From Concept to Global Phenomenon

Game Science, a leading game developer known for innovative and high-quality productions, created the widely anticipated action RPG Black Myth: Wukong. With stunning visuals and immersive gameplay, the studio aimed to captivate audiences worldwide while staying true to its Chinese cultural roots.

When bringing Black Myth: Wukong to a global audience, Game Science partnered with Altagram, a specialized language service provider. Both companies, as industry innovators in their respective fields, share a commitment to delivering exceptional quality to players. After a competitive vendor selection process, Altagram emerged as the ideal choice, demonstrating superior understanding of the game's cultural nuances. Altagram's dedication to linguistic precision and cultural authenticity made them the perfect partner for this complex project, showcasing their shared passion for video games, expert localization, and uncompromising quality.

The Scale to Success

• 10 million+ copies sold in just 72 hours
• More than 95% positive reviews on Steam
• More than 1 million words localized across 7 languages over 10 months

Key Localization Challenges

1. Cultural Nuances and Mythology: Complex concepts and historical references requiring careful adaptation
2. Lyrical Content: Poetry and songs demanding creative translation solutions
3. Tone Balance: Maintaining authenticity while ensuring accessibility for global audiences

Cultural Consultation Expertise

Our in-house Chinese Culture Consultant, Xuan Pan, provided crucial guidance:

"Game Science provided clear direction for the localization, including using 'loong' instead of 'dragon' and introducing terms like 'Yaoguai/Guai' for folklore creatures. As a native Chinese speaker, I understood their vision to authentically convey Chinese culture... I'm proud to contribute to a project that merges my passion for gaming with the goal of bringing Black Myth: Wukong's rich narrative to a global audience." - Xuan Pan, Chinese Cultural Expert at Altagram

Voices from our Linguists

“The game includes various poems and rhyming songs, which posed challenges in translation due to Spanish being 20-30% longer than English. To address these constraints, we rephrased and interpreted the text, adapting details while preserving the original meaning and tone.” - Mar Campayo, Spanish Linguist

“We kept certain original terms like 'loong' and 'yaoguai' to add an authentic touch to the text. By weaving the narrative around these key terms, we crafted a vivid translation that brought Chinese mythology to life for a global audience.” - Marianna Couto, Brazilian Portuguese Linguist

“One of the most exciting challenges was capturing the quirky speech of the headless monk. To give his dialogue a distinct flair, we dropped the first vowel from articles—turning 'Il tramonto è una bellezza' into ''L tramonto è 'na bellezza.' This simple twist created a truly memorable voice!” - Sara Baroni, Italian Linguist

“For the Russian localization, we adapted all king characters and bosses as 'царь' (Tsar) to avoid European connotations. In Russian, Eastern rulers are traditionally referred to as tsars, making this an important cultural distinction. The Great Sage, for example, is known as the Tsar of Monkeys in Russian.” - Nikita Tiurin, Russian Linguist

Strategic Project Management & Tailored Solutions

Claire Bajard, an industry veteran with over 10 years of project management experience at Blizzard Entertainment, led this ambitious project. Her extensive experience in game localization was key to overcoming the challenges of bringing Black Myth: Wukong to a global audience. Claire built an expert multilingual team, set up efficient workflows, and ensured clear communication across all teams.

She also leveraged advanced technology, including the proprietary platform of Altagram’s sister company, Alocai, to streamline coordination and centralize game knowledge. Claire’s strategic leadership, combined with these cutting-edge tools and Game Science’s support, helped the team meet tight deadlines while maintaining the high localization quality.

Partnering for Excellence: Insights from Game Science

The localization of Black Myth: Wukong, a game deeply rooted in Chinese mythology, faced challenges in cultural translation and global communication. Benefiting from Altagram's rich experience in game localization field and their professional teams, Game Science was able to authentically present the game's content that is inherently tied to Chinese cultural context for an international audience.

Effective localization demanded more than linguistic conversion. It required a nuanced approach to cultural representation, which has always been a critical focus of the collaborative effort between Game Science and Altagram's teams. With careful consideration of mythological references, symbolic language, and cultural subtext, Altagram's linguist team not only delivered precise and natural translations, ensuring global players had seamless access to the game's content, but also effectively recreated an intriguing style to convey the story of Black Myth: Wukong with the original narrative flavor based on Chinese mythology.

Project management also played a crucial role in maintaining the work momentum and quality during the localization of Black Myth: Wukong. From the earlier stages of the project's initiation, to the post-release updates and maintenance, Altagram's manager team has been keeping a close communication with Game Science, providing prompt response and solid support. The meticulous project planning, consistent communication, and active problem-solving were key factors to the smooth collaboration between two sides.

Communication technologies helped improve the localization workflow of this project. The introduction of Altagram's specialized query platform, Alocai, proved instrumental in handling complex linguistic and cultural translation challenges. This query platform enabled direct and detailed communication between the linguists and Game Science's team, facilitating rapid resolutions of contextual nuances and potential interpretative complexities. Employing Alocai significantly enhanced the efficiency and accuracy of the translation workflow.

Through this partnership, the project achieved significant optimization in its localization timeline while maintaining exceptional quality standards. The successful adaptation of the original cultural elements and efficient workflow management contributed to the game's positive reception among global players.

Game-Changing Results & Impact

The successful localization of Black Myth: Wukong demonstrates Altagram's ability to handle complex, culturally-rich content while maintaining the highest standards of quality. The game's commercial success and positive player reception across multiple markets validate our approach to cultural adaptation and linguistic precision.

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