Localization for apps & indie games · Lawrence, NY
Send us your strings. A written quote comes back the next working day, and nothing is billed until you say yes.
The studio
Dovetale is a small localization studio in Lawrence, NY. We take apps and indie games from English into Spanish, Portuguese and French, and we hand back files your build can use the same afternoon: translated strings, store pages written for each market, and a play-through that catches what a spreadsheet can’t.
Languages, each with a named variant. You choose one per file.
Every project gets a written quote listing words, languages and dates. You approve it, we work, you get a single invoice when the files are delivered. Nothing renews itself.
“Back.” “Charge.” “Draw.” Words like these mean different things on different screens, so we ask you before we choose a word players will see a hundred times.
| Spanish | Latin American (es-419) or Spain (es-ES) |
|---|---|
| Portuguese | Brazil (pt-BR) or Portugal (pt-PT) |
| French | France (fr-FR) or Canada (fr-CA) |
| File formats | .strings, .xcstrings, .json, .po, .arb, .resx |
| Stores | App Store Connect and Google Play Console |
Deliverables & prices
Rates are in US dollars. You see the total in writing before anything starts.
| Deliverable | What lands in your repo | Price | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| UI strings | Translated files in your own format, with placeholders like %@ and {name}, plurals and line breaks left exactly as you wrote them. | $0.13per word, per language | Quote my strings |
| Store listings | Title, subtitle, description, promo text and keywords for the App Store and Google Play, rewritten for each market and cut to fit every character limit. | $385per language, both stores | Price my listing |
| In-context QA | A linguist plays your build on a device and logs truncated text, wrong gender, tone slips and missed strings, each with a screenshot. | $540per language, per build (up to 6 hours) | Book a QA pass |
| Launch bundle | All three languages: up to 3,000 words of UI strings, three store listings and one QA pass on your first build. | $3,480one invoice, all three | Ask about the bundle |
Bigger than 3,000 words, or only one language? Tell us in the form below and we’ll price exactly that.
Before you send anything
No. Send them as they are. We mark anything that looks likely to change, and the quote covers only the words in the version you approve.
Placeholders, plurals and tags stay untouched. During QA we look at every screen on a device, and if a word won’t fit a button we offer a shorter one rather than changing your layout.
You pick one variant per file. Latin American Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese are the usual first choices for mobile, and we’ll say so on the first call if your game points somewhere else.
For a 3,000-word app, first drafts arrive in 5 working days per language. QA starts the week your build is ready and takes about 2 working days.
Every delivery includes a short note on the tricky calls: jokes, slang, item names. One round of revisions is included in the price, so you can push back without a second invoice.
You approve a written quote that lists words, languages and dates. That’s the agreement. Then one invoice, sent when the files are delivered.
How a project runs
Each handoff has a date and a named deliverable, so you always know what’s next. We write inside the store limits below from the first draft.
Drop your strings files and a few screenshots in a shared folder. We read everything and reply with a written quote.
Day 1 · quote in writingA 20-minute call to agree on character names, whether players are addressed as tú or usted, tu or vous, and which words stay in English.
Day 2 · glossary signed offStrings are translated in your formats. Store listings are written fresh for each market, then checked against every limit.
Days 3–7 · first draftsOn a device, in order, the way a new player would. Every problem is logged with a screenshot and a suggested fix.
Week 2 · QA reportFinal files in your original format, a note on the judgment calls, and one invoice that matches the quote.
Delivery day · invoice
Get a written quote
Rough is fine: your game’s name, the languages you want and a ballpark word count. Nothing is billed until you approve the quote.
Before the first call
None of this has to be polished. It just saves us both a round of emails.
Call or visit
By appointment — book a call