Retro game publisher Retro-Bit has admitted that some of its re-released 16-bit games contain elements from existing fan translations, reused without credit.
Over the weekend Retro-Bit Publishing was accused of using existing fan translations for at least four of its 16-bit re-releases of SNES and Mega Drive / Genesis games that were previously only available in Japan.
The claims alleged that the programmer Retro-Bit had used for the localisation process had mainly taken custom fonts and translations from existing fan mods of Shockman Zero, Assault Suits Valken, Gley Lancer and Majyuo: King of Demons, and applied them to Retro-Bit’s versions without crediting the original translators.
In perhaps the most damning example, one fan translation included the translator’s name in the credits, written in Japanese, which Retro-Bit’s programmer seemingly missed and kept in the game, essentially confirming that the fan translator’s work had been used.
In a statement to VGC, Retro-Bit has now accepted that the claims are true, and says that following conversation with the programmer in question it takes responsibility for “dropping the ball”.
“We (Retro-Bit) have had success working with a number of translators and programmers to deliver each release,” the statement reads. “Unfortunately, due to schedule conflicts, we are not always able to work with them on every title.
“The translator who worked on these titles has a portfolio of translating entire text-heavy games, so we believed he was capable of our translation request since they were games that contained less text. We reached out to the translator for their explanation regarding these claims.
“After our discussion internally we as Retro-Bit concluded that the final work submitted contained, to a lesser or higher degree, uncredited work. We’ve always had a successful understanding of our shared responsibilities with our collaborators and unfortunately in this instance, we let our guard down.
“This was an irresponsible oversight on our end and we take full accountability for this outcome and not verifying the submitted translation. To amend this situation, we will set out to reach those whose work was not recognized to offer a means of resolution.”
The publisher also said that future releases have been placed on hold so it can further investigate the situation and ensure they won’t suffer the same issue.
“Although we have upcoming titles that we are excited to release that have never been localized, we will be delaying them to refine our translation and programming procedures to ensure this does not happen again,” it told VGC.
“One of the most rewarding parts of doing these re-releases is collaborating with many talented members of the retro gaming community while being able to support the original developers. Our intent was never to take advantage of that relationship and we apologize for disappointing our fans. We deeply value the retro gaming community and appreciate your ongoing support and patience as we improve our processes.”
