Retro Publisher Admits SNES And Genesis Re-Releases Contain "Uncredited" Fan Translations

Retro-Bit Publishing, a company that specializes in re-releasing mostly Japan-exclusive 8- and 16-bit games on modern consoles, was recently accused of using existing fan translations in their ports without credit. The company confirmed that the charges are indeed true, and that it plans to "offer a means of resolution" to the translators whose work went uncredited.The four games in question are Shockman Zero, Assault Suits Valken, Gley Lancer, and Majyuo: King of Demons. These claims were first made by translator Krokodyl on their blog, who cited identical dialogue in several of the games, as well as custom fonts created by fan translators. The most damning piece of evidence is in Gley Lancer, where the fan translator MIJET added their own name to the Japanese version of the game's credits, which you can find in Retro-Bit's version, clearly indicating that someone else's work was used. As Krokodyl notes in the blog post, Retro-Bit stated in a public Q&A that it did not "utilize any existing script or work" for these re-releases."After our discussion internally we as Retro-Bit concluded that the final work submitted contained, to a lesser or higher degree, uncredited work," Retro-Bit wrote in a statement to Time Extension. "...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." Continue Reading at GameSpot

Feb 25, 2025 - 18:00

Retro Publisher Admits SNES And Genesis Re-Releases Contain "Uncredited" Fan Translations

Retro-Bit Publishing, a company that specializes in re-releasing mostly Japan-exclusive 8- and 16-bit games on modern consoles, was recently accused of using existing fan translations in their ports without credit. The company confirmed that the charges are indeed true, and that it plans to "offer a means of resolution" to the translators whose work went uncredited.

The four games in question are Shockman Zero, Assault Suits Valken, Gley Lancer, and Majyuo: King of Demons. These claims were first made by translator Krokodyl on their blog, who cited identical dialogue in several of the games, as well as custom fonts created by fan translators. The most damning piece of evidence is in Gley Lancer, where the fan translator MIJET added their own name to the Japanese version of the game's credits, which you can find in Retro-Bit's version, clearly indicating that someone else's work was used. As Krokodyl notes in the blog post, Retro-Bit stated in a public Q&A that it did not "utilize any existing script or work" for these re-releases.

"After our discussion internally we as Retro-Bit concluded that the final work submitted contained, to a lesser or higher degree, uncredited work," Retro-Bit wrote in a statement to Time Extension. "...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." Continue Reading at GameSpot