As we finish working on Turtle World we keep wondering whether it is worth it or not to translate it to other languages.
Even though we are from Argentina and our main language is Spanish, we know most of our market is abroad, in countries where either English is the main language or people know enough of it to get around the game without problems.
Should we translate our game?
We came with the conclusion that we should, at least, translate it to Spanish . Here is why:
- We do speak Spanish, so translating it not expensive. We won’t need someone to translate it and proof/read it.
- Turtle World doesn’t have that many texts. Just a few here and there, even the instructions are text light.
- Many people don’t know English and it would be nice for them to be able to understand what’s said in the game.
- Apple has made it quite easy for us developers to translate our apps!
We would like to translate it to many more languages like Italian, Portuguese, French and German at least, but it won’t be that easy for us to do it and keep up to date with our launch date. Maybe we will do it for the next ones!
Should all apps be translated to other languages than English? Well, we think it depends on the kind of game. If it is a text-heavy game, of course it should! For a game that doesn’t rely on many texts to be playable it depends on the developer’s budget, market, and willingness to support them.
What do you think?
Hi Pablo,
The decision to localize your games into different markets will depend on your business needs -(or at least that’s what most publishers based their decisions on).
First you determine where and why it would be interesting to have a local version. For instance, it might be the case a chinese company is interested in having an ad within your game and you can exchange the cost of the localization effort through that. This is just one example but there are plenty.
Reach me out if you would like to explore more about it.