FunPlus is a global gaming leader headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, with offices and studios in China, Portugal and Spain. It is best known for strategy titles such as State of Survival, Guns of Glory and more recently DC: Dark Legion and Foundation: Galactic Frontier. With players in every region, the company’s success depends on its ability to launch and update games fast, without compromising quality or brand consistency.
The company’s content demands are significant: multiple live titles, frequent in-game updates, international launches, and a global player base accustomed to a premium experience. In that environment, the global content team of 17 (project managers plus in-house linguists) supports up to ten live titles simultaneously across more than 30 languages, covering everything from in-game UI and narrative text to operational announcements and marketing assets.
FunPlus’s content operations faced some challenges. Project managers were coordinating daily micro-updates manually, juggling multiple vendors, and reconciling files across Google Drive, GitLab, and Amazon S3. The process was time-consuming, error-prone, and difficult to scale.
CHALLENGE
A global operation held together by many channels and tools
The company’s biggest challenge was operational complexity. Each new release required manual file transfers, cost calculations, and version checks. With dozens of small updates every day across multiple titles and languages, inefficiencies had the potential to arise in the system.
The FunPlus global content team relied on Google Sheets and email to move files among teams and vendors. Project managers exported and re-imported files by hand. Vendor payments were based on gross word counts, regardless of repetition.
With this manual approach, FunPlus was challenged to keep pace with rising competition in the mobile gaming space. The business needed shorter go-to-market windows (as tight as eight months for certain launches) and more frequent content updates, while keeping operational costs under control.
It wasn’t just about speed to market. Leadership needed transparency, accuracy, and cost control. Without automation or analytics, the teams had no clear view of performance or spend.
Something had to change.
“We were operating like a creative studio, not an enterprise. We knew we needed more structure, automation, and data to manage the volume and speed the business demanded.”
Stephen Can, Localization Team Lead, FunPlus
SOLUTION
Building a smarter, self-running global content operation
FunPlus partnered with Phrase to build an automated, analytics-led global content model that would scale with the business.
- Centralized workflows with the Phrase Platform: All content workflows were centralized and connected directly with the company’s internal systems. API integrations allowed requests to automatically become structured projects with assigned vendors and deadlines. “Once we connected Phrase with our internal tools, everything started to flow,” said Stephen. “We no longer had to manually trigger steps or send files back and forth. The system does it for us.”
- End-to-end automation with Phrase Orchestrator: Cost analysis and quoting are now automated at scale. Data from the Phrase Platform feed directly into the company’s finance system, removing manual reconciliation and providing real-time visibility into spend.
- Data-driven visibility with Advanced Analytics: A dedicated intelligence layer gives the team a complete view of vendor performance, throughput, quality, and spend. This clarity supported a shift from gross to net new payment models.
- AI-powered consistency with MT Optimize: Automated terminology and tag checks replaced extensive human post-editing, cutting turnaround times by over 90 percent.
- Strategic use of AI with Custom AI and Phrase Language AI: FunPlus began testing Phrase Custom AI for domain-specific quality improvements and Phrase Language AI for best-fit MT routing.
“Phrase Orchestrator and Advanced Analytics changed how we work. We went from managing tasks to managing data. It gave us time to focus on strategy rather than chasing files.”
Stephen Can, Localization Team Lead, FunPlus
STATS & FACTS
Small team, big impact
10X
return on investment through automation and AI-enabled efficiency
30%
increase in content volume and update frequency without new headcount
97%
savings in turnaround time for a 100,000-word project
95%+
reduction in editing tasks
WHY PHRASE
A strategic partner for scalable, data-driven growth
FunPlus chose Phrase for its scalability, modular design, and ability to automate complex workflows without losing control.
The platform’s API-first architecture allowed seamless integration with GitLab and Google Drive, automating job creation and routing while giving real-time visibility into performance and spend.
Its modular ecosystem enabled a phased rollout. Starting with workflow centralization, expanding into automation, analytics, and AI, delivering value at every stage.
“Phrase has fundamentally changed our economics. We’ve automated at scale while improving visibility, quality, and speed.”
Stephen Can, Localization Team Lead, FunPlus
IMPACT
Automation that delivers real business returns
FunPlus has built a scalable, intelligent global content operation that delivers measurable business value. By connecting systems, automating workflows, and using data to guide decisions, the company has gained operational clarity, cost control, and the agility to support rapid growth.
“The savings easily outweigh the license cost, roughly ten times over, and the team’s work is cleaner and more predictable. That figure has helped leadership see the program as a profit driver rather than a cost center,” highlights Stephen.
Improved operational precision has also had a direct impact on players. FunPlus runs regular satisfaction surveys measuring clarity, tone, and cultural relevance of in-game text. When issues arise, the team uses Phrase to identify the root cause and correct it quickly.
Scalable content delivery
FunPlus now handles 30% more content across 32 languages with the same 17-person team, maintaining high quality and consistency across all titles.
Significant cost reduction through automation
By integrating Phrase Orchestrator and Advanced Analytics, FunPlus automated cost calculation, analysis, and vendor reconciliation. Efficiency and automation savings now exceed its Phrase subscription cost by around tenfold.
AI-driven efficiency with MT Optimize
During a 100,000-word project in Japanese and Korean, FunPlus completed editing in just eight hours instead of 7.5 days, reducing costs by more than 95% while maintaining accuracy and style consistency.
Improved operational predictability
Automated workflows have reduced manual effort by 20% per task, eliminated repetitive coordination, and provided real-time visibility into spend, performance, and throughput.
Faster go-to-market timelines
With routine localization steps now automated, content updates reach players faster, supporting competitive release schedules and improving responsiveness to market demand.
Higher quality and player satisfaction
Built-in QA and AI-powered validation ensure consistent terminology and tone across all languages, strengthening engagement and brand trust worldwide.
LOOKING AHEAD
Scaling speed, quality, and intelligence for the next generation of games
As FunPlus expands into open-world and narrative-driven games, the company is scaling its use of automation and AI to meet growing content demands. Upcoming titles are expected to exceed 700,000 words per global release, requiring a balance of speed, quality, and creativity that only a connected, intelligent language technology platform can support.
The company remains focused on sustaining operational excellence, accelerating delivery, and maintaining a scalable model that supports continued global growth.
“Every new game raises the bar,” said Stephen. “We’re not just scaling volume; we’re scaling intelligence. Phrase helps us keep pace with that ambition.”
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