Experiencing new worlds and stories is not without the enormous work of translators. Together as worldbuilders, we are dedicated to creating immersive gaming experiences and ensuring our collective work is heard and celebrated.
Altagram's policy aims to foster a culture of appreciation and collaboration among all parties involved in the localization, voice talent, and linguistic quality assurance of video games. The policy applies to all internal employees and external vendors, subcontractors, and third-party providers who work with Altagram on projects. The policy specifies the minimum information, format, and style of the credits for each internal and external party based on the IGDA guidelines, adapted for the purposes of this policy, and the client and platform requirements. The policy assigns the responsibility for pursuing crediting rights, collecting and verifying crediting information and does not supersede any local laws and/or legislation regarding the topic.
Altagram wants to provide a stable and appreciative collaborative working environment in which team members, be it internal employees or external vendors, subcontractors, or third-party providers as well as clients can thrive together. Our goal is to foster long-term relationships between all parties involved to get the best experience for gamers without any breaks between iterations of games and DLCs. We also want to provide all our team members with the tools necessary to establish a stable livelihood in the video game and localization industry.
The scope of this policy is to outline the process for Altagram’s approach for crediting partners based on client and platform requirements and to ensure transparent communication with all project stakeholders.
Altagram will strive to credit all internal, external, and former team members on projects they have worked on. We will follow the client's guidelines and requirements for crediting in their titles. Altagram may have some limitations or restrictions due to the client’s and/or platform’s guidelines and requirements.
If not provided with other requirements from the client, we will ask the client to credit all internal, external, and former team members according to the following tiering system:
By using the tiering system, Altagram prioritizes crediting individuals and teams who worked on in-game content. Inclusion of individuals and teams who worked on a title’s out-of-game text will be at the discretion of the game’s publishers. Should this be granted and not affected by limitations set by the client and platform, these individuals and teams will be credited under Tier 1. Unless otherwise noted, individuals and teams will be credited based upon volume completed during production from most to least amount translated and/or edited.
Altagram will communicate with the client concerning any crediting guidelines and requirements that they have for the localization of their title, and any limitations or restrictions that may apply. Altagram will adhere to the client’s crediting policy.
Once a client’s crediting policy is known concerning a project or title, Altagram will inform its internal and external teams about the crediting guidelines and requirements for each project.
Altagram will collect information from its internal and external teams for crediting purposes, such as their desired full name, role, language where applicable, and/or services provided. Altagram verifies the accuracy and completeness of this information, and updates it as needed. Altagram also keeps a record of the contributions of each team member to each project, such as the number of words translated, edited, or proofread, the number of hours worked, or the number of bugs reported or fixed.
Altagram will submit the information for credits to the client, studio, developers, and/or publishers in their required format. If no required format is requested, Altagram will submit the information in the form of the tiered crediting system mentioned above. Altagram will also follow the guidelines as laid out by the IGDA where possible, such as using consistent and clear terminology, grouping credits by role and/or language, and providing credits in alphabetical order under distinct headers. Finally, Altagram will request confirmation of receipt of the credits from the client.
If crediting individuals, both internal and external, is not an option due to the client’s or the platform’s limitations/restrictions, Altagram will take the following alternative measures to recognize its team members’ work. In lieu of crediting in game, Altagram will request permission from the client so that individuals may include the project post-release in their CV and portfolio, if this does not infringe on any areas covered by an NDA or disclose any confidential or proprietary information about the title or client.
Should there be an error or an omission in the released version of the credits, Altagram is committed to rectifying the errors and omissions in a timely manner dependent upon permission from the publishers and developers.
Altagram will credit individuals based on their role or title during production of the project. Should crediting be done without roles or titles, a secondary option could consist of crediting individuals in groups based on disciplines.
The usage of nicknames, as per IGDA guidelines, is discouraged, while legal names are not required.
Altagram respects the confidentiality of sensitive projects and provides discretion to team members who choose not to receive public credits due to project-specific circumstances.
Altagram’s Project Managers are responsible for, at the onset of any project, discussing the possibility of crediting of all those involved in a project from Altagram’s side, and being transparent with all external partners when crediting is not permitted or limited. Altagram will also maintain open communication with team members regarding their desired level of credit and any potential changes.
Altagram’s Credits Committee is responsible for ensuring the practices are followed as outlined in the Crediting Policy document.
Questions regarding Altagram’s crediting policy can be forwarded to credits@altagram.com.
[1] IGDA Game Crediting Guidelines, 10.1 - March 2023
Source: https://igda.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/IGDA-Game-Crediting-Guidelines-10.1-March-2023.pdf
