Larian Studios Forums Divinity: Original Sin 2 Divinity - Original Sin 2 - General divinity original sin 2 italian localization

Hi, i just got to know via steam that it won't be an italian version of the game, i hope this is not the truth.
I have bought the first version of divinity original sin and i had to wait months for the italian localization made by users.

I really hope you guys give us an italian localization, please don't cut us out.

I didn't say there wouldn't be an Italian version, I said that wasn't one of the languages confirmed for release.

and what about Russian licalization?

thanks for the reply Raze, quick as always
I'm just telling you guys that the game in italy has a big hype since 2 of the most important gaming multiplayer.it and spaziogames.it sites have made such good previews that the game will sell well for sure in italy. Please consider to put an italian localization in the release of the game, thanks!

Russian is confirmed for the release, as well as English, French and German.

Since when we - the italians - have become so irrelevant in the videogame market?

If I'm not mistaken, the italian translation of D:OS was offered for free by some dedicated fans and integrated into the main game by Larian via patch. It would have been nice to provide an official one this time around, considering how well the title has sold here in Italy.

Since always (and don't get me wrong. I'm Italian as well as you).
Italy has traditionally been an unattractive market for RPG developers. CRPGs have always sold better in Germany (WAY better) and nowadays they sell better in Poland and Russia. Also, you should consider that with a Spanish/French/Russian/German translation you reach many different markets, while with an Italian translation you get only Italy.

Honestly, I perfectly understand why Larians want to save their money for other features. I'd rather have an additional month of beta testing than an Italian translation.

How well did it sell in italy? Do you have any official numbers I could take a look at? Because i'm really interested in that.

In addition; I feel you italy-bro's, you have such a beautiful language and I really hope you will get your italian localization. Let's hope it doesn't come to a fan-translation again.

I strongly disagree. I remember the RPG market being a flourishing one in our country, at least up to a decade ago.
Many important RPG titles had an official italian translation (at launch or added later on, but NOT provided by fans), an italian manual and in some cases even italian dubbing!
This was true for the epic PC series (Baldur's Gate original saga, while italian was ignored for the EE), the Blizzard titles (Diablo, Warcraft), as well as the console ones (Final Fantasy comes to mind).
German/French/Spanish/Italian was a standard for the europe market at the end of the 90s/early 00s.

I'm totally fine with the first D:OS not having italian at launch, but after its success here in our country and the free translation provided by fans and integrated via patch, now I'm VERY surprised that Larian didn't bother to give us one for the second title. It seems out of touch for a company so lovable and friendly like Larian. Are they counting on the fans again?
I also disagree about the Italian language in general: it is much more spoken and known than you might think, and still in the top 20 most spoken languages in the world (other than being one of the most beautiful ever, of course ).
If you consider that Divinity is a western-type RPG, you have to cut out some unusual markets/localizations from the list (like Hindi, Arabic, Korean etc.), so in the end Italian ends up way higher, easily in the top 10 most required languages for this kind of games.

Obsidian followed a similar route with Pillars of Eternity, and in the end they decided to add an official italian translation to the game after a survey on their forums. Since D:OS2 will appeal to a similar market, wouldn't it be a smart choice for Larian as well?

@Lyrhe: I don't have the sale figures of D:OS1 in Italy, I'm basing my assumption on the fact that the most important videogames' journals and sites did outstanding reviews of the game, claiming it was a success in sales. Clearly, it might just be an exaggeration. Thanks for the support anyway!
It would be nice to hear official Larian words on this very crucial matter for italian gamers.

Actually all the AAA games have italian localization, i really hope Larian people don't forget about us.
Would be a big mistake since the greatest videogames sites have excellent previews about DOS 2.

I started playing CRPGs with Ultima IV. My list of true epic Computer RPGs includes names like Ultima VII, Ultima Underworld, Darklands, Betrayal at Krondor, Dungeon Master, Pool of Radiance, etc...
Believe me: when I say that traditionally Italy has never been an appealing market for RPG developers I have PLENTY of evidences of that. For a Baldur's Gate saga that was translated in Italian you have a Fallout saga (the first two chapters + Tactics) that can be played in Italian only because of Ragfox. For a translated Diablo you have an untranslated Planescape Torment. Troika games have never been officially translated and so on so forth...
Our language has never been a standard for this genre. Only AAA RPGs with really big budgets don't neglect Italy by default.



I have a degree in linguistics. So, I'm perfect aware that our language is spoken in many different countries outside of Italy. This doesn't mean, though, that you can reach new markets (outside of Italy) by including an Italian translation in your game. Second generation Italian Americans won't play your game in Italian, and the same goes for the descendants of our people all around the world...
The other languages I've mentioned, on the other hand, have a way more pronounced commercial appealing. For obvious reasons.

+1, I hope that the italian language will be official integrated during the first few months after the launch... :/

Since you have a degree in linguistics, you will know the sorry state of our compatriots when it comes to speaking foreign languages, let alone a full RPG in english!
The italian localization would be aimed at those people, who will not play/buy the game otherwise, I don't think it's a matter of conquering new markets. On the fact that french/german/spanish are way more appealing commercially, we all agree, but that's not the point.

Also, at its present state, I think that D:OS2 is far from being a niche title, and Larian is no longer an indie, unknown developer. I'm not saying they are on AAA levels, but for sure Larian is reaching a similar status, both in respect from the playerbase and publicity from the magazines. Consider all the awards won by the first chapter, the overwhelming amount of advertisement, the positive reviews, the sale figures, and especially the incredible kickstarter campaign for this game.
Could one really compare all this to titles like PS:Torment or Arcanum? Not at all, in my opinion, because despite being now revered as "masterpieces", "legends" etc., they actually bombed at release, and went by almost unnoticed, with poor reviews and pathetic sale figures.

Diablo and especially Baldur's Gate are in my eyes way more fitting comparisons, because we are talking about well received games made by developers with good names but not AAA for sure back then. Blizzard North was not the current Blizzard, and Bioware pre-BG was not EA, so to speak. Still, they included our market, even with questionable tranlations, but at least they didn't cut us out!

Moreover, if you want a contemporary comparison, I mentioned Pillars of Eternity by Obsidian. That (amazing) game also came from a kickstarter campaign, and the financial situation of Obsidian was much worse than Larian's, still they included the official italian localization. Why should Larian, in its present form, exclude us? I don't find a reasonable answer, especially considering what happened with the italian patch of the first title, but I don't want to talk out of my ***, so it would be cool to hear official Larian words on this matter.

It goes without saying that an Italian translation would help to reach more players in our country. I totally agree with that. The point I was trying to make is another one: I don't think that reaching more Italins is worth the investment of time and money for a medium size studio like Larian. Sadly the numbers are pretty straightforward in this regards: classic RPGs sell poorly in Italy. They always did.
Why? I don't know for sure. I can make an educate guess: Probably in Italy the gap between popular genres (FPSs, action games, sport games, etc...) and niche genres (classic RPGs, strategy games, adventures, etc...) is wider than abroad; the high incidence of piracy plays a part for sure; the fact that we don't like reading that much (a sad but well documented fact) too. Probably there are other and more subtle reasons, but the numbers are numbers.

Actually Planescape: Torment is among the highest rated RPGs ever ((http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/planescape-torment) and Troika games got good-to-great reviews when they were released (http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/arcanum-of-steamworks-and-magick-obscura ; http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/the-temple-of-elemental-evil ; http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/vampire-the-masquerade---bloodlines). None of them was a commercial success - that's true - but not because of the cold critical reception.

Allow me to disagree 1) Because both titles were a conscious attempt to widen the RPG audience, so they needed to be as accessible as possible 2) Because they were published by well established publishers like Interplay and Blizzard Entertainment.

I don't think that before the release of D:OS Larian Studios was in better shape than Obsidian Entertainment (Sven stated in his blog that he basically asked any single bank in Belgium for a loan), but aside for that, the comparison is fitting. I actually think that Pillars of Eternity was translated in Italian because of its supposed commercial appeal. As the spiritual successor of Baldur's Gate it should have sell better than D:OS I. Things went the other way around, though, and now Larians have a wider audience to serve with this sequel. But is it wide enough to make the Italian translation worthwhile? I still don't think so.

so there will be no italian localization on dos2? are you serious larian? ><

Hi folks, I would like to express my view on the issue that as you know is not new for Larian.

First of all, I have to say that any comparison with the RPG market of the years 2000 is pointless.
The industry is changed so much since then that we can bearly talk about "Classic RPG market" per se.

Is it true that Germany represents a more interesting market for these kind of games at the same time
we have to stress the fact that Italy have the population of 60M (61.950.848 last estimate available)
about 50% are gamers.
Is not a problem of sales.

Germany 82.166.671
France 64.999.988
UK 62.032.247
Italy 61.950.848
Spain 46.610.455
Ukrain 45.132.101

The point is that Larian is not interested in the localization of the game in Italian or in any other languages apart from those already confirmed.
This was the case with Divine Divinity with Divinity Original Sin and the story will continue with Divinity Orginal Sin 2.

I wish the the fans will localize the game by their own, so that Larian will be able to make profit from it.

Baudolino capisco che tu voglia esprimere la tua opinione, ma non capisco per quale motivo tu debba fare il bastion contrario
per una localizzazione che se venisse fatta a te non toglierebbe assolutamente nulla, bah.

Because he's right.
"You wouldn't lose anything from it" is a bogus argument.
It's not about how much HE loses from an italian translation.

It's about the delusional promises being made in this thread (stuff like "With an italian translation you would sell a shitload in our country!") that don't seem to match the reality of the market (software sales in Italy tend to be low compared to other european countries even in far more popular genres).

If Larian decides to take the loss and to invest in it that would be a nice gesture from them, but let's never pretend that isn't essentially what you are asking them to do: to waste time and money to serve a very small niche into a niche.

Please an italian version or i can't play Divinity original sin 2 and i love this game! Please Larian please please