EightSix / Initial assessment
PC turn-based strategy game
Steam Global opportunity · Pre-release demo · English build
01 / Recommendation
Test the localisation brief before asking publishers for a full launch proposal.
The assumed signals justify a closer look at language support. They do not yet support a revenue forecast or a campaign budget. Prepare a representative translated tutorial and interface sample, review it in play, then use the findings to brief a small set of relevant publishers.
Keep any discussion of local promotion conditional on checking the proposed activities and regulatory route. This initial assessment does not provide regulatory clearance.
02 / Evidence and limits
What supports that recommendation?
Assumed public signal
Review themes
Chinese-language comments ask for clearer tutorials and translated interface text.
Interpretation: Investigate whether language support is blocking understanding of the game. This does not establish player location or the size of the opportunity.
Assumed public signal
Comparable games
Two games with similar turn-based mechanics have active Chinese-language discussions.
Interpretation: Useful candidates for closer comparison. Their price, age, content depth and existing audience may explain the difference.
Assumed studio input
Current build
The game has an English demo. Simplified Chinese support is planned but has not been tested in the build.
Interpretation: A localisation sample can test readability and tutorial comprehension before the full scope is commissioned.
Not supplied
Commercial demand
No country-level wishlist, sales or campaign reports are available for this example.
Interpretation: We cannot size mainland China demand, estimate revenue or attribute sales to a publisher from these inputs.
03 / Publisher fit
Look for genre experience and a named delivery team.
The useful candidate would have recent PC strategy work, a credible approach to reviewing terminology and a plan for explaining the game’s mechanics to players. A large mobile catalogue alone would not answer this brief.
- Ask to see a relevant launch and establish exactly which work the candidate delivered.
- Meet the person responsible for localisation and agree how the studio would approve it.
- Request a campaign outline with audience, creative approach, budget responsibilities and reporting.
This is a publisher profile, not a confirmed shortlist. No publisher has been approached or expressed interest in this fictional game.
04 / Commercial questions
Price the work once the scope is clear.
A publisher percentage would be premature here. First establish who pays for localisation, which campaign spending is committed, whether costs are recovered from revenue and which products and territories are included.
The initial EightSix assessment is free. There is no upfront fee: when a Chinese partner signs, EightSix charges £5,000 (or £10,000 with the launch review), credited against a share of 20% of China net revenue up to £50,000 and 10% above that. That is separate from publisher terms and is not a quote for this example.
See how a revenue-share calculation works ↗05 / Next step
Resolve three things before progressing.
Studio: confirm the starting point
Share the intended release window and localisation status. If available, provide dated country-level wishlist or sales summaries. Account access is not needed for an initial conversation.
Studio and localisation provider: test a sample
Choose a representative tutorial and interface sequence. Record comprehension problems, terminology decisions and implementation fixes, then agree the remaining scope.
EightSix and studio: decide whether to approach publishers
Review the evidence and delivery gap. Progress if a partner could meet a defined need; otherwise continue the research or manage a smaller supplier brief.
What would change the recommendation? Strong studio data and a tested Chinese build could support moving to publisher discussions sooner. Weak audience evidence or an unresolved release schedule would favour more research before a commercial commitment.