Biggest modern game in Cymraeg for PC launches to rave reviews

Stephen Price

The first modern PC game available in the Welsh language has launched recently – all thanks to the passion of one of its Lead Sound Designers who hails from the Rhondda Valleys.

Cai Jones was the Lead Sound Designer on a AA video game called Bus Bound made by Austrian company Stillalive Studios and published by US company Saber Interactive.

Bus Bound allows players to step into the driver’s seat in the latest title from the creators of Bus Simulator 21.

Players get to explore a vibrant city behind the wheel of officially licensed buses, “and help transform it into a pedestrian-friendly paradise—one stop at a time”.

Cai received a Welsh-medium education, but after leaving school used his Welsh less and less.

Whilst he was working as the Lead Sound Designer, he struck up an idea to add Welsh to the other languages available on the game’s interface and became the Welsh Language Lead on the project, with the help of a small team.

He said: “I chose the insane challenge of translating an AA video game into Welsh and Voice Acting with no prior experience in doing so and also re-learning the language at the same time, a task that I knew would be massive, but turned out to be even bigger than I thought.”

He told Nation Cymru: “I grew up speaking Welsh at school but not at home. My parents didn’t get the chance to learn it themselves, so they made sure I did. I started out as a musician and sound engineer, and in 2017 I began making audio for games as a hobby.

“This then slowly turned into a job, and I’ve been doing sound design for games full time since 2019, whether freelance or in-house!

“That means making sound effects and essentially coding them into the game, on everything from mobile to PlayStation and Xbox releases. This helps players feel more immersed in the storytelling and world of the videogames I work on.

“I’ve worked on award-nominated games including Squingle VR and Unseen Diplomacy 2, and most recently on Bus Bound, an AA game from stillalive studios and Saber Interactive.”

While working on Bus Bound, and his own passion project to translate the game into Cymraeg he simultaneously found he had to re-learn the language after so long without daily use.

As he got deeper and deeper into the project, however, he realised that he was beginning to bite off more than he could chew.

He shared: “All of a sudden, it became a bigger project than I intended, but I had no plans to call it a day and hired a recording studio and professional actors including BAFTA Cymru winner Sharon Morgan.

“After many months of hard work the game released in April on PC with full Cymraeg text on release and shortly after full Voice Over making it the biggest modern game to have ever done this!”

Explaining why he chose to bring the game to life in Welsh, he shared: “I did this because our language is under represented in games with a mere 24 games in Cymraeg, some of which are now out of date.

“I also did this because I came from an English speaking family so learning Welsh at home growing up and using it outside of school made learning much harder and I want people to have easier access to Cymraeg translated entertainment to help the learning process whether at school or as an adult.”

Cai recently spoke on the popular Wales in Games YouTube channel and discussed his journey into the games industry which you can watch below.

For Cai, it was important that Bus Bound had a number of Welsh references, and not just a tacked on switch in language.

A postcard features in the English language and Welsh version of the game, and he was keen to represent Wales to a wider audience. At the time, he’d seen a reference to Welsh in Patagonia so added some Chubut – a native language of Patagonia.

The postcard mentions Wales’ culture and music scene, connecting it to Patagonia and the world of the game itself.

As for the future, Welsh speakers and learners can rest assured that this isn’t a one off. Cai was asked if he plans to use Welsh in game design in the future. While needing a break, he’s going to look into more funding. “I do want to do it again, definitely,” he said, “but it’s also about getting the timing right. I don’t want this to be a one and done situation.”

“I would like to see a lot more people doing it. There’s more than one language on this island, and I really really hope we can see a lot more characters who are Welsh with Welsh references. It’s really fun to see other people consider us.”

This talk unpacks the process of translating, casting and recording/editing dialogue for what would turn out to be the biggest video game to have ever been translated into Welsh with Voice Acting. This talk also goes into why more games should include smaller languages and why projects should consider more cultures.

Bus Bound has received rave reviews since its launch, with many praising its “awesome graphics”

Jeff Young, in his Analog Stick gGaming review shares: “Bus Bound is such a relaxing and chill experience that is a fantastic way to unwind and rake in a few podcasts and continue to unlock new areas of the city, bus routes, and customization options for your bus.

“It may disappoint fans of Bus Simulator in its watered down simulator elements, but It’s a choice I strongly believe was the right call, allowing Bus Bound to be something more digestible and casual.

“Bus Bound will continue to be a title I come back to week after week, building up Emberville’s transit system to that of absolute perfection..

“..at least until I accidentally hit a pedestrian. Like, come on, he was standing off the curb.”

Purchase Bus Bound online now from Steam and other online stores.

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