Recently, Ko.dll, the developer of the independent game "BZZZT", posted on Twitter, complaining about the behavior of some Chinese players who "give negative reviews without Chinese language". Ko.dll said: "There are many ways to request independent developers to add localized language support to the game, which can be polite or impolite. But leaving a negative review because of lack of localization is one of the worst ways to do it. I have always paid for localization at my own expense, and I hate this kind of threatening behavior the most!"
Ko.dll explained that requiring localization by giving negative reviews will only be counterproductive. It will not only lead to a decline in game sales and a reduction in development funds, but also a reduction in the frequency of updates. It may even lead to no additional localization support or new game development. This will ultimately only hurt independent developers.
In the comment area, many independent developers agreed. Matt Roszak, the developer of the "Epic Battle Fantasy" series, mentioned that some Chinese Steam players really have difficulty communicating, mainly because they cannot use the Steam discussion forum or other social platforms, so they tend to express their dissatisfaction through comments. But he also admitted that Chinese is one of the highest priority languages after English because of the huge demand in the Chinese market. Some developers also believe that such negative reviews actually indicate that Chinese players are interested in the game, and developers can communicate with them through Steam announcements.
Ko.dll believes that Chinese localization will face greater challenges and require more time. However, he is happy that Chinese players like his games and understands that Chinese localization is a more enjoyable experience for Chinese players. But he stressed that supporting games and developers should be done in a more polite way, and he was unhappy with such negative reviews. Ko.dll also invites native Chinese players to help and provide localization help.