As game companies seem almost proud of using generative AI tools as part of development, publisher GungHo Online Entertainment of the upcoming Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter remake revealed that won’t utilize the tech to help increase the speed of the game’s localization as translators bring a “human touch” to the project as they help maintain developer Falcom’s writing while maintaining the character voices, terminology, and world-building the Trails series is known for, according to an interview with LEVEL UP.
“We don’t use artificial intelligence for any of our translations. Our entire localization process is handled manually, and the same applies to the game’s assets. Naturally, we’re closely following the evolution of AI, both from a technological standpoint and because of the ongoing discussion surrounding its use within the industry. One of the main reasons is that we believe players expect work created by people. In a series like Trails, which features such an extensive universe and a massive cast of characters, maintaining consistency across every installment is essential,” GungHo Online Entertainment America CEO Fumiaki Shiraishi said in the interview alongside Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter producer Matthias Pergams.
“Even if we were to use artificial intelligence tools as support at some point, our workflow would remain virtually the same. The process starts with an initial translation, followed by a complete second review, then an editing stage, and several additional rounds of verification. In other words, every piece of text would still pass through human hands multiple times before reaching players.”
One deciding factor in the decision was that Trails, having a growing cast with its own share of unique personalities in the Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter remake, there comes even more information like titles, nicknames, and expressions throughout the series that feels would get loss with soulless machine translation approach.
It doesn’t help that a main component of generative AI is that it takes from multiple sources and some would say the tech straight up steal from other content online, that a human aspect would be needed to review any mistakes that Generative AI would most likely make. Instead, GungHo Online Entertainment is betting more on that human factor by making its translators a main staple of localization, like the many Japanese-developed games that have come before Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter; why change what isn’t broken.
Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter is less than a month away when it launches for PC via Steam, PS5, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch 2 on September 17th. A free demo was just recently released and is currently available to download.
