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Publishing and localizing your game in Japan may be a lot easier than you think

For developers wandering Tokyo Game Show before the actual show begins (i.e. on the two business days beforehand), Tokyo Game Show is filled with business opportunities, some of which you have probably never even though of.

One such opportunity we hadn’t realized was just how easy it is to localize your English game to work in Japan, China, or anywhere else in the world for that matter!

For the purpose of this article, we will stick with Japan as our main focus, which is bustling with opportunity for anyone interested in putting in the effort.

Based on what we’ve learned so far, the first thing you need to consider is whether or not players will even understand your game outside of your country or region. This is super important and actually kind of overlooked. China, for instance, won’t even let you publish your game if it contains some forms of media which are prohibited by the Chinese Government.

The next step is to find the right localizers for the job. Some localization teams will even publish your game on platforms specific to that country’s needs. For instance, the Nintendo Switch is currently booming in popularity in Japan, whereas it may not be as popular among your primary target audience.

Lastly, if you have the opportunity, we highly recommend actually meeting the people you will be working with. A cool company logo + fancy web-page don’t necessarily mean they are going to do a decent job localizing your game…

Below we’ve listed probably the most interesting localizer we bumped into at TGS.
*This is NOT a paid endorsement.

Kakehashi Games
– Localized over 50 games (including Overcooked! 2) in 2018 alone!

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