Do you think localizing companies should only focus on completing their announced releases before getting/announcing more licenses?

[NowItsAngeTime]

I bring up this topic because I see this complaint all the time, but I've talked with Xeviax (the owner of Sol Press) and he's made a statement about this topic a few times:

" The licensing process can take upwards of a year before finalization for some titles. If you were to wait until the completion of the current catalog, that would leave the entire staff out of work for 8+ months. "

Basically as you guys figure theres many roles to a VN licensing company, whether it's marketing, translating, editing, QA/QC, TLC, programming etc.

His statement made me think that sometimes people expect VN licensing companies to be treated like a video game company or something where they only have one or two major announcements and then release before announcing something else.

However, Xev's statement made me realize that if you only focus on 1-3 titles at a time, there's gonna be people on the team who aren't going to be doing anything for a while. Sure they're likely contracts but ideally if you want to work for a company you'd want a job that at least gives you consistent work.

Translating, Programming, Edinging, QC, etc can all take quite a few months or so and the process of getting a license for a title could potentially be really long (or be a sunken ship).

So personally I think people who expect companies to only do a very small handful of statements should at least rethink their stance on this in regards to when licensing companies announce new projects before other ones are completed.

Of course, there is the possibility that only Sol Press and a few other companies even follow this philosophy and others don't.

[namiultedjapanXD]

I don't think so. It's important to keep hype going. This is of course they aren't getting in WAY over their head. 

[Wildbreed]

21 minutes ago, NowItsAngeTime said:

I bring up this topic because I see this complaint all the time, but I've talked with Xeviax (the owner of Sol Press) and he's made a statement about this topic a few times:

" The licensing process can take upwards of a year before finalization for some titles. If you were to wait until the completion of the current catalog, that would leave the entire staff out of work for 8+ months. "

Basically as you guys figure theres many roles to a VN licensing company, whether it's marketing, translating, editing, QA/QC, TLC, programming etc.

His statement made me think that sometimes people expect VN licensing companies to be treated like a video game company or something where they only have one or two major announcements and then release before announcing something else.

However, Xev's statement made me realize that if you only focus on 1-3 titles at a time, there's gonna be people on the team who aren't going to be doing anything for a while. Sure they're likely contracts but ideally if you want to work for a company you'd want a job that at least gives you consistent work.

Translating, Programming, Edinging, QC, etc can all take quite a few months or so and the process of getting a license for a title could potentially be really long (or be a sunken ship).

So personally I think people who expect companies to only do a very small handful of statements should at least rethink their stance on this in regards to when licensing companies announce new projects before other ones are completed.

Of course, there is the possibility that only Sol Press and a few other companies even follow this philosophy and others don't.

I think most people who are complaining are looking at the Sekai Blunder and then comparing to them...its not about the announcement... you can announce as many Vns as you like as long as you deliver is all what everyone is saying..  and release Delays just add to the doubts

[Yuuko]

How else can you ever grow as a company if you never take more work before old is done...

[bakauchuujin]

I think it is natural to take more work before old work is done, however there still needs to be a ballance and they can't just license too much. If they aren't going to be able to handle it in a somewhat reasonable time then they probably shouldn't license more. This is so you avoid the SP problem where some big licensed titles gets neglected for a long time like the yuzusoft titles.

[Clockwork Loli]

Disregard my post.  I actually know nothing on this subject.  Gomen.

Edited November 2, 2018 by Clockwork Loli

[Clephas]

As someone with no personal investment in this situation, I thought I'd chime in...  I have a few points for and against choosing to focus on one release before obtaining the license to another.

For

1.  Generally speaking, while Japanese companies are surprisingly patient about waiting for their games to get released here, in recent days that has become less and less the case.  Proof is in the pudding, with Sekai Project's current troubles.

2.  From a profitability perspective, it doesn't make much sense to release a bunch all at once in a clump.  When you release two VNs in a three month period, the one that is most obviously attractive to the fanbase is the one that is going to be the one purchased, whereas the other one will probably get buried, unless it has enough of a following to push it to the rest of the fans.

3.  Costs.  Purchasing a license or making a contract to release a VN here is not cheap, though still cheaper than a jrpg.  It also costs to advertise, and one reason VN companies are so horrible about that is because of their tiny war chests.

4.  Fan fatigue and disturbance.  The wait.  Simply put, the fanbase has changed from the era of fantl dominance, and most newer fanboys are the type that want instant gratification and expect it to some extent. 

Against

1.  Older fans' desperate hopes:  To be blunt, a lot of older fans desperately want the VNs they've been staring at for ten years to be released over here, and any slowdown in the industry means they feel like hope is far less.  This is especially true for those who have been VN readers for longer than I have but don't play untranslated.

2.  Momentum.  Without a promise of a constant stream of releases, it is hard to retain personnel and cash flow in the localization industry.  As was proven in the initial localization golden era by Working Designs, focusing on one or two localizations at a time is a dead end for momentum, since once cash flows stop, they have to consider layoffs or even bankruptcy, and it is hard to get back good personnel.

3.  Newer fans have fewer choices to look forward to.  This is a slightly bigger issue than the issue with older fans.  Newer fans are used to having plenty of choices in the near future in comparison to older fans.  While there are dangers to multiple releases, there is also an attraction to it.

4.  The more VNs on the horizon, the more stable the community and consumer base.  While companies might have financial issues with multiple projects, the community and consumers generally want to be assured their drug of choice isn't going to run out anytime soon.

 

Some Comments

Understand, the above is just my opinion based on the realities I've seen pop up over the years.  Feel free to bash it as long as you don't make it personal, lol.

A point against the op's statement that game localization companies generally only work on one or two at a time.  That is a false assumption.  Generally speaking, the most successful localization companies have five or six localizations in the works at once, with only subsidiaries or Western branches of Japanese companies producing one or two at a time.  However, those localizations are often not terribly urgent or go unannounced until they are midway through, if someone doesn't leak them.  Not all licenses are equal, and a small rpg might get buried underneath the news of a new Pokemon game's release over here, lol. 

 

[Nandemonai]

Of course they shouldn't.  If they did that then there would be a large block of time in between releases where there was nothing going on.  If you don't have work for people to do, you lay them off.  You don't pay people to do nothing much for months on end.  Not if you want to say in business.  Also, if you only go out there and ask for licenses every few years, you aren't going to have ongoing relationships with licensors and that will make it highly problematic.

The trick is not "don't llicense games until your old licenses are done".  Everyone does that.  The trick is "don't license too many games and grind everything to a halt".  Sekai Project seems to have fallen afoul of this.  They have something like 20 projects going and they continually have trouble getting things done in a timely manner.  Their problem isn't that they're continuing to acquire projects when they're not done with what they already have.  Their problem is acquiring projects faster than they can finish them.

[Veshurik]

By the way, is there any situation, when license got lost? Or something? Or expired?

I didn't remember that it happens in VN industry. Only with Shuffle from Mangagamer, maybe?..

[Okarin]

Do you think gamers should focus on finishing their pending games before purchasing more games? 

[adamstan]

23 minutes ago, Okarin said:

Do you think gamers should focus on finishing their pending games before purchasing more games? 

B...bb...but s....sales and discounts...

[Dreamysyu]

5 hours ago, adamstan said:

B...bb...but s....sales and discounts...

<- me, looking at my Steam library and realizing how many games in it I still haven't played.

[Hiashi]

To me, the companies can pick up as many as they feel they are capable of dealing with. I just want consistent intervals between releases with minimal delays and decent quality, especially on the releases I've been looking forward to. Transparency and progress reports are deeply welcomed.