Wildlife Studios, a leading mobile gaming company headquartered in Brazil, embarked on a comprehensive localization journey to expand its player base globally. With Crowdin localization platform, Wildlife Studios successfully localized 27 projects into 12+ languages, resulting in rapid translation, optimized costs, and increased player satisfaction. Let’s explore how they achieved these results.
TRANSLATION APPROACH
- Translation by an agency (a vendor from Crowdin Marketplace)
- An internal team of translators
- A localization manager and proofreading by the transparent reporting system
- For urgent issues – a Slack channel for the project manager and the game development team
- Feedback about localization from users by dedicated Community Manager
FUNCTIONALITY USED
- Crowdin API
- Reporting system
- Version management
- Translation Memory
- Crowdin AI Assistant (Note: AI Assistant application is deprecated. We highly recommend switching to the native Crowdin AI for a better and more seamless experience.)
- Zendesk <> Crowdin integration
KEY RESULTS
- 27 localization projects.
- Rapid translation and release of localized game content into 12+ languages, speeding up time-to-market.
- Optimized costs by leveraging translation memory and reusing previously translated content.
- Received positive player feedback, reflecting high customer satisfaction with localized experiences.
- Increased the overall player-base of Romanian region by 25%.
- The number of issues being solved directly through translated self-service means (FAQs, Bots, etc) increased by 30%.
Introduction to Wildlife Studio
One of the 10 largest mobile gaming companies in the world, Wildlife Studios has published over 60 games with more than 3 billion downloads worldwide. The studio was started in Brazil in 2011. It now has offices in nine countries, including the US, Brazil, Argentina, Israel, and Ireland, and has over 700 employees who are always trying to change how mobile games are made. Here are some popular games developed by Wildlife Studios:
- Zooba
- Tennis Clash
- Sniper 3D Assassin
- War Machines
- Colorfy
Wildlife Studios, a prominent mobile game company headquartered in Brazil with offices worldwide, embarked on a comprehensive localization journey to expand their player base globally. Anderson, the Manager of Player Support and Localization at Wildlife Studios, shares valuable insights about their localization strategy and the pivotal role played by their localization partner, Crowdin, in achieving their goals.
Localization Decision
Understanding the significance of catering to diverse language preferences, Wildlife Studios recognized early on that localization was essential for their games’ success. They conducted thorough research to analyze their games’ player populations in different countries and the languages predominantly spoken in those regions. This analysis revealed a clear need to go beyond English to maximize engagement in non-English speaking markets. Consequently, Wildlife Studios made the strategic decision to localize their games into multiple languages.
Language Selection for Game Localization
Wildlife Studios implemented a default set of 12 languages for their game localization, including Arabic, Chinese (simplified and traditional), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Brazilian Portuguese, Spanish, and Turkish. These languages were chosen based on market research and the presence of substantial player communities.
Additionally, for games with a significant user base in specific regions, Wildlife Studios considered translating into additional languages such as Romanian, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, and others, tailored to meet the demands of those specific markets.
“In one of our games, we had a region we don’t usually localize to (Romania) showing good signs of potential success and engagement, we decided to localize the game to that language, and it prompted content creators to start creating content for the game and calling for their viewers to play with them, the virality effect it caused increased the overall player-base of that region by 25%.” Anderson Lebrão Sanchez, Manager of Player Support Operations and Localization at Wildlife Studios
Source Language Selection
Its important to mention that while Wildlife Studios is headquartered in Brazil, they decided to use English as the source language for their games. This choice was driven by the need for consistency and to streamline the translation process. By adopting English as the source language, Wildlife Studios ensured that they could find proficient translators for various target languages and maintain a unified localization workflow.
Game Translation Challenges and Crowdin Localization Solution
One of the major challenges Wildlife Studios encountered in their previous localization efforts was maintaining consistency across translations. They faced issues with different translators, resulting in discrepancies between the translated text and in-game elements. To address this challenge, Wildlife Studios sought a localization solution that would provide consistency, a robust translation memory, and collaborative capabilities.
After conducting extensive market research and evaluating different platforms, Wildlife Studios selected their localization partner. Crowdin, offered the desired features, including seamless vendor integration, a comprehensive translation memory, and the ability to manage multiple tasks and users with varying access levels. This enabled Wildlife Studios to ensure consistent translations and enhance the overall quality of their localization efforts.
“The translation memory feature offered by Crowdin has not only reduced our turnaround time for updates but has also ensured linguistic coherence across different versions of our games.” Anderson Lebrão Sanchez, Manager of Player Support Operations and Localization at Wildlife Studios
Localize your game with Crowdin
Flexibility to Switch Vendors without the Need to Migrate
The adoption of Crowdin as their localization platform yielded several benefits for Wildlife Studios. One notable advantage was the flexibility to switch vendors without the need to migrate to a different platform. This saved valuable time and resources for Wildlife Studios, allowing them to explore new localization partners while maintaining a stable localization infrastructure.
“We chose Crowdin as our localization platform because of its seamless integration with vendors and the flexibility it provides. It has allowed us to experiment with new localization partners without the need for platform migration.” Anderson Lebrão Sanchez, Manager of Player Support Operations and Localization at Wildlife Studios
Localization Workflow and Team
Wildlife Studios established a collaborative localization workflow to ensure high-quality translations across their games. They had an in-house translator specifically dedicated to Japanese, given the complexity of the language and the importance of accurately catering to the Japanese market. For other languages, Wildlife Studios relied on their trusted localization partner, one of vendors listed on Crowdin Store, Alconost, to handle tasks such as translation, proofreading, and delivering consistent translations.
Crowdin AI Assistant for Game Localization
Note: AI Assistant application is deprecated. We highly recommend switching to the native Crowdin AI for a better and more seamless experience.
Moreover, Crowdin’s AI Assistant provided Wildlife Studios with the opportunity to experiment with emerging trends in the industry, such as AI-based translation features, aligning their localization process with the latest advancements.
The way Wildlife Studio uses AI Assistant now, is to provide first draft of translation to help their team localise game strings.
Localize your game with Crowdin
Zendesk, Crowdin API, and More Options to Automate Content Sync
In order to streamline their content localization efforts, Wildlife Studios, a leading mobile gaming company, successfully implemented a combination of Zendesk, the Crowdin API, and additional Crowdin automation options. This strategic approach revolutionized their localization process, enabling them to efficiently translate and sync content across multiple languages, while ensuring a seamless user experience for players worldwide.
Zendesk
By integrating Zendesk with their localization workflow, Wildlife Studios gained a centralized platform to manage FAQ and localized content. This integration allowed them to seamlessly streamlining the communication and collaboration process.
“We observed an increase in the Deflection Rate by 30%, this means the number of issues being solved directly through self-service means (FAQs, Bots, etc) increased, and the number of players needing to reach out to an agent to solve questions manually decreased.” Anderson Lebrão Sanchez, Manager of Player Support Operations and Localization at Wildlife Studios
Crowdin API
Leveraging the Crowdin API, Wildlife Studios established a direct connection between their content management system and the Crowdin localization platform. This integration provided a robust and automated solution for managing translation projects, allowing Wildlife Studios to easily send and receive content for translation, track progress, and update translations in real-time.
“Crowdin’s API integrations, particularly with collaboration tools like Slack, have been a game-changer for us. Real-time notifications and updates have facilitated smooth communication and accelerated the implementation process.” Anderson Lebrão Sanchez, Manager of Player Support Operations and Localization at Wildlife Studios
Driving International Growth: Wildlife Studios’ Localization Journey with Crowdin
The collaboration between Wildlife Studios and Crowdin, has successfully addressed the challenges faced by Wildlife Studios in achieving consistent and high-quality game localization. By leveraging vendor’s expertise and the robust features offered by Crowdin, Wildlife Studios has been able to reach a global audience effectively, engaging players in their preferred languages. This localization journey has resulted in enhanced player satisfaction, market expansion, and increased revenue for Wildlife Studios’ mobile games.
