The world of physical retro publishing was rocked recently by the discovery that some of Retro-Bit's recent re-releases have used existing fan translations without permission, something the company has apologised profusely for.
The translator in question, Rod Mérida, has since gone on record to defend himself and even claims that he was told to use existing, commercially available translations to complete the work. This refers to the work done by Ratalaika Games, which has published digital versions of titles such as Shockman 3 and Gleylancer in the West.
Ratalaika has now gone on record to state categorically that it has never allowed any other company to use the translations contained within its games—and that the rights to these translations do not belong with the original IP holders, but with Ratalaika.
"We have to watch the entire video, but as the publisher of the PS4, PS5, Xbox and Switch versions, I am not aware that our team will license our translation to anyone else," says the post on social media, translation via Google. "What's more, the rights to the translations that we have made, such as Cyber Citizen Shockman 3, Gley Lancer, Shounen Ninja Sasuke, Sugoro Quest and Deae Tonosama: Appare Ichiban, the rights have never been given to the IP licensing companies, the rights have always been ours."
"After our discussion internally, we as Retro-Bit concluded that the final work submitted contained, to a lesser or higher degree, uncredited work," said Retro-Bit in a statement given to Time Extension at the end of February. "We’ve always had a successful understanding of our shared responsibilities with our collaborators and unfortunately in this instance, we let our guard down. This was an irresponsible oversight on our end and we take full accountability for this outcome and not verifying the submitted translation. To amend this situation, we will set out to reach those whose work was not recognized to offer a means of resolution."