[Game Localization] Important Tips for Game Localization and Translations
[Game Localization] Important Tips for Game Localization and Translations As game localization made a great impact on game’s revenue, localization importance had increased considering before the global release. Localization is different from simple translation because you need to consider all aspects from language features to cultural context. This time, we’re going to talk about game localization tips for successful global launching. 1. Identify your target user In order to enter the global market, it is recommended to understand the preferred game genre, gender disposition, age demographic etc. of the target country. When localizing your game, it should go beyond just translating a list of text strings to make sure that the chosen language is correct in context and understandable by local users. 2. Understand contents A deep understanding of the game leads to higher quality of localization, so it is significantly important to figure out its contents. For example, if you don’t know the speaker’s gender you may have big trouble with some European languages that have grammatical rules regarding gender. You should select right nouns, verbs and adjectives by gender. Poor localization could affect user’s loyalty to your game. 3. Idioms and slangs Various characters in-game have different tones of speaking and use various idiomatic expressions depending on genre of games. Lack of understanding in their linguistic features could lead to low quality of localization which is a distracting factor for users. Furthermore, some slang terms and phrases have different meanings in different regions. There are countries where the use of certain profanities are banned, and each country has a term that users react sensitively, so it is important to understand the culture of the target country and apply localization accordingly. 4. The importance of LQA Testing LQA is the process of examining in-game text. It is the process of checking the context and tone of the text, there are no differences from the original text or other errors, how natural the translation is, whether the context is clear and whether the expression is appropriate for the game. Through LQA, you can ensure whether there are differences in the meaning from the original, mistranslated texts and untranslated parts. Also, it targets mistakes such as contextual inaccuracy, ensures the natural flow of language, sensitivity towards cultural references and so on. Game localization is not a simple task. As severe errors and problems from localization could cause a detrimental effect for a successful release, it is important to take sufficient time to thoroughly inspect LQA. If you are unable to go through all these processes in your company, consulting with a localization expert company could be a great help. Our extensive knowledge of video games helps us to deliver superior gaming services. We are a team made up of game specialists who fully understand and love video games. We provide our clients with the highest quality gaming services for all types, platforms, and genres of video games. With considerable knowledge and experience, we support global video game developers and publishers for their successful launch.
Game Localization: Basic Rules on How to Prepare Your Game
Game Localization: Basic Rules on How to Prepare Your Game What is Game Localization? Game Localization is the process of modifying a game so that the players in the target markets will feel like the game was made for their residing country. Games reflecting native languages and cultures are in high demand in the video game industry. Therefore, you must localize, not only translate, games by paying attention to cultural context. The video game industry is rapidly growing because of the development of the internet and the increasing prevalence of smartphones. Accordingly, High-quality video game localization will lead to a successful global launch and high return. As stated above, professional video game localization, not just text translation, will gain competitive advantages and success in the target markets by drawing attention and immersion from the players. Top-quality video game localization checklist Character & Universe There are many different characters and universes according to the genre such as simulation, adventure, role-playing, or open-world video games. Thus, linguists must check not only character description, but also the personality, background, and history of each character before they start localizing the game. Understanding the characters and the universes will help tone matching by the background story and each character. Sequence segments & tag arrangement When it comes to a script file, the segments should be sorted according to the scenarios or the quests. Sorting by alphabetical order makes linguists struggle when they try to understand the context, and it risks the quality of the game localization. Translatable in-game text file Hard-coding is not an effective way in game localization. When codes are mixed with in-game text, it will be hard to extract the text and translate it. Moreover, the code might change during the process of separating it from the text. Sufficient time & Communication In general, game localization is often followed by the time when the game has been developed. In this case, the schedule is likely to be tight for the release date. And the linguists might end up with a poor quality of the localization since they worked to a very tight deadline. If you allocate sufficient time to game localization at the beginning of the game development, you will be offered top-quality deliverables. Our extensive knowledge of video games helps us to deliver superior gaming services. We are a team made up of game specialists who fully understand and love video games. We provide our clients with the highest quality gaming services for all types, platforms, and genres of video games. With considerable knowledge and experience, we support global video game developers and publishers for their successful launch.
