Unlocking a Global Audience

Like many industries, the video game industry is in turmoil amid widespread layoffs, major mergers and acquisitions (M&As), and sudden strategic pivots. Sony’s recent decision to shift from multi­platform game releases back to an emphasis on PlayStation exclusivity is just one recent example. How does that chaotic environment influence your decision-making?
Bodson: To stay ahead, we have to remain agile, which is the easy answer. But really, while the industry is certainly going through a period of change, in many ways, that’s not new. The games industry has always sat at the intersection of technology and creativity; evolution is part of its DNA. For us, it just reinforces the importance of staying agile and forward focused. Our role is to help clients navigate that complexity, bringing together talent, technology, and global scale to reduce risk and enable them to move faster with confidence.

In that sense, environments like this are where we’re at our most valuable: helping our clients cut through the noise and continue to make the best games possible.

Keywords Studios has acquired several companies to expand its capabilities. Do you foresee future growth through M&As? What steps do you see as necessary to ensure future growth?
Bodson: Honestly, we’re not short of ideas to keep investing in our growth. Our recent transition to private ownership through EQT doesn’t change our strategy; it enables us to accelerate it. There’s more we could still do to provide value to our clients in an industry that continues to evolve rapidly: Our focus is always on the solutions and value we bring to our clients.

M&A remains an important part of our strategy, and we’re disciplined in our approach. We’re not acquiring for scale alone; any investment must be value accretive and strategically aligned as well as strengthen our ability to operate as an integrated platform for our clients. In short, it needs to fit!

Keywords Studios has worked on some massive titles, from Fortnite and Doom Eternal to Alan Wake. What are the most memorable projects you have worked on?
Bodson: A hard question to answer as we love every project we work on! We work on a huge range of incredible projects, from major AAA titles to indies, to big budget film and television projects, and each one is memorable in its own way.

What stands out the most though isn’t necessarily the games themselves — it’s the passion of our teams. We have people across Keywords Studios who will spend the day working on a game and then go home and play it, because they have such love for it. That’s what I remember — the people behind the projects who are incredibly talented professionals that show up with that same passion day after day.

With game studios often preferring simultaneous global launches over staggered releases, what time pressures are involved in localizing modern titles? How do you work with developers to ensure games are ready on time?
Franceschina: Multi-market launches have always been central to localization services, especially in the digital age of gaming allowing for (almost) simultaneous launches across the globe. The key to success is planning: We partner with our clients to strategically implement localization schedules and ensure that we’re ready on time. Now, the new frontier is really about aligning with clients to support markets that traditionally would have been underserved. It is an exciting time for every localization subject-matter expert who enjoys watching cultures be represented and plays a role in the world.

Not all games require the same localization effort. Role-playing games (RPGs), for instance, often contain enormous amounts of dialogue, voice acting, proper noun–­filled lore, and more. What titles are typically the most challenging from a localization perspective? Similarly, what titles have proven the most enjoyable and rewarding?
Franceschina: Localizing games is all about the experience for the player, no matter the genre. Every gaming title presents the perfect opportunity to showcase content to gamers in a way that best resonates with them. An RPG, with its more story-based and character-based narratives, can often provide different technical challenges than a puzzle title, for example. But every game is rewarding for us, knowing that we are providing gamers with a gaming experience rooted in their native dialect or cultural background. Just understanding that gamers are ending the game, watching that credits screen, feeling fulfilled, is incredibly rewarding.

Can you give us a sense of how Keywords Studios’ internal workflows function? How do you manage your teams, and how many projects are you typically working on at one time?
Bodson: The short answer is, we’re always working on a lot of projects! Realistically, it’s hard to provide an overview of internal workflows, as each client needs a different level of support and assistance. We work across a very large number of projects at any given time, ranging in scale and complexity, so flexibility is key to how we operate.

Our approach is built around adapting to our clients’ needs. In some cases, that means highly centralized production and, in others, more embedded or distributed models, depending on what best supports the project.

At its core, our role is to simplify complexity for our clients. We bring together the right talent, processes, and technology to ensure projects run efficiently and consistently, regardless of scale.

From a management perspective, what does it take to ensure all team members are in sync and turning out assets on time?
Franceschina: We organize our teams around our clients and their IP. Firstly, we aim to become deeply integrated with each client’s workflow, ensuring that we’re working within and to their needs. As with most projects, communication is key. Secondly, our team members are as passionate about gaming as our clients, often avid fans of the franchises that they now have a part within! At our heart, we are all passionate world builders with love for the stories that we are localizing. This all works to make everything synchronized and, ideally, flawless in implementation.

Are there any upcoming projects you’re particularly excited about that you can share with us?
Bodson: My kids ask me that every morning! I’ll have to give you the same answer: I need to keep that to myself, unfortunately.
What I can say is, outside of external client projects, we have some interesting internal ones cooking. We’re seeing that the industry is increasingly turning its eye toward new technologies and systems: Artificial intelligence is a growing technology that many studios are investigating as a potential support tool alongside human expertise. We’re constantly evaluating the tools available to developers and assessing how good these tools are and what they can offer. It’s part of what we do — really analyze the truth behind these tools and be that R&D expert to give that transparent picture to our clients before they invest.

But all I can say for now is watch this space!