Video Games

Nihon Falcom boss supports using AI for game translations

Studio behind the Ys and Trails series

Marco Wutz

Nihon Falcom

Toshihiro Kondo, the president of Japanese developer Nihon Falcom, expressed his support for the use of AI to translate video games in an interview with 4Gamer. He stated that AI would have the benefit of getting the work done quicker, allowing the studio’s games to be released globally at a faster rate or even simultaneously with the Japanese version. He noted that the saved time and costs of AI translation would allow studios to target global releases for more niche titles as well.

Kondo added that human editors would still have to check the AI’s initial work, but acknowledged that some people would lose their jobs if such a process were to be followed. Kondo sees AI as a future benefit to society and said that using this new technology is inevitable anyways, so there is little use in running away from it.

He likened those who argue against the use of AI to replace human creatives to the Luddites, a movement in 19th-century England that protested against using certain automated machines in textile factories – unsuccessfully so, as their protests were answered with violence.

Kondo at least expressed understanding for his employees at Nihon Falcom who are critical of AI, especially the designers, whose work could be illegally used by AI for training purposes.

Nihon Falcom’s Ys X: Nordics, which came out in Japan in 2023, is set for its worldwide release on October 25, 2024, and you can check out its demo for free.

Earlier this year, we spoke to Toshihiro Kondo about how Falcom forged Trails through Daybreak in a crucible of change.

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Marco Wutz
MARCO WUTZ

Marco Wutz is a writer from Parkstetten, Germany. He has a degree in Ancient History and a particular love for real-time and turn-based strategy games like StarCraft, Age of Empires, Total War, Age of Wonders, Crusader Kings, and Civilization as well as a soft spot for Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail. He began covering StarCraft 2 as a writer in 2011 for the largest German community around the game and hosted a live tournament on a stage at gamescom 2014 before he went on to work for Bonjwa, one of the country's biggest Twitch channels. He branched out to write in English in 2015 by joining tl.net, the global center of the StarCraft scene run by Team Liquid, which was nominated as the Best Coverage Website of the Year at the Esports Industry Awards in 2017. He worked as a translator on The Crusader Stands Watch, a biography in memory of Dennis "INTERNETHULK" Hawelka, and provided live coverage of many StarCraft 2 events on the social channels of tl.net as well as DreamHack, the world's largest gaming festival. From there, he transitioned into writing about the games industry in general after his graduation, joining GLHF, a content agency specializing in video games coverage for media partners across the globe, in 2021. He has also written for NGL.ONE, kicker, ComputerBild, USA Today's ForTheWin, The Sun, Men's Journal, and Parade. Email: marco.wutz@glhf.gg

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