[From the industry] The Tentacle Zone in Farringdon, London will host a localisation panel and networking evening this February

This is a press release posted in addition to our usual editorial content.

Join us at the Tentacle Zone in Farringdon, London, on February 6, 2024 for an engaging panel session and networking evening exploring the world of game localisation, with a special focus on launching games in Japan.

Organised by Payload Studios and the Tentacle Zone, in collaboration with SOAS Centre for Translation Studies and The Japan Foundation, this free event offers game developers, students, and educators the opportunity to:

• Learn more about how to localise their games, when to take the plunge and how to be mindful of cultural considerations – with a particular focus on the Japanese market.
• Find out more about the localisation industry, how it works and how it’s predicted to change in the coming years.
• Get more information about starting a career in the game localisation industry.

We’ve lined up a panel of experts, each with a unique background, to offer their insights into this ever-expanding area of game development. In addition to the panel session, there will be time to network with your fellow attendees.

The Game Localisation Panel Line-up includes:

Opening keynote speaker: Russ Clarke – CEO & Co-Founder, Payload Studios

Russ is the co-founder, CEO and Creative Director of Payload Studios. In a 25 year career in games, spanning technical, creative, operational and business roles, he has built teams from scratch and worked with a huge range of IP, from world-leaders like Metal Gear Solid and Call of Duty to Payload’s highly successful original title, TerraTech. Russ and Payload co-founder Vincent Scheurer also created the Tentacle Zone, a London based community that brings together diverse games businesses, offering shared workspace, resources and networking.

Mette Tingey – Director, Alpha Games (Moderator)

Mette Tingey has worked in the localisation industry for 25 years. Since 2017, she has been responsible for Alpha Games, an offshoot of Alpha that is focused exclusively on providing localisation services to games industry clients.

Nana Sato-Rossberg – Professor in Translation Studies, Chair of SOAS Centre for Translation Studies

Nana is a leading scholar in Translation Studies, with expertise in Japan and East Asia. She is currently Chair of the Centre for Translation Studies of SOAS University of London. She is also an Executive Council member of the International Association of Translation and Intercultural Studies and the founder of the East Asian Translation Studies conference series (since 2014).

Ikuyo Taniguchi – Localisation Editor, Guest Lecturer at SOAS

Ikuyo is a freelance language editor & translator with 16 years’ experience in tech, games and entertainment, whose client list spans from Apple Inc. to Tim Burton Productions. Within the games industry, she has held roles in localisation, liaison and production at companies like SEGA Europe and Marmalade Technologies. She is also an occasional lecturer at SOAS, University of London.

Sai Wun Poon – Executive Producer, Payload Studios

Sai Wun has decades of experience as a games industry producer, with localisation central to many of his roles.

Sarah Burns – Head of Production & Operations, Marvelous Europe

Sarah Burns has worked in the games industry since 2007. Her role at Marvelous Europe, a subsidiary of Japanese games publisher Marvelous Inc., includes responsibility for the localisation of all titles

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If you’re in the games industry and would like to register to go to the panel and networking session over on Eventbrite, the code for access to tickets is TZEvent.