What it takes for 37Games to keep millions of players engaged worldwide
As 37Games expanded its global player base, the operational complexity behind it grew as well. Players expected faster updates, consistent experiences, and content that felt local regardless of where they played. Delivering at live-service speed was becoming increasingly challenging. By rebuilding how global content is managed and delivered, 37Games established a foundation designed for scale and reliability. Updates now reach players faster and more consistently in every region. The company expanded from 10 to 18 languages and now produces nearly 40 million words annually, while freeing teams to focus on quality and long term player engagement.
37 InteractiveEntertainment is a leading cultural export enterprise listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Through its publishing arm, 37Games, the company operates a global portfolio of successful games, including Puzzles & Survival, Trading Legend, and Soul Land: Showdown, reaching players in more than 200 countries and regions.
Global reach is only part of the story. 37Games measures success by how players experience its games. Titles are adapted to reflect local narratives, interfaces, and player expectations so experiences feel consistent and immersive across markets.
CHALLENGE
Designing global games that feel local to every player
As 37Games expanded internationally, the demands of live-service gaming intensified. Content updates needed to be delivered continuously across multiple languages, often under tight timelines tied to seasonal events, balance changes, and urgent fixes.
Content was managed through spreadsheets, shared documents, and chat groups. Over time, this approach became unsustainable. File versions conflicted, translation memory and terminology were fragmented, and project managers lacked real-time visibility. Manual coordination slowed delivery and increased risk.
“Our multilingual content could not keep up with the speed the market demanded, and that was limiting our ability to grow,” advised Xin Gu, 37Games’ Localization Director.
Delays affected development schedules, slowed expansion into new markets, and created content lag for players, undermining the experience 37Games was known for delivering.
“Global success in gaming is not about releasing the same product everywhere. It is about making every player feel the game was created for them, in their language, in their culture, on their terms.”
Xin Gu, Localization Director, 37Games
SOLUTION
Building a scalable content delivery engine for live-service games
To support rapid global growth and the demands of live-service delivery, 37Games rebuilt how multilingual content is produced and delivered. The goal was not to translate faster in isolation, but to create a system that could reliably support player expectations for speed, consistency, and quality at scale. The Phrase Platform became the foundation for this new operating model.
Key elements of the solution include:
Phrase TMS: Game text, UI strings, and live ops updates now move through one coordinated workflow, reducing delays and last-minute fixes as content is released globally.
Translation Memory and Terminology Base: Centralized language assets ensure characters, gameplay terms, and narrative elements remain aligned across titles and updates, helping players stay immersed as games evolve.
Built-in version control: Phrase automatically manages content changes and reuses approved translations, shortening update cycles and reducing rework during development and live operations.
Automated workflows: Workflow automation removes routine handoffs and status chasing, allowing teams to manage higher volumes without increasing overhead.
Automated QA checks: Quality checks identify terminology, formatting, and placeholder issues early, reducing errors that can disrupt gameplay once content goes live.
Phrase Orchestrator: Project analysis and quoting are automated, helping localization start sooner and keeping releases on schedule.
Advanced Analytics: Real-time visibility into progress, capacity, and cost supports better planning and more predictable delivery.
“Phrase completely changed the way we operate. Removing the chaos of manual content processes, giving us the ability to scale quickly while keeping the player experience at the center of everything we do.”
Xin Gu, Localization Director, 37Games
STATS & FACTS
40%
faster content delivery, enabling updates and live events to reach players sooner
30%
reduction in localization costs, driven by automation and reuse
80%
more language coverage, opening access to new player communities
~40m
words a year, an increase in volume without additional headcount
“Players notice when their concerns are addressed quickly and in their own language, and Phrase makes that possible at scale. That responsiveness builds trust, and trust is what drives long-term loyalty.”
Xin Gu, Localization Director, 37Games
THE IMPACT
A scalable, flexible partner focused on customer needs
For players, the impact is immediate. Updates roll out closer to global launch schedules, live events are coordinated across regions, and in-game language remains consistent as titles evolve.
Those experience improvements are supported by clear business results:
30–50% reduction in turnaround times, particularly across QA, job assignment, and content synchronization
15% lower project budgets, freeing up investment for new player experiences
80% of the in-house team can now focus on strategic work, improving planning, quality, and execution
These efficiencies have a direct impact on players. Game updates arrive faster, reducing delays between markets. Quality has improved, with fewer errors and greater consistency.
WHY PHRASE
Phrase, a platform designed for high-velocity global content delivery
Phrase stood out because it supported the entire operational ecosystem of project and vendor management. Other tools focused narrowly on linguist productivity, but Phrase matched the scale and complexity of 37Games’ business.
Integration flexibility with tools like Gridly and support for 50+ file formats.
Centralized knowledge hub protects translation memory and terminology as company assets.
Analytics and reporting provide real-time insights into vendor performance and resource use.
Superior user experience reduces training needs and enables faster freelancer onboarding.
“Phrase is the only platform that can keep pace with the complexity of our operations. It gives us the automation to move faster, the visibility to stay in control, and the flexibility to scale without compromising quality.”
Xin Gu, Localization Director, 37Games
LOOKING AHEAD
Keeping pace with player expectations
37Games continues to invest in infrastructure that supports long-term global growth. Priorities include expanding into emerging markets, shortening live-ops cycles, and increasing the use of AI across content workflows.
The company has tested Phrase Custom AI for Chinese and English with strong results and is exploring broader adoption as additional language pairs become available. Future plans include using AI for terminology extraction, translation quality verification, and error correction.
The long-term goal is a fully data-driven content infrastructure that supports every stage of the game lifecycle, from testing and launch to continuous live operations.
37 Games see Phrase as a catalyst for our future growth. Its pace of innovation matches our ambitions and ensures we can keep delivering immersive, culturally resonant experiences to players everywhere.
Xin Gu
Localization Director
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