Developer Spotlight: Meet Ysko
This week, we had the amazing opportunity of interviewing Ysko, one of the major translators (English and Spanish) on Roblox. He has participated in the localization of several games, including the popular 2018 Egg Hunt and he is also a server admin in the Roblox Discord Server. We had the chance to ask him some questions and discover how his Roblox experience has been and what he expects to see in the future. Here’s what he had to say:
Tell us a little about your career as a developer in Roblox.
Hello! I’m Ysko, a Spanish developer specializing in the world of game translation between English and Spanish. I’ve been on the platform since 2010, having started as any other user by going into Studio and creating my own world based on whatever I was thinking at the time. I think the first world I made was nothing more than an empty Baseplate…
The unofficial Roblox Discord server recently reached 150k Users, how has this path been?
The unofficial Roblox Discord is one of our largest projects since I started participating on the platform. I started there a few years ago as a community moderator, and I’m now managing all the public events and community engagement.
Not long ago, we reached 150,000 users, and we’re growing faster than ever before. We’ll soon reach 200,000!
I love participating there and I’d never want to quit!
What do you think about the participation that it has achieved?
The Roblox Discord has reached a very high level of participation, and I’m very proud of our volunteers who help manage the community. I’m also proud of the community itself for willing to participate in our events.
How was your experience in Roblox events such as RDC?
I went to RDC in London in 2017 and Amsterdam in 2018. The first time made me see the developer community in a new way. I met the creators of my favorite games as well as many Roblox staff members, and a lot of them are now my friends.
I’d recommend RDC to those who want to get to know the platform from a closer, more personal perspective. In 2018 I was given the opportunity to do multiple interviews in which I detailed my life since I started on Roblox as a Spanish developer.
I wish to continue going to these events to get to know our community better.
What do you think about the Roblox community?
The Roblox community is very original in the sense that we all share an immense amount of creativity that we can set free on the platform, and the sky is the limit! It’s very special to me.
Tell us a little about the Roblox Champions program. How do you feel being part of this program?
The Roblox Champions Program is an exclusive group of developers who are renowned for their efforts on the platform and their community contributions, acting as leaders by example in their respective fields; in my case, that would be game localization and my participation in the community.
I feel very proud as a member of the program since it allows me to have a closer relationship with Roblox professionals, which means that I have the opportunity to directly give my opinion regarding the changes that are made to the platform from the perspective of a developer. It also allows me to bring my knowledge to newer developers who seek quality advice regarding what I do.
Tell us about your experience as a translator in Roblox
Since the beginning, I have considered game and platform internationalization to be extremely important.
When the localization tools were released, I couldn’t resist starting to translate immediately, especially having come from actively translating Twitter (you can see a Twitter Translator badge on my profile).
I’ve been able to work on many events, such as the Egg Hunt 2018, Aquaman: Home is Calling; many classics, such as Work at a Pizza Place and Theme Park Tycoon 2; and many popular games, such as Roblox High School 2, Mining Simulator, Bubble Gum Simulator, Vehicle Simulator, Adopt Me! and many others.
Of all the games I’ve translated, I’d have to say that Egg Hunt 2018: The Great Yolktales was the largest and most difficult to finish. We spent many days and nights translating the game so that it’d be available for Spanish speaking players on-time for the release date. It was an unforgettable experience.
What are your plans for the future? In what ways would you like your career to evolve in Roblox?
I wish to continue working on Roblox’s internationalization project for the Spanish speaking community, which is itself a perfect objective since there’s still a lot to do, not just with the games, but with the platform itself.
What advice would you give to new developers who want to grow in Roblox as developers?
The first step is to find what you enjoy the most. Once you’ve figured that out, don’t stop focusing on your objectives. Don’t let obstacles demotivate you, stopping your progress. Time is important. Manage it correctly and you’ll reach the stars!
Huge thanks to Ysko for collaborating with us to share his experiences and work on Roblox. We wish you the best of luck to fulfill all your goals and to continue achieving great things.
It was a real pleasure to work with him in the creation of this Developer Spotlight and we genuinely expect to see even more great things from Ysko in the future!
We invite you to follow Ysko on Twitter and Roblox in order to stay updated about his latest projects!
