Localization Linguist

NetEase Games; Singapore; On-site; SGD 60,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

NetEase Games in Singapore is seeking an experienced Localization Specialist to translate and adapt game content from Simplified Chinese into natural, idiomatic English, preserving tone, humor, pacing, and character voice across releases.

You will build terminology databases, style guides, and memory tools; review outputs from translators; coordinate across design, narrative, art, and publishing to address cultural sensitivities early in development and live-ops updates.

Qualifications

• Native or near-native English speaker with strong writing, editing, and proofreading; fluent in reading and writing Chinese.
• 3+ years of experience in game localization or related field; must have been involved end-to-end in the launch and ongoing live-ops updates of at least one long-term operated title.
• Familiarity with the full localization workflow and tooling: CAT/TMS, terminology management, translation memory, LQA processes, and defect management.
• Strong cultural sensitivity and editorial judgment — not satisfied with literal translation; able to propose better idiomatic rewrites and articulate the rationale.
• Excellent communication and scheduling skills; comfortable working in cross-cultural team environments.

Responsibilities

• ZH→EN Transcreation & QA: rewrite storylines, dialogue, event and quest copy, and UI text from Chinese to English.
• Linguistic Asset Management: build and maintain terminology databases, style guides, character voice profiles, naming conventions, and translation memories to ensure consistent style across versions and chapters.
• Review & Standardization: review output from internal and external translators, provide specific and actionable revision suggestions, and distill individual judgment into reusable team standards.
• LQA & Delivery Assurance: organize in-game language quality assurance across development and live-operation builds; identify, classify, track, and verify issue resolution to closure, delivering on schedule in sync with release cadence.
• Cross-functional Collaboration: work with design, narrative, art, publishing, and other teams to proactively flag cultural sensitivities from the target-market perspective, ensuring cultural adaptation is addressed at early stages.

Skills

English writing

Editing

Proofreading

Chinese language

Game localization

LQA processes

Cross-cultural

Scheduling

Communication

Tools

CAT tools

Translation Memory

Job description

Responsibilities

• ZH→EN Transcreation & Quality Assurance: Rewrite storylines, character dialogue, event and quest copy, and UI text from Simplified Chinese into natural, idiomatic English, faithfully recreating tone, emotion, humor, pacing, and character voice.
• Linguistic Asset Management: Build and maintain terminology databases, style guides, character voice profiles, naming conventions, and translation memories to ensure consistent style across versions and chapters.
• Review & Standardization: Review output from internal and external translators, provide specific and actionable revision suggestions, and distill individual judgment into reusable team standards.
• LQA & Delivery Assurance: Organize in-game language quality assurance across development and live-operation builds; identify, classify, track, and verify issue resolution to closure, delivering on schedule in sync with release cadence.
• Cross-functional Collaboration: Work with design, narrative, art, publishing, and other teams to proactively flag cultural sensitivities from the target-market perspective, ensuring cultural adaptation is addressed at early stages.

Qualifications

• Native or near-native English speaker with a solid foundation in writing, editing, and proofreading; fluent in reading and writing Chinese, able to directly comprehend and interpret nuances in the Chinese source text.
• 3+ years of experience in game localization or a related field; must have been involved end-to-end in the launch and ongoing live-ops updates of at least one long-term operated title.
• Familiarity with the full localization workflow and tooling: CAT/TMS, terminology management, translation memory, LQA processes, and defect management.
• Strong cultural sensitivity and editorial judgment — not satisfied with literal translation; able to propose better idiomatic rewrites and articulate the rationale.
• Excellent communication and scheduling skills; comfortable working in cross-cultural team environments.

Bonus Points

• Familiarity with casual games or female-oriented content expression.
• Experience building a localization system from scratch or managing external vendors.
• Knowledge of automated QA tooling or AI-assisted translation tools.