The First Chinese localization project of Crusader Kings iii
Partnering with Community Leaders:
The Chinese Debut of Crusader Kings III
Achieves Great Success
Background
Paradox Interactive needed the first official Simplified-Chinese localization of Crusader Kings III—a huge 1.05 million-word script—ready for the global Steam launch on 2 September 2020.
Success hinged on balancing professional game-localization workflows with the deep lore expectations of China’s hard-core grand-strategy community.
Challenges
Two-month deadline: translation, editing, and linguistic QA had to finish before DLC development began.
Community acceptance: long-standing fan mods had already set preferred terminology and tone.
Complex, tag-heavy text: medieval poetry, dynasty names, and variable tags demanded creative yet error-free handling.
Rapid resource ramp-up: a multi-disciplinary team had to be in place within one week.
LangLink Solution
Hybrid talent pool of veteran RPG translators + influential Chinese modders to align new text with fan-loved terminology.
60-page style guide & glossary covering lore, poetic metre, and tag conventions to lock consistency for all future DLC.
Seven-day team assembly: 20 linguists, cultural consultants, and dedicated tag-QA engineers onboarded at speed.
Multi-layer QA: daily terminology audits and automated scripts that flagged variable/tag errors before final build delivery.
Cultural adaptation pass to ensure historical references and idioms resonated with Chinese players while meeting Paradox authenticity standards.
Results
100 % on-time delivery: full script submitted 30 April 2020, enabling the planned launch.
Player acclaim: Chinese gamers praised lore fidelity and poetic depth; Steam rating remains “Very Positive.”
Commercial impact: localization contributed to 3 million+ global sales by Sept 2023.
Community goodwill: involving respected modders turned core fans into vocal brand advocates across Chinese forums and Bilibili.
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Game details
Release date
1 September 2020
Genre
Strategy, Role-playing