Highlights
- Larian Studios will update Baldur's Gate 3 credits to include the names of freelance localization team members who were initially left uncredited for their contributions.
- The game features comprehensive localization in 13 languages, outsourced to partners such as the Altagram Group. Altagram was responsible for the incomplete credits.
- The localization staff worked on translating over 1 million words for the game, spanning nearly four years.
Larian Studios vowed to update Baldur's Gate 3 credits in order to address the fact that some members of its localization team that worked on the game as freelancers were left uncredited for their contributions. The controversy came to light within days of Baldur's Gate 3 releasing to overwhelmingly positive reviews.
Like most modern big-budget titles, Baldur's Gate 3 features comprehensive localization meant to make the game maximally accessible. Larian localized the game in 13 languages, including French, Chinese, and Brazilian Portuguese. And though the Belgian studio has over 400 employees as of 2023, it has historically avoided in-house localization in favor of outsourcing that part of development to partners such as the Berlin-based Altagram Group.
It was Altagram that was at fault for the fact that some Baldur's Gate 3 localizers were left out of the game's credits, with Larian saying as much in a recent statement to Eurogamer. After the Belgian developer was made aware of the issue, it promptly "compelled" Altagram to help address the controversy by providing it with an exhaustive list of freelancers who worked on the game, a Larian spokesperson said. The complete list of the RPG's localization staff will hence be added to the game as part of its first major patch, which is expected to come out as soon as Larian is done releasing hotfixes for the day-one version of Baldur's Gate 3.
In the meantime, Altagram has taken to Twitter to admit fault for the incomplete list of credits identifying its Brazilian Portuguese localization team. In a lengthy statement posted on Twitter, the company said it accepts "full responsibility" for the omission, vowing to overhaul its content review practices so that something like this doesn't happen again. The only members of the Brazilian Portuguese localization team that are credited in the current version of Baldur's Gate 3 are Altagram's executives and project leads.
Some members of the localization staff found this incomplete list of their contributions all the more disappointing due to how massive of an undertaking localizing Baldur's Gate 3 was. Fernando Moreiras, a credited member of the Spanish team, said that the project spanned more than 2.5 million words and ran for nearly four years. The size of the game's script is also underlined by the fact that Baldur's Gate 3 has thousands of ending possibilities.
Baldur's Gate 3 is not the only big-budget game that found itself at the center of a localization controversy in recent months; following Bethesda's June 11 showcase, some gamers were also left angry about Starfield's language options.
Baldur's Gate 3 is available now on PC and launches September 6 on PS5, with an Xbox Series X/S port also in development.
Source: Eurogamer
