MARCUS V. SANTOS

BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE TRANSLATOR

About

Need help in your next localization quest? This is the stronghold you are looking for!Here are the services I can offer:

  • Translation and localization of your game from Spanish and English into Brazilian Portuguese.

  • Proofreading and edition of your texts.

  • Transcreation of wordplays and humor to deliver your game exactly as you want!

  • Search for sensitive topics to make sure your product won't have culturally inappropriate terms or expressions in Brazil.

  • Provide linguistic quality control (LQA) for your titles.

I have worked on more than 40 games — and the list is still growing!
What the numbers say about my work experience:

+2 100 000

words translated

+840 000

words proofread

Speaking of genres, my expertise covers:

  • Story-driven & point-and-click: impactful dialogues, accurate descriptions and (bad) jokes faithfully adapted.

  • Strategy & RPGs: clear game mechanics explanations and gamer terminology based on thorough research.

  • Mobile card & board games: concise texts to fit character limits and popular expressions to follow the genres conventions.

  • Shooters & battle royale: effective CTA language, as well as badass skill and weapon names.

Are you curious about which video games I've localized? Take a look at the Portfolio section, or contact me me for the full list — and even some translation samples!

Bio

Hello! My name is Marcus Vinicius Santos. I’m a Brazilian Portuguese native translator who works in English and Spanish languages. I specialize in translating/localizing games, apps, websites, and Social Sciences texts.My work with the Portuguese language began when my stutter had arisen at the age of five. The perception that a certain word would stop my speech forced me to think of other terms that could replace the original one. Gradually, my brain became highly proficient at producing synonyms and correlated expressions. Soon I began making "creative and unusual" wordplays for friends and became a "light and expressive" writer for teachers and masters.So it was, that the path to face my stuttering brought me a great creative writing skill despite all the hindrances. I shortly fell in love with literature: writing my own poetry book, utilizing different linguistic expressions, and taking courses in foreign languages: English, Spanish, Brazilian Sign Language, German and currently Mandarin. Of course, the translation became a passion as well.I have been translating Human Science texts since 2012, especially the ones written at the Federal University of Alagoas, the university that granted me the title of Master in Sociology. Since 2017, I have also been translating/localizing games, apps, and websites, as in addition to the previous niches in which I had been specializing. I’ve continued expanding my skills by taking courses from Brasillis, FutureLearn, Udemy, OpenLearn, and Udacity.Check out what past clients have recently said about my work in the Testimonials section of my website! If you want to make your product attractive to Brazilian audiences, hire a translator with social studies master’s degree. Make your text expressive to your audience!My guarantees are: maximum commitment, careful investigation of the intricacies of each product and its audiences, fidelity to the wishes of the clients, and agility in the process. Contact me and ask for my CV!

Contact

You can reach me out through these ways:Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/marcusviniciussantos
Microsoft Teams: [email protected]
Discord: marcus.v.santos

Testimonials

Minoria's screenshot | Developer: Bombservice

Eighth Era

"Working with Marcus has been an absolute pleasure. He consistently delivers tasks on time, follows instructions carefully, and demonstrates excellent linguistic skills. He is also very friendly and professional, which makes collaborating with him always enjoyable. I highly recommend him."

Nour Mustapha | GlobalStep
(Project Manager | Canada)


Minoria's screenshot | Developer: Bombservice

Russian Subway Dogs

"Marcus has been fantastic to work with. Russian Subway Dogs is a tricky game to localize, full of wordplay and subtle tutorialization (...). He was super communicative throughout the process, asking for clarification where needed and explaining various options for translating some of the trickier bits."

Miguel Sternberg | Spooky Squid Games
(Game Designer | Canada)


Minoria's screenshot | Developer: Bombservice

Minoria

"Marcus was a pleasure to work with. He commits himself to protects, keeps his deadlines, and does his best to be flexible to meet developers' demands. We would definitely recommend him as a translator."

Dan Luffey | Dangen Entertainment
(Localization Manager | Japan)


Nobodies' screenshot | Developer: Blyts

Nobodies

"Marcus is an amazing translator! He's always open to suggestions and trying to make the project he is working on even more professional. He delivers as estimated and his work is top-notch! We will definitely work with him again."

Mariano Colombo | Blyts
(Game Developer | Argentina)


A gata sob o ojá's screenshot | Developer: Andrew C. Wang

The Cat In The Hijab (localized version)

"Marcus was very thoughtful in adapting our game that was made for an American English audience into one that connects with a Brazilian Portuguese audience. He was able to skillfully understand the sensitive political/religious contexts of both cultures, and successfully maintain the intentions of the game in the adaptation."

Andrew Wang
(Game Developer | United States of America)
_________

"I played the game in PT-BR, and it really reflects a reality we see in Brazil, it got to the point and translated very well the idea of the original game. (...) It is a nice example of what localization is. "

Sheila Gomes
(Former Member of IGDA's LocSIG Steering Committee | Brazil)


Deserving Life's screenshot | Developers: L. Paul, G. Mittermair

Deserving Life

"It was pleasant to work with Marcus Vinicius Santos for the Brazilian Portuguese translation. We especially liked that he asked about context for more complex phrases to get the translation on point."

Lukas Paul
(Game Programmer | Austria)


The Eldritch Zookeeper's screenshot | Developer: Cranktrain

The Eldritch Zookeeper

"Marcus was great to work with, prompt and conscientious, and was really seeking to understand the game project to provide the best possible localisation. I'm looking forward to working with him again in the future!"

Matt Luard | Cranktrain
(Game Developer | England)


Mad Restaurant People's screenshot | Developer: ColossusArc

Mad Restaurant People

"Marcus was really open, patient and pleasant to work with. He did put a lot of effort into the linguistic details and worked thoroughly through them. He proactively contacted us if there were any obscurities or inaccuracies in our provided source texts. We absolutely recommend his service!"

Maximilian Mauerer | ColossusArc
(Game Designer | Germany)


Ghostory's screenshot | Developer: RigidCore Games

Ghostory

"Translating Ghostory is hard because the dialogues contain specific type of puns. Marcus took his time to translate and perfect the puns, asked for a context and even gave us alternatives to choose from. Marcus really cared about getting the translation right and it was a very pleasant cooperation."

Matej Poklemba | RigidCore Games
(Game Programmer | Czech Republic)


Rise of One's screenshot | Developer: Patriot Game Studio

Rise of One

"Marcus worked carefully on the project details and delivered the translation quickly."

Ozan Önen | Patriot Game Studio
(Game Developer | Turkey)

Portfolio

Credited projects

Portfolio

Uncredited projects (under NDA)

Word count: +1.400k
Roles: Translation & Post-Editing
(2021–Present)

4X strategy from the universe of a sci-fi franchise
Platforms: Android, iOS and PC


Word count: +114k
Roles: Translation, Proofreading & Post-Editing
(2021–Present)

Platform battle royal
Platforms: Xbox Series, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, PC, Android & iOS


Word count: +25k
Roles: Translation & Proofreading
(2023–Present)

Massively multiplayer strategy set in a medieval fantasy world
Platforms: Android & iOS


Word count: +90k
Roles: Translation, Proofreading & Post-Editing
(2024–Present)

Mobile board game centered on real estate trading
Platforms: Android & iOS


Word count: +12k
Role: Proofreading
(2025)

Cooperative roguelike platformer that takes place in a sci-fi world
Platform: Nintendo Switch


Word count: 21k
Role: Translation
(2025)

MOBA hero shooter
Platforms: TBA


Word count: 164k
Role: Proofreading
(2024–2025)

Construction and management simulation with a medieval fantasy setting
Platforms: Android & iOS


Word count: 381k
Role: Proofreading
(2020–2024)

Mobile RPG based on a popular animated movie brand
Platforms: iOS & Android


Word count: 86k
Role: Translation
(2022)

Strategy MMO in a high fantasy medieval realm
Platforms: iOS, Android & PC


Word count: 114k
Role: Translation
(2021–2022)

Casual match-3 puzzle with hotel decoration thematic
Platform: Android


Word count: 169k
Role: Proofreading
(2020–2022)

Mobile fighting game adapted from a famous superhero brand
Platforms: iOS & Android


Press

About The Cat In The Hijab localization


About my poetry book Tartamudeios