We’ve seen many European platforms that think “localising for Asia” means translating the content.
That’s why most of them fail in Asia.
We see this all the time: operators rush in for a “slice of the Asian pie,” dreaming of millions in revenue. They translate their content, and end up with low retention. The content simply doesn’t engage users.
Users see it clearly: this “outsider” hasn’t studied the market, they are here for a short time, better not to give them our money. As a result, the operator spent money but got no customers.
The story of one operator is truly shocking: they fit the local market so poorly that any brand symbol immediately triggers mockery and criticism in the local online community. Their reputation burned down in a matter of weeks. Restoring it proved impossible.
It’s no surprise.
Imagine entering the Indian market. There are more than 20 official languages and hundreds of dialects. A translation into English or Hindi automatically cuts off most of the audience. On top of that, online services are allowed in only a few states.
A fatal mistake is to enter the Indian market with the same set of digital products that you offer in Latvia.
In India, users are all about fantasy competitions and cricket. Strategy games or European football are the last things they will be interested in.
What works in Europe can be rejected in Asia. What works in India doesn’t work in the Philippines. And this is just a small part of the picture.
Add to this the local standards, laws, payment systems that must be considered, the unique customer journey, user habits, and the way trust in a brand is built.
Operators who ignore full localization stand no chance against the competition. Those who invest seriously in it deliver a message that local users understand, and that keeps them several steps ahead.
Yes, thoughtful localization works far better than just translating content with ChatGPT. But there are still a lot of more costly risks.
There are legal and regulatory risks, where the same thing can be allowed in one Indian state and strictly forbidden in another. Wrong wording in premium offers, sudden changes in the law you didn’t track, violations of advertising rules — that’s one side of the coin.
How do you avoid picking an unreliable PSP that might disappear with your money in a few months?
How do you handle KYC and AML compliance specific to this jurisdiction, with no direct equivalents in other countries?
These are costly mistakes, and operators entering the Asian market make them all the time.
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