The entire games industry is feeling the economic squeeze, and the QA and localisation sector is no different. But the leading firms tell James Batchelor that the services they provide are no less essential
QUALITY ASSURANCE and localisation firms are rarely fully recognised for their work. Bound by confidentiality, few are able to name the titles they have worked on. Occasionally, a game will be praised for its superb localisation – the most recent example being RPG The Last Story, handled by Nintendo’s own internal team. But the mark of a good QA or translation expert is that their work fits so seamlessly with the raw game, you won’t know they were involved. While plenty of major publishers use internal experts, enough rely on outsourcing to help fund the expansion of these services firms. New partnerships have been formed, subsidiaries have been established overseas, workforces have been expanded and sales have risen.
EARLY EXPECTATIONS But there are still a few kinks that need ironing out. The long-running issue of increasingly short deadlines from publishers puts perhaps unnecessary pressure on even the
most seasoned QA and localisation experts, but many have come to accept this as a “fact of the industry”. “Deadlines have always been short,” reflects Localize Direct’s business development director Michael Souto, “It’s usually an ‘ASAP’ request and we just have to turn this around when required. “Publishers are aware that magic is pretty hard to perform regularly. If we say that a certain job will take a certain amount of time, then they are aware that it is for a reason. The translations need to be done by humans and humans can only work at a certain optimum speed.” Testronic Labs’ VP of games services operations Alistair Harsant adds: “Boundaries are always going to be challenged and development cycles will often slip.
“Knowing the benefits of good planning, localisation and QA will really help. A middle ground is ultimately out there, but at Testronic we want to make sure that we still deliver quality and customer service.”
As always, the sector has a clear message for publishers: get us involved earlier. Doing so results in a better end product and often lower long-term costs.
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Game translations need to be done by humans, who can only work at a certain optimum speed.
Michael Souto, Localize Direct
“Deadlines remain a challenging issue, but the best way to avoid many problems is to make localisation a part of development early in the process,” says Partnertrans owner Iris Ludolf. “We work with a number of companies that adopted this strategy and it works out well.” Localsoft CEO Randall Mage adds that the strict level of secrecy surrounding the sector can often hinder projects: “We work in a highly
confidential environment and information is normally retained until the last minute but it doesn’t necessarily have to be that way. “We noticed that the process generally runs smoother when clients give us a heads up a few weeks or even a few days before the project start date as it allows us to plan ahead – for example, booking the best resources and conducting research for that particular project.”
DEADLINE DILEMMAS
QA and localisation firms are doing their part by streamlining their own operations, giving them a better chance of meeting publisher demands. Doing so even helps publisher’s internal teams. “Our direct clients are the QA or localisation managers at games publishers and they get these crazy deadlines shoved down their throats as well, from higher up in their organisation,” says U-Trax president Richard van der Giessen. “They cannot do much about it and protesting may even cost their job.