[MUSAI] The Structure of the Game Localization Professionals in Korea
2020-04-13
Korean gaming market is interesting enough to attract the eyes of global game publishers, but not much information and data exist although it’s the fourth largest market in the world. Even less about the game localization service.
To share a brief glance of the industry, Musai Studio has posted an article about the translation agencies in Korea last year (See the article ‘Classification of translation agencies in Korea’: http://blog.musaistudio.com/current-status-of-localization-agencies-in-korea-for-game-contents). As a series, we would like to talk about more detail on the people within the localization industry of Korea.
As mentioned before, translation agencies in Korea can be classified into two categories – branch offices of international L10n companies and local translation agencies. Thus, the role and status of the localization professionals are slightly different where they are working for. In this article, we will separate them into three cases for the convenience.
Localization professionals within game developers and publishers
- Role: they are mostly in charge of the management of multiple translation agencies and quality assurance of the result from translation agencies. However, sometimes they have to translate some projects by themselves according to the schedule or quantity.
- Recruitment status: if the company has an in-house L10n team, they can be hired as a full-time position. However, the job opening is very rare since only a few companies have the team internally. Most companies hire L10n professionals on a contract basis according to their projects or outsource to translation agencies.
Localization professionals in branch offices of international companies
- Role: They are composed with project managers and reviewers, and their task is clearly separated. Since most translation phases are done by freelance translators, English communication ability should be fluent for all positions either communication purpose or quality assurance purpose.
- Recruitment status: Project managers and reviewers are mostly full-time workers. Sometimes on-site freelancers and testers are hired on a contract basis.
Localization professionals in local translation companies
- Role: There are project managers, reviewers and translators. Their task is not clearly separated, so flexibility on the duties are required.
- Recruitment status: Major and mid-sized companies are hiring year-round, and mostly full-time positions. Small-sized companies are hiring in case of necessity.
Localization professionals over the world won’t be different no matter where they work at. They love languages, contents and communication. All we hope is that this article helps you to understand Korean localization professionals and give you a chance to communicate with them better when the needs come.
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