D&D General D&D No Longer In Portugese

WotC today released the following statement, as Portugese-language sales have not been enough to warrant their continuation. Some products will continue to be available in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish.

We are making the difficult decision to halt Portuguese product later this year.
We will continue to release D&D products in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish.

On D&D Beyond they provided a little more detail.

Dungeons & Dragons is a global game that we strive to make as accessible as possible to our wide and varied audience. However, we’ve also had to confront rising costs and shifts in global demand, even as D&D continues to grow.

Portuguese language product sales have not kept pace with rising costs across the board, which means that we are making the difficult decision to halt Portuguese product later this year, after the following three planned books:

• Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons
• Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel
• Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen

We will continue to release D&D products in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish. While not all products will be available in all languages, or at the same time, we intend to focus on these six languages.

 

[JLowder]

That wasn't the issue. The Italian branch of WotC did a very sloppy job, it as simple as that.

Did WotC announce this? Did they explain the specific reason they wanted the switch to how names were translated?

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

In 2nd Ed the ranger was translated as "guardabosques", and bugbears as "espantajo", and later "osgo". The wyvern was translated as "draco".

 

[Muso]

Did WotC announce this? Did they explain the specific reason they wanted the switch to how names were translated?

Yes. In the interview given by the brand manager, it was said that in all other translations the place names are translated. In Italy they did it for a starter set and then that's it. Even in the dubbing of the movie they kept Neverwinter. But again, this is the minor problem. You can't have manuals where the same monster is called in different ways from one manual to another or translations that look like they were done by Google Translator without a proper glossary.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

At least Devir added a little section whith the original names and the translations of 3rd Ed Monster Manuals.

 

[Remathilis]

For what its worth, MTG is ending support for Chinese (simplified), Portuguese, and Russian.

Changes to Magic Product Languages in 2024

Magic product languages are changing with the release of Modern Horizons 3 and Bloomburrow.

magic.wizards.com

It appears Wizards is going to downsize all its product lines to six languages: English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish.

 

[Igor Mendonça]

That's a shame, really. Unlike the other countries mentioned, in Brazil there are few people who are educated to read English. I have this privilege, but my friends from my hometown don't: without RPG in Portuguese I wouldn't have learned to play, because my friends wouldn't have introduced me. But Brazil, being the country that it is, will do what it always does: groups of fans will translate on their own; sites will make downloads available relatively easily (I imagine publishers don't care about this, because they are rarely closed); and, finally, for those who have money; they will order the "pirate PODs" that exist around here. I always try to buy books in Portuguese, precisely to allow my friends who don't know English to consult and play with ease. Anyway, playing without official books is common here. BTW, I recently discovered that the Alibris website has the cheapest price to purchase the new Planescape. But they don't ship to Brazil (Afghanistan, Algeria, Brazil, Cuba, Guinea-Bissau, Iran, Iraq, Liberia, Libya, Myanmar, Nigeria, North Korea, and Sudan)...

 

[Parmandur]

Minor complaint about some class names. "Picaro" is technically correct for Rogue, but I find Renegado, Rebelde, or Foragido better translations.

Blame Cervantes: the D&D Rogue is all about picaresque literature!

 

[MoonSong]

Blame Cervantes: the D&D Rogue is all about picaresque literature!

At least to me the name evokes images of Tintan at best. Kinda fun, but not very fantasy grounded.

 

[Dimitri Mazieres]

Here in Spain I have to await a lot of time for the translations, and I am only interested in a limited number of titles. Now the main Spanish publisher is Nosolorol, and even this released its own "retroclon" or d20variant "El Resurgir del Dragón" (the Rise of the Dragon).

I was under the impression that El Resurgir del Dragón was created when WotC didn't have any intention of publishing or licencing 5e D&D in other languages, so Nosolorol with the help of La Marca del Este used the 5.1 SRD to create ERdD. It was only after that that the now defunct Edge Entertainment (now Asmodee) published the first Spanish translation of 5e D&D (and I think it was through some kind of deal with Gale Force 9...).

 

[Parmandur]

At least to me the name evokes images of Tintan at best. Kinda fun, but not very fantasy grounded.

At least in English language literary critic8sm, a lot of gritty 20th century Swotd & Sorcery is specifically linked to the picaresque genre: Gahfred & the Grey Mouser, or Conan. Probably moat Westerns fall in that line, too. Amd the d&D Rogue is that sort of vagabond trickster cowboy figure.