALEX: Yes, we can totally put it in the comments, if that’s the case.

DENISSE: Yeah. So we have our organization. You can look it up, womeninloc.org. We have LinkedIn groups, Facebook groups. And so the organization is actual actually global. So depending on where you live, you can look up to see if there’s a chapter associated with it, and then you can join that chapter. You can be a member, you can volunteer your time. Sometimes we’re recruiting and looking for people to help us out with different roles. So, yes, and if you can’t find it, feel free to reach out. The best way to reach me is LinkedIn. I do try to spend, uh… once every couple of weeks, I go through my inbox and try to make sure that I can help anybody that has questions about localization in general, career, mentorship. I sometimes speak to students. That’s another way that I stay in touch with the community, students that want to hear more about, how do you get into this career and how does that work and what happens behind the scenes? I also recently did a talk for the State University System to talk about careers that can lead to localization, that are in technology, that are in the arts, UX/UI design, programmers. There’s just so much in localization that overlaps. And I see this becoming even more and more crucial to be part of the skills of others. So yes, hit me up on LinkedIn.

FLOR: I love that you’re so in touch with the community, especially with the students, because sometimes it can be a bit overwhelming having so many options, and to reach out to people that may have so many years of experience in the industry can be even intimidating at times, right? So to stay close to the students and to understand their needs is super important. So, well, thank you for your work, Denisse.

ALEX: Yeah. I mean, it’s super important, and that’s kind of one of the reasons that we invited you, you know, because of your career, what you have experienced throughout. I didn’t know that you were that many years in the localization industry, in different areas. But we want to step back to your time dubbing at Netflix. What made you like do the jump to video games? And are there any similarities with the localization process between the entertainment industry versus the gaming industry?

DENISSE: Yeah, I get this question pretty often, and I think, traditionally, there’s been a very [cut-off audio] separation between both industries. And I think more recently we’re starting to see a little bit more of an overlap or talent that’s jumping from one industry to the other, which I think is great, honestly. I think it promotes different practices and points of view on how to scale localization and so on. So little fun fact, when I did my education for my audio visual translation degree, I intended to go get it so that I could go into the video game localization world, because part of the modules that I studied, in addition to dubbing and subtitling, it was video game localization. I was a gamer, I grew up, you know… I am a gamer. I grew up playing video games because I’m an only child. So I was always, you know, very into gaming, especially console gaming, and in the more recent years as a way for me to just entertain myself, too. It’s an outlet for a lot of us, right? So I had that interest. But when I joined that master’s, I got an internship at a localization vendor company that supported film and TV, and that’s how I started my journey in film and TV, and then got an opportunity at Netflix, where I helped build a lot of the infrastructure for localization, for subtitling, as well as dubbing. And so when I had the opportunity to sort of come full circle, I took it, right? Of, “All right, I now kind of developed this expertise in localization for film and TV, I wanna know what it’s like to develop it as well for gaming.” And I made that jump. And I’m so happy I did because it’s allowed me to really grow and see different processes. So to answer your question, the fundamentals of localization are the same, right? So there has to be a creative aspect to translation, to adaptation, voice recording for characters. But the things around the fundamentals are what are different. So processes and tools, workflows, cadence in which, you know, things have to kind of move. One thing that I always tell people is, if you have a film or you have a series, it kind of has a beginning and an end date. With games, you can keep going for years and years and years.

ALEX: Yes, ongoing localization. It never stops, right?

FLOR: So that’s actually, if you work with big franchises, right? And when you have marketing campaigns or release live-ops, and it’s so fast-paced, right? Compared to other industries.

DENISSE: That’s right.

FLOR: And I wanted to know a bit more about your role within Riot Games. What is it like to be part of such a huge company that represents so much within the gaming industry nowadays, right? What were your expectations when you started?

DENISSE: Well, Flor, I think that’s a really good question, especially my particular role. So I head Localization Production, and many people don’t know what that means, right? So figuring out how that discipline is such a key and important aspect of ensuring that localization happens has been mind-blowing to me. So as I was mentioning, the difference between film and TV is that it’s very linear. It sort of starts and it ends, and the workflow’s kind of the same no matter what every project. Whereas with game development, there’s different game engines, there’s different processes and cadence. And so every time you’re gonna spin up a new game, you have to build an entire pipeline that will help localization happen. And that’s essentially what my team does. So my producers go in and say, “Okay, we have this new game, let’s build a pipeline, let’s put all the processes in place.” And so when you work for a company like Riot, where now it’s not just one product, and previously I was at Blizzard Entertainment, which again, has quite a few games, you have to really understand what’s the nuance and the difference from all of those. And so I will tell you that my favorite part of joining, you know, the gaming space in Riot is that I get the best of all worlds. What I mean by that is that my production team works with the development teams for games, with publishing teams for marketing, they work with website localization, they work with campaigns, events. I mean, we touch everything, and I think that’s super exciting.

FLOR: I love that you bring this because a lot of people think about localization, video game localization and they immediately think about in-game content, and there’s so much in between that it’s not just limited to that, right? And I find it fascinating because you get to learn from all these teams, the different perspectives, and to see the lens through the publishing team or even the marketing team is super interesting.

DENISSE: That’s absolutely right. They just cover so much. And then we are negotiators, we are, you know, producers at the core, we’re dealing with all these different teams to make the magic happen.

FLOR: Exactly.

ALEX: Yeah. I mean, you can, you can set any example, right? The cement that glues everything together or whatever. Yeah, you are everywhere. But going back to your team, right, is such a diverse team that works in so many different areas. We know that you promote yourself a healthy work culture, and not only within your team, but among teams, right? Can you share any specific tips that you have involved within [cut-off audio] or your communication?

DENISSE: Sure. This is a big one for me. I care a lot about promoting and ensuring that there is a healthy work culture, an environment where people feel empowered to grow and to be able to develop themselves, but also bring their authentic self to work. So I would say those are one of the key areas, right? Be yourself. Don’t try to copy how someone is or try to portray someone that you’re not. So be yourself. Be honest. And collaboration is a huge one for me. I always feel that the environment in which people grow the most is when they get to work with others. In some companies, there’s a lot of space for creating silos where people kind of work on their own.

ALEX: Yeah. Like bubbles.

DENISSE: Yeah, exactly. So you compartmentalize your team and the next thing you know, morale is low or, you know, there’s burnout or there’s that sense that you’re not really kind of stimulated by anything else. And so that is one of the key areas that I focus on. I always try to drive initiatives where people can work together to solve problems. I think that really helps people feel like they have a purpose. And on top of it, like I mentioned, you know, being yourself, opportunity for feedback, allowing vulnerability, you know? Being able to say, “Hey, I made a mistake.” Even me as a leader, as a manager, I like to call out, you know, “Hey, keep me honest, I screwed this one up,” you now. Let me learn, let me make… help me be better. Right? And so that’s part of the journey of leadership. I think it’s not about just telling your team what to do or how to do it, but it’s about growing with them and understanding and adapting to their needs, and trying to forecast changes in the business so that you can adjust so that they are in a good place. I mean, there’s a lot of different things I can talk about this topic, but I think, at the core, is allowing people to be themselves, leveraging their strengths, and also helping overcome their so-called, you know, challenges or opportunities.

FLOR: I think that’s great advice. And one of well, for me, for example, one of the most challenging aspects is breaking these bubbles or popping these bubbles and trying to keep communication flowing, because sometimes, when you have so many people involved in the process, they may have different goals, they have a different agenda, and you have to align those planets and make it work somehow, right? Going back to your role, because I know that you mentioned all the stakeholders and all the teams that you collaborate on a daily basis, but I would like to know, how does the localization process look? Depending, of course, on the content, it may vary, I guess. But is there any specific method that you use or, for example, depending on tools or even for quality assurance, is there anything in particular that you would like to share with us?

DENISSE: Yeah. So… It’s complex, right? Especially as I mentioned, because we touch so many different types of assets, in-game as well as out of game. So we have different pipelines for those and different groups and departments, and what we call requesters, which are those within, let’s say, Riot that require localization services or localization practice. So we are constantly educating. We have a ticketing system for requesting, you know, anything that they require. So we have a lot of communication channels for that and like, “Hey, I have a need for something. Can localization help?” So we have that set up. We also have our regular operational workflows where we use things like CAT tools and content management systems. Also, one of the really, really cool things that we have at Riot on the localization department is we have a localization technology team. So that’s a team dedicated to help incorporate tooling, ensure that we’re meeting our stakeholder needs, but also that we’re scaling our operational footprint downstream. Because another thing that we do is, while my team is centrally located in headquarters with a few in Europe, a lot of our regional teams also are doing localization work. So it’s quite a lot to manage, and so we have to have the appropriate tools in place and LQA practices, partnerships. It’s quite a lot, really. But our technology…

FLOR: I bet.

DENISSE: Yeah. Our technology team helps a lot with trying to solve some of the process areas and ensuring that, in the future, we can continue to do the work that we can at a high-quality level without exploding as a team, right?

ALEX: Right. And to oil the communication between all teams the best way you guys can, right?

DENISSE: That’s right.

ALEX: So let’s… I mean, you told us that you’re a gamer, Denisse, okay? But we don’t know what you’re playing right now.

FLOR: Is there anything that you can recommend?

ALEX: Is there anything that caught your eye, maybe, I don’t know, in the E3 that happened just now? Or your go-to game. For example, my go-to game is Bloodborne on my PS4.

DENISSE: That’s a good one.

ALEX: I’m a big Bloodborne fan. I suck at it, I die a lot, of course.

FLOR: Yeah. Were just talking about, for example, one of our colleagues and I don’t like dying a lot, so it’s a bit frustrating for us.

ALEX: I was trying to explain to them that it’s part of the game’s mechanics, right? You have to die in order to get better. But what are you playing right now?

DENISSE: So I… Because I’m a manager, I am talking all day with people or trying to help make decisions. So rather than… like, for a lot of us or a lot of people that like to have a community when they game, I like to be on my own. It’s kind of my me time.

ALEX: Understandable.

FLOR: Love it.

DENISSE: So I like single player type of thing. I don’t like to kind of get into… I just want to be in the zone, be on my own and do my thing. So I’ve been playing a lot of the Spider-Man game. So the first one as well as Miles Morales. Miles Morales is the one that I’ve been playing a lot, and I love it because I also have this weird obsession with flying ever since I was a kid. I always liked heights and I like anything that’s kind of like the feeling of flying. And so I get in that game and I know I can just swing around and look at the… It’s a beautiful-looking game as well. I just swing around. And I like, you know, the mechanics and so on of the fighting and… Yeah, that’s my go-to. I sit down on my couch, I grab my PS5, and that’s how I decompress. So that’s been definitely my go-to. I’ve also been playing Cyberpunk, but not as much. Not as much.

ALEX: Well, it’s a…

FLOR: I love the…

ALEX: Sorry, Flor.

FLOR: Go ahead. Go ahead. It’s all right.

ALEX: I was gonna say that Cyberpunk is a whole different experience, right? Where the world is big and everything, but it’s a more complex RPG kind of element thing, right? You have to think a little bit more probably than just, like, sit back, chill and relax with a Spider-Man game.

DENISSE: Exactly.

FLOR: I love that that you mentioned the idea of flying. I have the same thing, but for swimming. And lately I’ve been playing Subnautica: Below Zero a lot. And I get that feeling that I’m underwater. And, well, here in Buenos Aires, during the pandemic, I haven’t got the chance to go to a swimming pool, so that’s my go-to and my escape, too. So I love that about games, that you can find that headspace and relax and connect to what makes you you, right? So…

ALEX: Single player games… Sorry…

FLOR: Go ahead. Go ahead. It’s your turn, Ale.

ALEX: Single player games are so important as well, right? I love playing with my friends, but single player games are just kind of like a need sometimes to decompress. But moving on from games because I’m going to stay talking forever.

FLOR: Yeah, we can be talking for hours.

ALEX: We would like to know a bit about diversity and inclusion, right? We would like to know about Riot’s plans in the topic, about diversity and inclusion, whether it’s something in the short term or the long term that you might like to share with our audience.

DENISSE: I’m glad you asked that question. It’s a very important question. I think it should be asked across the board, you know, constantly, because it has to be top of mind. When it comes to Riot specifically, I can say that, you know, it definitely feels top of mind, and there’s a lot of activities happening around ensuring that there’s that awareness and that there’s also not only the awareness in the talk, right? Because it’s easy to just talk about, “Hey, yeah, we need to be better at this or we need to be conscious of this.” But the actual action behind it is what we need more of. We have a lot of internal groups where we help with consultants for even some of the products, which I think is something that’s needed and really fantastic. So we have more diversity happening in things like our agents for Valorant, and we have more diversity just across our champions and stories and representing, you know, diverse voices. I personally always, and I’m a big advocate for D&I, and I always join groups and accessibility groups as well. I think it’s super important. I’m part of the LGBTQ community, I’m Latina, you know? So I always want to make sure that we are stepping forward. And Riot, from a personal… I’m not speaking for the company, but from my personal perspective, I really feel that we’re prioritizing this, right? I really feel that there’s room, there’s always room for improvement. I’m not saying it’s…

FLOR: Yeah, absolutely. Always. For everyone.

DENISSE: Of course. But the investment of, you know, okay, let’s do the right thing, let’s ensure that we have safe space and that we are also not just putting products out there with a notion of representation, but let’s bring the people that can actually represent properly. And I think that’s one really cool thing that I’m seeing currently, and I see it happening more and more, and I’m looking forward to it becoming a part of the process, right? You want to incorporate a new champion, you want to do something new, a new environment, a new map? Let’s bring the people that can actually represent that properly, not just the person that can do the research.

ALEX: Right, that can interpret…

DENISSE: Interpretation, exactly. Exactly. So I think that’s really cool. I want to see more of that across the board for everything. And it also gives opportunity to bring in more talent, right? Because we want to represent the world truthfully in everything that we’re interacting with, in games and all of entertainment. So if we look at our own companies or our own teams and we’re not seeing that representation, that’s a call to action to us. And I think that’s what it’s about, right?

FLOR: I love that there are so many new initiatives happening, and what a time to be part of this industry, right? Because we have the opportunity to generate so much change and to bring new voices and to bring this representation that is so much needed right now.

DENISSE: Absolutely.

ALEX: Yeah. It’s very inspiring as well to see that point of view from your perspective, right? In leadership, as well. So thank you for that, Denisse. Awesome.

FLOR: Yes. And for the people tuning in, they probably already saw the LocFact section of this episode, that we included a lot of information about the champions and how you came together and brought those characters to life bringing different perspectives from different cultures. So we love that, also.

ALEX: Now, Denise, we know that Arcane is coming. So can you tell us a little bit about that? Whatever you can.

DENISSE: Yes. So I’m very excited about Arcane, I’m not gonna lie. It’s been really fun working on it. Riot is obviously new at producing this type of content, and one of the really, really fun facts here is that joining Riot from my background and experience has been a really nice fit to help them build localization infrastructure for content such as this one. I can’t share a ton of details, but all of you know there’s…

FLOR: We have to wait.

DENISSE: Yes, you have to wait. But we’re working really hard on getting this out. You know, we’re partnering with Netflix on it, which is super exciting. And of course, localization is a massive part of it, so we want this to be a global experience. And that is about as much as I can say. But stay tuned. Definitely watch it. It’s really, really good.

ALEX: Now, it’s set for Autumn, right?

FLOR: Yeah, that’s what I was gonna say. It’s announced for Autumn this year. Next year, is it?

DENISSE: This year.

ALEX: This year. That’s September. Something like that.

FLOR: Maybe next time for season two, you can join us and give a little bit more details on this project. And congratulations to everyone who’s working behind it.

ALEX: Yes, we are very excited, guys. Thank you for doing this, by the way.

DENISSE: Thank you. I’m sure the League of Legends fans out there… It’s gonna be fun to see, you know, these characters and their stories really portrayed in this series. So I’m really looking forward to that, as well. And yes, maybe by next time, we can talk a little bit more about it.

ALEX: For sure.

FLOR: Yeah, we would love to. So, yeah, now we’re gonna jump to our memes.

ALEX: Now, this is relatable, to say the least.

FLOR: Yeah. And it’s totally related to the fact that we are gamers and every single one of us has a different zone, like you mentioned, so. Well, this is pizza and rain, but do you have any specific moment or scenario that makes it perfect for you?

DENISSE: Oof! I mean, who doesn’t love pizza, right?

ALEX: Pizza and raining outside, I mean…

FLOR: Yeah. Make it a Friday and that’s perfect for us.

DENISSE: And some chocolate chip cookies for dessert, you know?

ALEX: Yeah.

FLOR: And a little milk, you know? That’s perfect. That’s it. Yeah, I mean, that’s my Friday night right there.

DENISSE: So that means in a few hours, hopefully?

FLOR: Yeah. My plans. Feeling a bit old, but yeah, what can I say? That’s me. It happens.

DENISSE: Yeah. That’s me all the time. All the time.

ALEX: Yeah. I mean, even the Dark Souls tutorial can be a little bit like the Dark Mario here as well. Maybe if you’re facing Gundyr or if you’re facing the Cleric Beast, it can get pretty shady as well.

FLOR: Well, for me, it’s like for every single game, it doesn’t matter how hard it is. Being a perfectionist, every single time I face a new game, it’s like I have to master it like the very first second I start playing. And I know that it doesn’t to work like that, but that’s just me. I don’t know.

ALEX: Yeah. And I call it like being bad at Dark Souls. Even though I love the game, I love the games, yeah, I suck at it. That’s you, Flor, right here! You being a perfectionist.

DENISSE: This one’s great.

ALEX: That’s like Devil May Cry, right? Triple S style. You’re kicking ass in style.

FLOR: Aww! Yeah, this feeling. I’m definitely gonna relate. How many times I tried to hug a character in a game?

ALEX: My God.

FLOR: Is there any specific game that you remember playing when you were younger?

DENISSE: Oh, no! I I’m gonna date myself really terribly.

ALEX: I’m 32 years old, so I’m gonna beat you to it.

FLOR: I’m almost 34, so you’re good.

DENISSE: I beat you both, so… you know. I obviously loved the Nintendo games back in the day, right? I mean, I even had a chance to play with my cousin’s Atari. I mean, that’s how far back, you know, I go. But I used to love Mario 3.

ALEX: Oh, that’s the best one, in my opinion. The raccoon tail.

DENISSE: Ninja Turtles. It was the Ninja Turtles game I used to love. And then I was really into the Sonic games when I had a Sega. Those were fun, but yeah.

FLOR: Yeah. I remember spending hours with my sister and my cousin also playing Sonic as well. So, yeah. You’re fine with your references. And it makes you even cooler because you have so much information that some kids don’t even know about, right?

DENISSE: That’s right. I can even tell you from back in the day of the original Doom, like playing it on PC, the very first version ever.

ALEX: Yeah. With the diskettes and everything.

FLOR: You’re not alone in this. Trust me.

DENISSE: You know, using the floppies, you know? Oh, man.

ALEX: The floppy disks. Right.

FLOR: Yeah, probably there’s people tuning in that don’t know what a floppy disk is.

DENISSE: No idea what we’re talking about.

ALEX: We can put a floppy disk somewhere so people can see it, right? Like, right now.

FLOR: Yeah, somewhere over here, so they know what it looks like. They’re probably in a museum right now.

DENISSE: Yeah, exactly. I was gonna say, we can go visit them at the museum.

ALEX: My God.

FLOR: Aww! Look at this one.

DENISSE: I can relate to this one.

ALEX: I don’t know if I look that cute on a level 1 armor, but hey, the pupper nailed it.

FLOR: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely.

ALEX: This one kind of hurts, especially when they carry your ass.

DENISSE: Random, come back! Come back!

FLOR: Why are you doing this to me? Don’t leave me alone. Yeah, but if you’re into single players, then that’s not happening too often.

ALEX: It’s all you, buddy.

FLOR: Yeah. And that’s the last one of our memes, so I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

ALEX: That was fun.

FLOR: Yeah, it was. Thank you so much, Denisse, for joining us today. And thanks, everyone, for tuning in. See you next time on our next episode.

DENISSE: Thank you so much. ¡Gracias!

FLOR: ¡Gracias! Take care.