There's been a lot of discussion regarding the latest announcement for Quantum Break's localisation. This followed a tweet by Microsoft (@XBOX_Spain) revealing that the title would feature Spanish subtitles, but with English audio. Decisions regarding a title's localisation falls on the publisher's side, so Microsoft has the final say over language availability.
Original tweet:
Quantum Break mezcla juego con serie de acción real. Debido a su naturaleza única, el juego saldrá en inglés con subtítulos en castellano.
— Xbox España (@Xbox_Spain) January 7, 2016
Personally, the announcement of no Spanish audio is a little strange. For many games, localisation tends to follow EFIGS; meaning that a title would be available in English, French, Italian, German and Spanish. It depends a lot on areas of audience, for example if there's particular interest in Japan, then the game would also be considered for full Japanese localisation.
I discovered the announcement thanks to ComunidadRemedy, a Spanish Remedy fansite which has been following the progression of the news since it's announcement. They also linked to a page on the XBOX site where fans can vote in support of full localisation. Click HERE for the site.
This morning, Remedy responded to Microsoft's announcement in a series of tweets which confirmed and gave a little bit of insight into the workings of localisation:
To clarify @Xbox_Spain statement, yes, Spanish version of #quantumbreak will have Spanish subtitles and English VO.
— Remedy Entertainment (@remedygames) January 8, 2016
We realise this is disappointing and we apologise to our fans in Spain. These sorts of decisions are not ours to make.
— Remedy Entertainment (@remedygames) January 8, 2016
We cannot confirm or tell you what localisation there is in the game. Not sure when that information will be announced.
— Remedy Entertainment (@remedygames) January 8, 2016
I believe, so far, the only languages announced at present is full English localisation, full Brazilian Portuguese and Spanish subtitles. Please note that this isn't a full list! It's likely that the complete list will be revealed in the closer to launch day.
