I think we can all agree that a good title makes a great first impression, especially in the busy landscape of video games. Look no further than The Crazy Hyper-Dungeon Chronicles, an indie RPG game from developer Fix-a-Bug whose satirical tone is quite obvious from the jump. Can you believe it had an even funnier name in Japan?
In an interview with Game*Spark (h/t Automaton for the translation and reporting) the game's developer Paolo Nicoletti admitted a hilarious anecdote from its development. Earlier this year, Nicoletti uploaded a demo for The Crazy Hyper-Dungeon Chronicles to Steam that boasted a hilarious, not to mention inappropriate, title instead.
The game's name had been localized to Kuso Dungeon, which translates (in the tamest language) to "Crap Dungeon." While kuso is a term that, throughout Asia at least, can broadly denote campiness or parody--making its usage here incredibly appropriate--it can also be misinterpreted to mean any number of Japanese curse words. You see where this is going now.
In the interview, Nicoletti shares that the unfortunate naming--the result of a less-than-professional-grade localization job--was a complete accident, but one that nonetheless bolstered the game's profile, making for "truly accidental marketing at its finest." Evidently, Japanese audiences started seeing The Crazy Hyper-Dungeon Chronicles pop up on their Steam feeds while bearing its laughably funny moniker, and as a result, the game went viral on X for a few days. Additionally, its Steam wishlists enjoyed a nice bump in the region.
Though the title has now been fixed, its seems like the incident has been a boon for Nicoletti and their team, who admitted that the developers were laughing alongside everyone else before quickly fixing the error. Now, The Crazy Hyper-Dungeon Chronicles and its developer are enjoying a great deal more positive buzz than they might have received with a more standard title.
Source
In an interview with Game*Spark (h/t Automaton for the translation and reporting) the game's developer Paolo Nicoletti admitted a hilarious anecdote from its development. Earlier this year, Nicoletti uploaded a demo for The Crazy Hyper-Dungeon Chronicles to Steam that boasted a hilarious, not to mention inappropriate, title instead.
The game's name had been localized to Kuso Dungeon, which translates (in the tamest language) to "Crap Dungeon." While kuso is a term that, throughout Asia at least, can broadly denote campiness or parody--making its usage here incredibly appropriate--it can also be misinterpreted to mean any number of Japanese curse words. You see where this is going now.
In the interview, Nicoletti shares that the unfortunate naming--the result of a less-than-professional-grade localization job--was a complete accident, but one that nonetheless bolstered the game's profile, making for "truly accidental marketing at its finest." Evidently, Japanese audiences started seeing The Crazy Hyper-Dungeon Chronicles pop up on their Steam feeds while bearing its laughably funny moniker, and as a result, the game went viral on X for a few days. Additionally, its Steam wishlists enjoyed a nice bump in the region.
Though the title has now been fixed, its seems like the incident has been a boon for Nicoletti and their team, who admitted that the developers were laughing alongside everyone else before quickly fixing the error. Now, The Crazy Hyper-Dungeon Chronicles and its developer are enjoying a great deal more positive buzz than they might have received with a more standard title.
Source