Wizards of the Coast taking direct control of some D&D translations

When D&D 5e was young, fans became so frustrated that Wizards of the Coast were so slow to translate the RPG into languages other than English that petitions were started to persuade them to hurry up.

In fact, in protest to Wizards of the Coast cancelling local agreements, one petition even said;

With 5th Edition, Wizards of the Coast has dropped all partnerships with local publishers and stopped all foreign-language editions of the game. It may not be reflected by the sales numbers, but D&D needs a proper localisation. Most dedicated players may still buy the English rulebooks, but there are always players at the table, especially younger ones, that need a translation. Other RPGs are translated, all previous editions of D&D were, why not this one?

Eventually, Wizards of the Coast entered into agreements with publishers like Asmodee and Gale Force Nine to get the D&D 5e books translated and localised for markets outside America.

The Gale Force Nine agreement ended up with lawyers and a threatened court case. When Wizards of the Coast tried to terminate the deal, Gale Force Nine countered with legal papers that documented an alleged breach of contract.

That conflict was eventually settled out of court, with Wizards agreeing to see the contract through to the end.

In Italy, this week, Asmodee have revealed that they will no longer translate D&D books, although they will help distribute them. They say;

it was a great pleasure to bring Dungeons & Dragons 5 in edition in Italy in the last four years. 2021 saw a major transition as Wizards of the Coast regained direct control over D&D in Italian. From now on, Wizards of the Coast will directly handle the localisation and editorial process for future and existing versions in our language.

Given that Wizards of the Coast found themselves facing legal action with Gale Force Nine in their haste to take direct control of translation for D&D, it does not come as much surprise to discover they’re taking direct control of the translation of D&D in those markets Gale Force Nine are not responsible for.