Nintendo Faces Allegations of Failing to Properly Credit External Developers

Allegations have surfaced that Nintendo is not properly crediting external translators, according to sources from service providers Localsoft and Keywords. The sources, who spoke to Game Developer, claim that Nintendo has failed to adequately recognize their contributions to several notable titles, including Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. They further allege that Nintendo has a policy of excluding the names of translators from external agencies from game credits, also prohibiting these individuals from including the titles in their resumes. Prior to publication, Game Developer reached out to Nintendo, Keywords, and Localsoft but did not receive a response. One source recounted being consistently credited while working directly for Nintendo but recalled an instance where in-house testers were not credited for a Professor Layton title. The source noted that Nintendo of Europe handled localization and publishing for the Layton series at the time and that the in-house translators strongly protested the decision not to credit the testers. After leaving Nintendo, the source worked on projects for the company as a contractor through Localsoft and Keywords but claims not to have been credited for their work during this period. Another source from Localsoft alleged that external translators were required to sign non-disclosure agreements that prevented them from discussing their work on these projects. The source pointed out the credits for Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door as an example, where only six individuals were credited for localizing a title available in eight languages, suggesting that a typical localization team for such a game would consist of around 25 translators. The source also noted that while the omission of credits for 15 or 20 translators might not be noticeable in games like Animal Crossing or Breath of the Wild due to the large number of in-house translators credited, almost every major Nintendo title that uses external translators fails to properly credit them. Nintendo has faced similar allegations in the past, including criticism for omitting the original developers from the credits of Metroid Prime Remastered. The issue of miscrediting developers has been explored in depth, including discussions on the underlying causes and potential solutions.