<p>I've just started reading fan translations of <em>Fate/Zero</em> and <em>Fate/Apocrypha</em> light novels, but it made me wonder, why have they not been officially translated to English?</p>

<p>I don't know a great deal about the <em>Fate</em> franchise, but it seems to be increasingly popular with games and anime series and loads more content in development. There also seems to be a great deal of LNs getting published in English lately that don't have as much of a following.</p>

<p>Is it because they're considered old (<em>Zero</em> is 2006, <em>Apocrypha</em> is 2012) or because there's an anime adaption for both so what's the point? Was it just overlooked?</p>

<p>In response to the linked question:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>The market for LN is really small outside Japan for a number of reasons so companies aren't interested in publishing them unless they are for very famous franchises</p>
</blockquote>

<p>That's what I'm saying, is <em>Fate</em> not an incredibly famous and marketable franchise both in and out of Japan? A number of <em>Fate</em> games have English localization, most of the anime series are on Netflix USA/UK with English dubs etc, this one just seems a bit of an anomaly. </p>

<p>Not to mention that question is almost 6 years old, the market has grown since then with entire bookshelves of English LNs in Western stores now. Seems to me, despite profitability, <em>Fate</em> got skipped.</p>

<p>Especially considering LNs like <em>Globlin Slayer</em> and <em>Rise of the Shield Hero</em> have English translations way before they even had an anime* to market them in the West. </p>

<p>*December 2016 and September 2015 respectively, their anime aired Fall 2018 and Winter 2019.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-17T01:12:20.543Z
Possible duplicate of [Why do so few light novels make it over via timely translation?](https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/5936/why-do-so-few-light-novels-make-it-over-via-timely-translation)
Memor-X
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-17T12:49:19.233Z
@Memor-X that question only partially answers mine, I've edited my question
Dawn
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-29T18:04:03.487Z
Complete, older series tend to do worse in sales, full anime adaptations can also hurt source material sales since most people will just go for the anime, that's why there's so many anime adaptations with cliff-hanger endings, to get you to buy the source material. And it having a complete fan-translation also hurts its chances. I believe that Fate has enough hardcore fans that would buy the novels just for collection even if they have already read the fan translation, but alas, companies probably think otherwise.
paulnamida
<fate-zero><light-novel-production><fate-apocrypha>
Why have Fate/Zero and Fate/Apocrypha light novels not been officially translated to English?
# Why have Fate/Zero and Fate/Apocrypha light novels not been officially translated to English?
Posted by: username_0 on 2019-04-17
I've just started reading fan translations of *Fate/Zero* and *Fate/Apocrypha* light novels, but it made me wonder, why have they not been officially translated to English?

I don't know a great deal about the *Fate* franchise, but it seems to be increasingly popular with games and anime series and loads more content in development. There also seems to be a great deal of LNs getting published in English lately that don't have as much of a following.

Is it because they're considered old (*Zero* is 2006, *Apocrypha* is 2012) or because there's an anime adaption for both so what's the point? Was it just overlooked?

In response to the linked question:

> The market for LN is really small outside Japan for a number of reasons so companies aren't interested in publishing them unless they are for very famous franchises

That's what I'm saying, is *Fate* not an incredibly famous and marketable franchise both in and out of Japan? A number of *Fate* games have English localization, most of the anime series are on Netflix USA/UK with English dubs etc, this one just seems a bit of an anomaly.

Not to mention that question is almost 6 years old, the market has grown since then with entire bookshelves of English LNs in Western stores now. Seems to me, despite profitability, *Fate* got skipped.

Especially considering LNs like *Globlin Slayer* and *Rise of the Shield Hero* have English translations way before they even had an anime\* to market them in the West.

\*December 2016 and September 2015 respectively, their anime aired Fall 2018 and Winter 2019.
**Tags:** fate-zero light-novel-production fate-apocrypha
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Possible duplicate of [Why do so few light novels make it over via timely translation?](https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/5936/why-do-so-few-light-novels-make-it-over-via-timely-translation)  
> **username_0**: @Memor-X that question only partially answers mine, I've edited my question  
> **username_2**: Complete, older series tend to do worse in sales, full anime adaptations can also hurt source material sales since most people will just go for the anime, that's why there's so many anime adaptations with cliff-hanger endings, to get you to buy the source material. And it having a complete fan-translation also hurts its chances. I believe that Fate has enough hardcore fans that would buy the novels just for collection even if they have already read the fan translation, but alas, companies probably think otherwise.  
---
## 0 answers
