Our Director of Localization, Peter Fabiano, was kind enough to write up a bit about what goes into localizing our games here at Capcom. Not only that, but there's a glimpse at what is expected when looking for someone to hire, if you're intersted in a future job localizing Capcom games. 

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Localization: What is it? This is a difficult question to address as there are many misconceptions and different approaches to the subject. I will base my explanation on the way I run things here at Capcom, in addition to some of the challenges we face.

First off, localization is often equated to mere translation. If it were that simple, you would all be playing games that read and sound like the first Resident Evil. Reduced to its simplest level, localization is the translation of text and terms into the users’ native language (e.g., OS localizations). Context must be taken into account, but the general makeup of the system remains the same.

Game localization, however, is much more complex, and adding to this complexity are the cultural and social idiosyncrasies of Japan and the Japanese language. These are difficult to convert well into Western languages, especially for an American audience. Sometimes, no matter how good the translation, the base concept just doesn’t work.

For this reason, I believe that localization is not where the process of bringing a game to the West should begin. Localization is only one part of the globalization process. It is necessary to plan in advance the way a game should be designed and developed in order to save costs and avoid quality problems that could arise later. This also saves time and works to smooth the localizing effort for each region or country. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always happen.

Console games have come a long way from their 8-bit counterparts, and they are so infused with story and environments that internationalizing and culturalizing these games is integral. At Capcom Osaka, the Localization Team is actually a part of R&D. We try to integrate the production teams and get them to understand the importance of taking their games and adapting them for the foreign markets. We need to go beyond general text translation and provide them with information that is beneficial to creating a game that is relevant to the target users. Due to a number of internal and cultural factors, this can be quite challenging. 

The original question posed on the forums was, “How does a person get into localization?” Before I address that, I think it might be better to start by letting you know what roles my team and I have here at Capcom.

The Localization Team consists of about 30 people split into 2 main groups: Localization and Communications. The Communications Team has a number of functions, but in general, they are in charge of ensuring that teams are in sync with each other and with our overseas partners by providing necessary information to relevant parties. (That sounds way too much like a job description. Oh, wait...) 

The Localization side is made up of 20 people, including me. As the Director, it’s my job to build business partnerships, negotiate contracts, maintain schedules, perform HR tasks (hiring and team building), supervise team members, interface with teams and producers, resolve disputes and cultural misunderstandings, and try to get the individual dev teams to understand our target markets. But that’s probably the boring part for most people.

The rest of the team is made up of 5 Project Leads, 2 English Editors, 10 European Localization Experts, and 2 Japanese Localization Coordinators. The Project Lead is at the heart of the English and European (FIGS) languages. The process would ideally begin with a kick-off meeting with all parties involved: internal dev team members, key external dev team members, Localization Leads and me. This meeting helps to establish workflows, schedules, budgets, and provide an overall sense of the project goals. 

It’s here where the real creative (read fun) stuff begins. The dev team will provide the Project Lead with as many reference materials as available. We receive game design docs, walkthroughs, game videos, scripts, and the game build. These reference materials are essential to an accurate localization. Unfortunately, there are many times when these materials are unavailable, which leads to context errors and potential mistranslations. I encourage each Localization Team member to keep open communication with the game designers so that we can close any holes in understanding.

Once these materials have been thoroughly reviewed during our familiarization period, the Project Lead begins to either translate the script or review what has been provided from an outsourced translator. If a project is handled entirely within the Localization Team itself, then the script would be passed on to one of our editors. There is a lot of back and forth with the Project Lead, the editor, and the dev teams. Depending on time, budget, and schedule, the project workflow can change drastically.

With more involving projects, a Project Lead will actually be placed on the project team where they constantly “fight the good fight” to create a game that feels like it was developed with the American and European audiences in mind. We are constantly providing feedback on the script, UI, design, and other elements that will vary across markets. Of course, the translator’s main role is still to take scripts and adapt them to be culturally relevant to the market. Depending on the game, the Japanese and target language will differ considerably. Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is one such example. We tried to focus on the English text and then Japanese was written afterwards.

The Project Lead is also involved in writing for voice-overs, and when audio is involved, things get even more complicated (audio time-constraints, lip-synching, ADR, etc.). Many of the guys find this to be a fun and rewarding part of the project. If things go well, we are able to choose voice actors for roles and attend the voice recordings to ensure the direction and overall recordings go well and fall in line with our creative thinking.

If you consider the English localization Phase 1 of the project, FIGS would be Phase 2. First the English is completed in order to create a relatable script and game setting, and then it is sent over to the FIGS teams. The Project Lead then has the responsibility of completing his/her own tasks while managing the FIGS localization. The lead is responsible for managing any outsource teams as well as internal ones. At this point, the Project Lead should know the English version better than anyone and will maintain an important role in successfully completing a localization project.

Once translation and editing are complete, we proceed to the Linguistic Testing Phase. At this point we play the game complete with the translated text implemented, in order to spot any errors or oddly placed translations. The details of Linguistic QA can get rather complex so I will skip the boring details, but once everything is checked, implemented, and reviewed for regression bugs, we can finally rest – until we get any bugs back from the first-party check that is.

So that is a REALLY general overview of what we do here. Now I can finally get into what I look for in an employee. 

First and foremost, you have to be a good communicator (mostly in English, but also in Japanese). You aren’t just going to be translating: you are going to need to explain yourself to me, your colleagues and the project dev teams. Sometimes you’ll even get the chance to interpret for producers and directors at events.

Secondly, you need to be a good writer or editor in your native language. If you aren’t a creative writer, your translations may not be appropriate for games. 

Japanese is a requirement for Project Leads, but not a necessity for Editors, and certainly not for FIGS experts.  Attention to detail is a must, as you will be dealing with a number of different file formats that are constantly being updated and changed.

(Our FIGS guys are so good they can find subtle errors in the English scripts!) You’ll need to be able to survive in a fast-paced environment and work well alone as well as with teams. 

So, what do you need to study to get a job?

If you want to be a localization expert, then I suggest studying writing and Japanese. Take courses at school that focus on literature and writing, for example. We ask for writing samples and have a trial exam that we require from all applicants. Being well read also helps, because the subjects of the texts we translate run the gamut from science to literature, history to philosophy.

Project Leads, however, do more than just translate (and many times, they don’t even do this), which makes them all the more valuable. You’ll need to be a project manager and oversee communications throughout the project. 

That is a basic overview of Capcom Localization. I hope it helps give you a clearer idea of the work involved and how you might prepare for a job in this industry.