Manual Save provides copyediting and proofreading services for game developers.
We offer comprehensive support at affordable rates to help small independent studios and solo creators put their best foot forward in a competitive market.
It's dangerous to go alone!
Why Do Games Need an Editor?
Independent game development is driven by passionate creators making personal and professional sacrifices to realize their dream projects. You've poured your heart into your game — don't let that hard work be undermined by a poorly written tutorial! You've spent untold hours perfecting how your game looks and feels, so why launch with a Steam page full of typos?
Editing makes games better by identifying and correcting issues ranging from stilted dialogue and confusing item descriptions to simple missing punctuation. It also helps developers connect with potential backers and customers by ensuring that promotional copy is enticing and error free.
First Impressions Matter
Digital storefronts and convention center halls have grown more and more crowded with highly polished independent titles from boutique publishers, and players have become more discerning as a result. Indie shouldn't mean amateur, and games that make a bad first impression risk being dismissed as cheap or poorly made.
Unpolished writing is distracting at best, and it can keep players from fully engaging with the world you've crafted. At worst, it can turn them away from your game entirely.
At Manual Save, we combine our editorial expertise and love for great games to bring out the best in your creative work. Are your characters talking too much and saying too little? Will players want to read your in-game lore, or is it just... there? We can help!
"The average player—how they view a game when they open it up, whether it's a professional game, whether it's something that they can assume is a good game off the bat, that first impression... polish does this."
–Mike Bithell
Thomas Was Alone, Subsurface Circular
"A story that's clear, consistent,
and coherent is a story that people can more easily consume.
"With editing, people understand your game better and are more likely to get out of it what you're working so hard to put into it."
–Cameron Harris
former senior editor, BioWare
What We Do
Editing isn't just for games in traditionally text-heavy genres, such as RPGs and other story-driven experiences. Consider the different kinds of writing you do for your game:
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dialogue and narrative
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UI and menu text
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item and ability descriptions
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tutorials and tooltips
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in-world assets (signage, etc.)
You're doing more writing than you might think, and professional writing needs a professional editor. Manual Save offers two basic forms of editorial support — copyediting and proofreading — to meet the different needs and budgets of small teams, with the ability to fine-tune the level of assistance to fit each project.
Copyediting
Proofreading
A copyedit is a comprehensive review of your game's text focused on polishing your writing to a shine.
We'll pore over the content you provide and edit for spelling, grammar, punctuation, and consistency. We'll also work with you to improve weak or awkward constructions and address other problem areas, such as ineffective dialogue or narration.
The principles of copyediting can be applied across many types of game text across almost all genres, from skill tree blurbs to combat tutorials.
Copyediting is especially helpful when content is written by non-native English speakers, where the fundamentals are solid but the nuanced grasp of language and word choice isn't quite there.
A less intensive form of editing, proofreading can be thought of as a sort of editorial QA.
A proofread focuses on many of the same issues as copyediting: spelling and grammar errors, style inconsistencies, and so on. We won't get hands-on with your writing in terms of polishing sentence structure and phrasing, instead focusing on obvious typos and other easily corrected problems.
A proofread is a worthy alternative if you only need a thorough once-over to ensure that no egregious mistakes make it into your final product.
Proofreading is also a good fit for games that don't have a lot of writing, or only have writing in a few specific, non-narrative areas.
Indie development also involves a lot of writing outside of your game. A potential player's first interaction with your title will likely be through the marketing copy for your crowdfunding campaign or digital storefront page. Don't let this be an afterthought!
Our Model
Manual Save is founded on the principle of helping upstart developers create their best work and reach the widest audience possible. We know that for many small studios and solo developers, editing seems like a luxury they simply can't afford.
We'll work with you to discuss the scope and level of editing that makes sense for your project. Need a straightforward proofread on your mission briefings or the journal entries scattered throughout your game world? We can do that. Need a more thorough review of your dialogue to ensure players stay invested in the plot? Let's talk.
Our rates are affordable and negotiable and include options for additional follow-on support should your needs change over time.
Ready to get started? Or just want to know more? Use the Contact form below to tell us about yourself and your project.