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0如果你以为本地化只是把文本翻译成外语，那就大错特错了。这一集会告诉你海外玩家真正想要的是什么——从文化梗到支付习惯，再到UI细节和运营活动，都不能忽视。只要掌握对的方法，翻盘的机会远比你想象中更多。想真正打开海外市场？一定别错过这期！
English Subtitles (First 5mins)
00:00 Hello gamers, I'm Sherry, and welcome to my podcast. In the last episode, we looked broadly at the rise of Chinese games abroad. A bunch of you messaged me, saying you want more specifics, particularly on “localization”—the biggest challenge when going overseas. Over the last couple of years, I've been in contact with a few studios who've put tons of effort into localization, and they've also made plenty of mistakes. That's why I thought it'd be valuable to share some of my findings today. Let's really explore what's behind this concept of “localization,” and why so many companies call it a “necessary hurdle,” but also see how it can create huge opportunities.
00:54 First, let's talk about why it's so crucial. Many people think localization just means translating your game's text or hiring someone who can speak the target language for customer service. Reality is far more complex. For instance, when Genshin Impact first expanded abroad, players had a lot of feedback about the translations and the voice-overs. miHoYo had to keep revising the text, addressing each region's language concerns, to finally convince global players they were serious. That's in sharp contrast to some earlier Chinese titles that simply slapped on a rough English translation and threw it into North America, leaving gamers complaining about weird machine-translated menus or baffling slang usage. That's the difference between superficial vs. genuinely deep localization.
01:57 Moreover, “localization” extends way beyond language. It includes adaptation of culture, payment habits, UI layouts, gameplay design, event pacing, etc. If you just do the language part but ignore cultural preferences, players overseas will sense it's still “very Chinese,” out of sync with their daily life. And if you also fail to adapt your payment system or event schedules, it might only take two or three days for local users to start complaining, blowing up your game's reputation. Let me share an example. When Tencent launched the mobile version of Tianya MingyueDao overseas, they didn't just translate the story text but worked closely with local partners to figure out how to present the ancient Chinese martial arts theme to Western gamers. They even adjusted the initial narrative sections so players wouldn't feel lost. That's how a strongly “Eastern-flavored” title ended up finding a stable foothold abroad.
03:10 Another angle is “holiday events.” Many studios love holding big events during Chinese holidays like Mid-Autumn or Lunar New Year, but those don’t mean much to foreign players. You need to either incorporate or adapt local holidays as well. For instance, when NetEase first launched Onmyoji in Japan, they discovered local users didn’t grasp some of the Chinese cultural elements. So they aligned the event schedule with Japanese festivals, invited local illustrators and voice actors to collaborate, used Twitter hashtags—this ended up really boosting players’ interest. A Japanese friend of mine actually started playing at one of these localized events, and told me she stuck around because she felt NetEase cared about Japanese culture. That’s a shining example of bridging holiday and cultural differences.
04:49 Language translation itself can be quite the pitfall. English alone has differences across British, American, and Australian usage, not to mention the slang or humor sometimes being untranslatable. Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, from Shanghai-based Moonton, had to rework their hero skill text for Western markets because the original translations were too terse and awkward, leading to user confusion. They took feedback from Reddit, worked with their translator teams to “naturalize” the text, and ended up with more clarity and immersion. Another scenario: the original Honkai 3rd had difficulty with Western voice-acting, because comedic references or subtle jokes sometimes got lost. Over time, miHoYo found better local actors, gave them more freedom, and improved the dialogue writing to match local culture better, so players were more comfortable. The “Star Rail” project also used English VAs that players really enjoyed.
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