We continue to summarize the results of 2022 together with the heads of gaming companies and market experts. Next up is an interview with Denis Khamin, co-owner of the Allcorrect 2D and 3D art localization and outsourcing studio.
What a year it was for you personally. Where are you now? Were there any things that finally managed to be realized and that you are proud of?
For me personally, the year was so-so. I looked at the to-do plan for 2022 and found out that I had done only one of the 24 tasks. And for the first time in my life, I broke my leg and burned my face with steam from the oven.
But there were a lot of unplanned tasks, most of which appeared you know why.
This year I traveled more than usual, and the last trip was related to the choice of a place for the relocation of the family. Therefore, now I am together with our production office in Serbia, in the city of Novi Sad. It’s December 26, and here the sun is shining and it’s 15 degrees Celsius. I also met a friend who had previously promised to come for the New Year for five years in a row. Now we are recording together the podcast “Evening Novi Sad” about relocation and life in exile.
I took new interviews for “Game Dev in the first person” and am now engaged in their decoding and mixing.
The writing of the book was postponed until 2023. Next year I also want to learn Serbian in order to better understand the coach in the crossfit gym.
What was this year like for the company? What have you done, what have you implemented, what achievements would you like to mention?
All last year we were actively engaged in art, that’s why we formed 2D and 3D units that have already worked more than eight thousand hours on client tasks. We have also launched narrative design in test mode. Testing new services in a falling market is not a very pleasant activity, but it is uplifting.
We have made a new website and continue to refine it. Attended 14 conferences and acquired 51 new clients in the portfolio. Localized A Plague Tale: Requiem into seven languages. This game was nominated for the “Best Visual Design” award at the Golden Joystick Awards ceremony, and also participated in many nominations at The Game Awards 2022, but, unfortunately, did not win any. But we are still proud of our work and hope to win in the nomination “The best game with an outstanding story” from Steam.
A lot of the company’s resources were spent on ensuring smooth operation in the new realities, as well as on planned and then unscheduled relocation of employees. Perhaps these are the two main achievements: they worked without interruptions and were relocated.
In 2021, our revenue grew by 64% in dollars. In 2022, the growth will be more modest — about 25%, to an annual turnover of $ 7.5 million.
How has the localization market changed over the year?
There are noticeably fewer orders paired with Russian and Chinese. At the same time, the volume of translations into Turkish has increased.
There have also been several deals in our market, including with Russian companies: there are fewer and fewer independent outsourcers.
Has the practice of working with gaming companies changed? In what and how exactly?
Quite a few companies around the world have frozen projects, reduced offices and are reviewing their plans for the near future. At the same time, the gaming market actually feels better than everyone else, so we are waiting for positive news in the new year.
Gaming companies remain excellent customers — open, friendly and reliable, so there are no changes here.
What are the main trends in localization at the moment would you highlight?
Russian Russian translations will obviously become even less and now AAA games with an official translation into Russian and full Russian voice acting will be an event, as in the nineties and two thousandth.
As far as I know, the Indian gaming market has finally demonstrated impressive growth and is now noticeable against the background of the rest. We are waiting for more localizations in Hindi and other official languages of this region. As usual, the markets of Southeast Asia, led by Indonesia, should grow.
What are the company’s plans for next year?
AI testing in all the company’s services, sales strengthening and face-to-face meetings in the Asian region. Further development of new directions and arrangement of the Serbian office.