I swear your curiosity won't kill the cat

Doropyan

Yeah, there's no definite answer so I can only speculate from what Netease has localised and search for patterns. I did some digging and here's what I've found.

Netease's only English-localised (hereinafter referred to as Global server) otome game is Lovebrush Chronicle where Japanese and English were published under the same app by Exptional Global. On 22 October 2020, one day before launch of CN server, their official CN account released the Japanese cast list which means a localisation was in the planning already. They first released the JP dubs in the CN server, then finally on 20 October 2023 they released their Global server with the JP dubs.

A bit of a tangent but I also want to mention the teasing of JP cast was a common thing for the games released around 2020 because Mr Love: Queen's Choice (MLQC) saw some success with the JP and Global servers in 2019 and entering the global market was trending back then. The big game companies saw an opportunity and were looking to invest internationally, meaning global servers would have been considered for marketing. I say marketing and not revenue because it seems to me they were looking to take a chance to test waters. CN server was still their main focus. Mihoyo teased their JP cast for Tears of Themis, and despite no Japanese or Global server yet Light and Night also had teasers for their JP cast.

So back to Netease. Their other otome game is 遇见逆水寒 (yujian nishuihan), released 31 October 2019, the otome version of 逆水寒 (nishuihan; Justice Online/Treacherous Waters Online). Both are based on Wen Rui'an's novel 四大名捕 (Si Da Ming Bu; The Four Great Constables). The otome game has no global server or other language packs. Personally, it's understandable because they'd essentially have to localise the novel before they can even do the same for their games. FYI TW server lasted 1 year from 24 April 2019  to 30 April 2020.

I checked out the global server release dates for their other RPG games that would appeal to the female audience for some more insights.

Onmyoji was their flagship RPG game and that got a JP server 2017, English in 2018 for their 2nd anniversaryIdentity V launched 2 April 2018, Global server was released 3 months late in JulyHarry Potter: Magic Awakened launched 9 September 2021, Global was released 2 years later on 27 June 2023 but has shut down in 29 October 2024 after just over a year

If there's anything I can draw from this, it's that Netease's localisation spree was for games launched around 2018-2020 and are not heavily rooted in Chinese literature or traditional culture. That seemed to be a 2-3 year wait and that was with prior planning. Wuxia games are different lol That boomed because probably because of the localisation boom of webnovels, but that is a whole different genre and topic that require another essay.

What does this mean for Beyond the World?

A non-CN server is going to take much longer than to be released than Lovebrush Chronicles did, especially with how the big corpos seem to be withdrawing their international investments and refocusing on their local market. I'm not saying it's impossible but we'd probably have to go through TW, JP/KRN before we even get an EN server (mind you, KRN server seems to close down pretty early lol). That's looking like a 2yr, 4yr, 5yr wait and will probably release on anniversaries.

I find that if a game is successful in JP server, there's a higher chance for a Global server, or they get done together. Maybe it's affected by the success of localising Japanese games, anime and manga into English and the localisers and devs are familiar with the rate of success in JP vs EN rather than CN vs EN, so JP market becomes their measure. This is just a gut feeling so I don't know how accurate it is but also some more food for thought if anyone wants to go digging into that.

If you really want to see a global server, I'd recommend going to their CN Customer service and dropping them inquiries in English. This doesn't mean they'll immediately plan for one but as a business if there's something that comes up repeatedly and often enough, it'll catch their attention and maybe go into the monthly revenue and statistics reports. The team will be aware of it and if they think there's potential, they'll pitch it to the higher-ups who make the decision on what to invest in. It's all about budgeting and revenue in the world. No profit, no content.

I didn't mean for this to end up being so long but I hope that helps setting some expectations!

用户1314y

Yeah, there's no definite answer so I can only speculate from what Netease has localised and search for patterns. I did some digging and here's what I've found.

Netease's only English-localised (hereinafter referred to as 

 server) otome game is Lovebrush Chronicle where Japanese and English were published under the 

 by Exptional Global. On 22 October 2020, one day before launch of CN server, 

their official CN account released the Japanese cast list

 which means a localisation was in the planning already. They first released the JP dubs in the CN server, then finally on 20 October 2023 they released their Global server with the JP dubs.

A bit of a tangent but I also want to mention the teasing of JP cast was a common thing for the games released around 2020 because Mr Love: Queen's Choice (MLQC) saw some success with the JP and Global servers in 2019 and entering the global market was trending back then. The big game companies saw an opportunity and were looking to invest internationally, meaning global servers would have been considered for marketing. I say marketing and not revenue because it seems to me they were looking to take a chance to test waters. CN server was still their main focus. Mihoyo teased their JP cast for Tears of Themis, and despite no Japanese or Global server yet Light and Night also had teasers for their JP cast.

So back to Netease. Their other otome game is 

 (yujian nishuihan), released 31 October 2019, the otome version of 

 (nishuihan; Justice Online/Treacherous Waters Online). Both are based on Wen Rui'an's novel 四大名捕 (Si Da Ming Bu; The Four Great Constables). The otome game has no global server or other language packs. Personally, it's understandable because they'd essentially have to localise the novel before they can even do the same for their games. FYI TW server lasted 1 year from 24 April 2019  to 30 April 2020.

I checked out the global server release dates for their other RPG games that would appeal to the female audience for some more insights.

If there's anything I can draw from this, it's that Netease's localisation spree was for games launched around 2018-2020 and are not heavily rooted in Chinese literature or traditional culture. That seemed to be a 2-3 year wait and that was 

. Wuxia games are different lol That boomed because probably because of the localisation boom of webnovels, but that is a whole different genre and topic that require another essay.

What does this mean for Beyond the World?

A non-CN server is going to take much longer than to be released than Lovebrush Chronicles did, especially with how the big corpos seem to be withdrawing their international investments and refocusing on their local market. I'm not saying it's impossible but we'd probably have to go through TW, JP/KRN before we even get an EN server (mind you, KRN server seems to close down pretty early lol). That's looking like a 2yr, 4yr, 5yr wait and will probably release on anniversaries.

I find that if a game is successful in JP server, there's a higher chance for a Global server, or they get done together. Maybe it's affected by the success of localising Japanese games, anime and manga into English and the localisers and devs are familiar with the rate of success in JP vs EN rather than CN vs EN, so JP market becomes their measure. This is just a gut feeling so I don't know how accurate it is but also some more food for thought if anyone wants to go digging into that.

If you really want to see a global server, I'd recommend going to their CN Customer service and dropping them inquiries in English. This doesn't mean they'll immediately plan for one but as a business if there's something that comes up repeatedly and often enough, it'll catch their attention and maybe go into the monthly revenue and statistics reports. The team will be aware of it and if they think there's potential, they'll pitch it to the higher-ups who make the decision on what to invest in. It's all about budgeting and revenue in the world. No profit, no content.

I didn't mean for this to end up being so long but I hope that helps setting some expectations!

I’m sorry if this is an odd or repetitive ask, and likely something you won’t know a definite answer to..I was just wondering what you think the chances are for beyond the world to get an English release? Considering neteases other games got released much later in eng, do you think it might take a few years for BtW as well? 

Doropyan

Beyond the world related!