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Why are Most video games from japan not dubbed into english these days?




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Naftali Poritz



Joined: 25 Apr 2017
Posts: 30
PostPosted: Tue May 02, 2017 8:42 pm Reply with quote
I wonder why since 2012, video game licensors that localized Japanese games for the most part are no longer releasing games with English dubs, except for franchises that were well established before 2012? Have companies gone cheaper these days, and investing less money into the games and more money on the executives?

You wonder why the English voice actors in California are not doing many voice acting projects these days, because they are being put out of business for the most part since they are not needed.

Even games from popular anime franchises, such as Sword Art Online have not been dubbed for some reason, even though the anime series have gotten dubs.

No matter how many times I request things get dubbed, or any kind of suggestions, they get no action whatsoever, because they don't take my requests or suggestions seriously enough (maybe the possibly disagree with me).

Obviously, dubbing studios, such as Bang Zoom entertainment do very few dubbing projects a year because companies are not doing many dubs.
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Akane the Catgirl



Joined: 09 Oct 2013
Posts: 1091
Location: LA, Baby!
PostPosted: Tue May 02, 2017 8:54 pm Reply with quote
Short answer- it's too expensive.

Long answer- dubbing is very very expensive. It not only costs more money to buy, but costs more money to produce. Anime is not the juggernaut here in America than it is in Japan. It's still very much seen as a niche thing enjoyed only by nerds. The rare exceptions to this view are the kiddy stuff like Pokemon and Yo-Kai Watch that air on children's networks. It's also the reason why there aren't that many dubbed anime openings; the people in charge of distributing these series simply cannot afford to take risks. As such, a dub is only made if the licensors and dubbing studios can guarantee that profits can be made. Or, more specifically, they won't lose money on.
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gsilver



Joined: 04 Nov 2007
Posts: 611
PostPosted: Fri Aug 11, 2017 7:29 am Reply with quote
There was/still is the voice actor strike, which doesn't help:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016–17_video_game_voice_actor_strike
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