Demid Tishin, AllCorrect

Sex, Drugs and Undead, or How to Fail Your Game in Every Possible Market

(White Nights Conference Berlin 2019)
The official conference website — http://wnconf.com

Transcript

1. Sex, Drugs and Undead or How to Fail Your Game in Every Possible Market
2. Disclaimers • The content of this presentation may be considered offensive by some users. • This presentation reflects my personal opinions and experience as a game developer and head of localisation studio. • This is not legal advice.
3. I’ve got an RPG idea!
4. Greek gods vs undead ISIS terrorists!
5. Things to consider for each target territory 1. Will the game get an age rating? 2. Will it fit players’ cultural background? 3. Can users play it in full? • Will adaptations affect gameplay? • Do I have resources for any adaptations?
6. 1. Will it get an age rating?
7. Nudity • China • Thailand • Islamic countries • … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gxg5INjNopo https://rainbow6.ubisoft.com/siege/en-us/news/152-337194-16/aesthetic-changes-in-y3s4 Japan Middle East USA China
8. Homosexual relationships • China • Islamic countries • … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gxg5INjNopo https://rainbow6.ubisoft.com/siege/en-us/news/152-337194-16/aesthetic-changes-in-y3s4
9. Graphic depiction of violence; blood and gore • Japan • Germany • China • Thailand • Islamic countries… USA China http://www.dorkly.com/post/85479/5-strange-trends-in-german-video-game-censorship https://rainbow6.ubisoft.com/siege/en-us/news/152-337194-16/aesthetic-changes-in-y3s4 USA Germany Japan
10. Extreme violence • Possible for ≈any country
11. Unconstitutional organisations • Germany • Russia • … http://www.dorkly.com/post/85479/5-strange-trends-in-german-video-game-censorship USA Germany USA Germany USA Germany USA
12. Bones & skulls • China https://www.themarysue.com/wrath-of-the-lich-king-china-censorship/ USA China USA China USA China
13. Gambling • China • Iran • Saudi Arabia • UAE • … https://rainbow6.ubisoft.com/siege/en-us/news/152-337194-16/aesthetic-changes-in-y3s4 USA China
14. Other bans in Islamic countries Gods
15. Geopolitical imaginations, state image & boundaries • China • Korea • Hong Kong • Taiwan • … China China Korea
16. Conflicts & history references
17. Hand gestures (esp. in marketing content) US version Japanese version http://www.dorkly.com/post/82508/japan-censorship
18. 2. Will it fit players’ cultural background?
19. Perceived discrimination Face-petting game in the Japanese version (removed in US) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHRjnTVQ_Ug
20. Original character Updated character Blackface Perceived discrimination https://www.thegamer.com/samorost-developers-redesign-blackface-compared-chuchel/ https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Blackface
21. Perceived discrimination
22. Proportions of in-game objects
23. Proactive adaptation of character appearance https://twvideo01.ubm-us.net/o1/vault/gdc2018/presentations/Platonova_Diana_Making_Player_Approved.pdf Japan Japan RoW RoW
24. Non-core gameplay: collectibles
25. Non-core gameplay: collectibles Zhuge Liang skin for the Chinese Lunar Calendar event
26. International vs National events 14 February + 14 March!
27. 3. Can users play the game in full?
28. IBM UI Expansion guidelines Number of Characters in Text Additional Physical Space Required 1 – 10 100% – 200% 11 – 20 80% – 100% 21 – 30 60% – 80% 31 – 50 40% – 60% 51 – 70 31% – 40% > 70 30%
29. i2 right-to-left support
30. Market research Content update Localisation engineering Culturalisation audit Game Design Localisation Localisation QA Get publisher-ready Loc provider Developer
31. Greek gods vs undead ISIS terrorists?
32. Want to get ready for international distribution? Drop me a line to receive the full checklist! Demid Tishin www.allcorrectgames.com dtishin@gmail.com