Recently, the release of “Black Myth: Wukong” (hereinafter referred to as “Wukong”) has once again sparked a wave of interest in Chinese culture worldwide. This groundbreaking AAA game not only greatly boosts Chinese players' confidence in domestic games, but also ignites global players' interest in “Journey to the West” and traditional Chinese culture. Indeed, the foundation of any game's success lies in its quality. Still, the fact that “Wukong” has become a symbol of Chinese games sweeping the globe is also due to its professional investment in game localization.
A Success Bossted by Localization
The choice of “Wukong”, based on the classic Chinese mythological work “Journey to the West”, decides that its localization in the game will face top-level challenges. From an international perspective, the understanding of “Journey to the West” among overseas, particularly Western player groups mostly comes from adapted and fictional representations in Japanese manga. Therefore, the task in the localization of “Wukong” is to reshape the narrative of traditional Chinese culture from the perspective of game art, based on “Journey to the West”. For a long time, the elements of “Journey to the West” that Western players have encountered in popular culture primarily relate to the character “Goku” from the famous Japanese manga “Dragon Ball.” In contrast, this iteration of “Wukong” presents the figure of the Monkey King from “Journey to the West” in a more authentic way.
At the same time, the terminology system in the English version follows a narrative rooted in traditional Chinese culture, using “yaoguai” to refer to the various demons and monsters in the game, instead of the Western terms “monster” and “goblin”. These thoughtful choices in the localization process create a uniquely captivating dreamland of Chinese mythological legends for the players.
The Localization Planning Challenges Behind Success
Although the game turned out to be a huge success, its producer, Feng Ji, remained extremely calm during media interviews. He candidly admitted that “Wukong” is a product where completion is more important than perfection, and gave the example of game localization. It's evident that for a well-developed blockbuster game, the localization period often lasts as long as a year. Initially, the “Wukong” team was overly optimistic about their timeline for the localization process and looked to complete multilingual localization in just one month. However, they soon realized that the actual work was far more challenging than they had imagined. This experience made them aware that simply relying on “money” or “parallel processes” to compress the localization timeline in projects that aim to surprise the market is unfeasible. Even major titles like “Wukong” have paid a considerable price for these “hard lessons”.
Why Plan Localization in Advance
From the cultural phenomenon of “Wukong” and the interview with Feng Ji, it is clear that for an excellent game to achieve global success, high-quality localization results are essential. This requires forward-thinking and careful planning, including a clear understanding of different processes and the time required for each. If adjustments are forced later in the project to meet deadlines or compress timelines, it will impact delivery for several reasons:
- Difficulties in translation coordination: The more people involved in the translation, the harder it is to coordinate efforts. There are significant style differences between different translators. While it is possible to achieve a certain level of integration through rules, terminology, and collaborative tools, this approach not only significantly increases project costs but may also lead to more risks.
- Challenges in parallel localization processes: If multiple processes that should occur sequentially are compressed into parallel workflows, it can lead to greater confusion. For example, if the original text is still being modified during testing and not finalized, the translations will also need to be revised, and the test results will become invalid. This is especially true for large projects involving numerous target languages, which significantly increase project costs and even jeopardize the project quality.
- Unpredictable review and testing outcomes: Overly optimistic planning in the early stages of a project often leads to problems at the end, where more issues are encountered but not enough time is given to fix them. This is not necessarily due to lower-than-expected development quality; rather, it is normal in testing. Therefore, reserving ample time buffers in the planning of localization projects is even more crucial.
Conclusion
For any product or service aiming to create a high-quality user experience overseas, localization is of paramount importance. Proper localization planning in the early stages of the project, designing the workflow in advance, and allocating sufficient time are necessary factors for success when going global. Professional localization not only helps you establish a solid brand image but also allows you to avoid unnecessary risks and losses. Therefore, by ensuring thorough localization planning, providing ample time and resources, and advancing progressively according to a clear and professional process, you can ultimately replicate an excellent product and service experience across different target markets.
