Video Games
Broken Sword Franchise Targets China Through Rokky Partnership
Rokky and Revolution Software team up to co-publish remastered classics with full Chinese localizations and community-driven enhancements.
What Broken Sword titles are being localized for China?
The co-publishing agreement between Rokky and Revolution Software covers two key games: 'Broken Sword – Shadow of the Templars: Reforged', a remaster of the original, and 'Broken Sword: The Smoking Mirror – Reforged', an upcoming remaster of the second installment. Both will feature complete localizations in simplified and traditional Chinese, directly addressing years of requests from Chinese enthusiasts. These remastered versions include redrawn backgrounds and over 30,000 reanimated character sprites to modernize the visuals while retaining the classic point-and-click adventure gameplay. Charles Cecil, Revolution Software's founder and creative director, expressed delight in the partnership, noting Rokky's experience and the potential to grow the franchise's fan base in the east. This move ensures that Chinese players can experience the Templar-themed narratives with enhanced fidelity and cultural relevance.
What languages will the Broken Sword remasters support?
The remastered Broken Sword games will be available in both simplified and traditional Chinese, catering to players across mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. This localization effort is managed by Rokky, which handles translation as part of its co-publishing responsibilities, leveraging its deep understanding of regional language nuances. The decision stems from persistent advocacy by the Chinese gaming community, who have long urged Revolution Software for official releases in their language. Cecil acknowledged this dedicated fan base during development, incorporating their feedback to ensure the translations resonate authentically. During the reforging process, Revolution Software invited gamers from China and around the world to play the builds and offer valuable feedback, which the studio enthusiastically incorporated into the final localizations. By offering both written forms, the games aim to maximize accessibility, allowing a broader audience to enjoy the adventure series in their own language.
What enhancements are included in the Broken Sword remasters?
The remastered editions are part of Revolution Software's 'Reforged' series, which updates classics based on global player feedback, including input from China. 'Shadow of the Templars: Reforged' already features these enhancements, while 'The Smoking Mirror' remaster is in progress, aligning the games with modern expectations without altering core mechanics. The visual overhaul includes completely redrawn backgrounds that replace the original artwork with higher-fidelity environments, while over 30,000 individual character sprites have been reanimated to deliver smoother, more expressive movement throughout both games. Audio has also been enhanced, giving the voice acting and soundtrack a cleaner presentation. Both remastered titles will be available in simplified and traditional Chinese, ensuring the visual and audio upgrades reach players in their preferred language. Players navigating a scene will notice sharper environmental detail and more fluid character animations than the originals offered.
What is Rokky's role in this partnership?
Rokky assumes a comprehensive co-publishing role, overseeing marketing, translation, localisation, influencer outreach, and community management for the Broken Sword franchise in China. This marks Rokky's first publishing venture after distributing PC games for publishers like Sony, Capcom, and Team17. CEO Vadim Andreev emphasized that publishing demands a distinct skill set from distribution, involving direct responsibility for game success rather than simply moving units. With its China distribution team transitioning to an official publishing unit, Rokky is formalizing a presence that has seen 'particularly strong growth' in the region in recent years. Andreev told GamesIndustry.biz that the company is 'looking forward to learning and continuing to grow' in publishing, framing the Broken Sword deal as both a first step and a test of the team's expanded capabilities.
How did community feedback influence the remasters?
Chinese gamers have long urged Revolution Software to localise the Broken Sword series, and their voices shaped how the remasters turned out. When the studio set about reforging the titles, it invited players from China and around the world to test early builds and share their observations. That feedback was enthusiastically incorporated, according to Revolution Software founder and creative director Charles Cecil, who pointed to this community as a driving reason the partnership with Rokky exists at all. Chinese fans could flag issues with tone, cultural references, or interface choices before the localizations shipped in simplified and traditional Chinese. The result is a pair of remasters—'Shadow of the Templars: Reforged' and the upcoming 'The Smoking Mirror'—built with input from the very audience that campaigned for them.
Why is Rokky moving into publishing now?
Rokky's expansion into publishing is driven by 'particularly strong growth' in China in recent years, prompting the company to formalize its operations by transitioning its China distribution team into a dedicated publishing unit. Having distributed games for major studios, Rokky sees publishing as a natural progression, with the Broken Sword partnership as its inaugural project. Andreev noted that success in China requires localized insights that Rokky has cultivated, but publishing introduces new complexities like direct marketing and community management. The move is strategic, allowing Rokky to leverage existing relationships while testing its capabilities in a higher-stakes role. This transition reflects confidence in its regional expertise and a desire to grow beyond distribution, as evidenced by Andreev's comments on learning and expanding in the publishing field.
What other gaming tools has Rokky recently launched?
Rokky recently launched an unofficial Steam tool for monitoring distribution key usage, demonstrating its technical expertise in digital distribution. Released last month, the tool gives publishers and developers a way to check whether Steam keys allocated through distribution deals have actually been redeemed. A publisher can pull up usage data on batches of keys handed out to distributors, making it easier to spot inactive inventory or potential misuse. For Rokky, which has distributed titles ranging from AAA releases to indie games across the PC market, the tool builds on firsthand knowledge of how key-based distribution works. It also signals the company's investment in infrastructure that supports transparency across the publishing pipeline—infrastructure that becomes more relevant as Rokky itself steps into publishing with partnerships like the Broken Sword deal in China.
What can Chinese players expect from these releases?
What Chinese players can expect from the Broken Sword releases is shaped by Rokky's understanding of the market itself. CEO Vadim Andreev has called the Chinese gaming market 'massive,' stressing that success there requires deep local insight into player behaviour and distribution—insight the company has built over years of operating in the region. That background informs how the titles will be positioned: rather than adapting a Western playbook for the Chinese market, Rokky's embedded China team will run campaigns calibrated to local platforms and player habits. Andreev has acknowledged that publishing carries challenges distinct from distribution, but frames those challenges as ones Rokky is eager to tackle. For players, the practical difference is a publisher with established local channels and the knowledge to sustain a release beyond launch day.
Source material: gamesindustry.biz — this piece is based on that published source material.
