[Game localization] Reaching out to local players
Greetings, we are Latis Global Communications, a company dedicated in localizing games. We provide high quality game services to game developers all over the world. We also provide informative content to help developers successfully expand their market abroad.
Today’s subject is game localization and its importance.
What comes to your mind when you hear ‘game localization’? Many will think of translating games from one language to another.
Translation means porting the text in a game from one language to another.
If you’re planning to release a game in a different country, translation is a must. For a target audience to play your game without being alienated, all the text in the game, including the dialogue, narration, and UI must be translated into the target language.
If translation is not done at all or done incorrectly, players can not feel comfortable with the game. Most won’t go the extra mile to run translation software to understand the meaning of the text. There are simply many other games for them to play that they will actually understand.
Game localization is a higher concept than game translation.
It is difficult to simply define game localization for all the concepts it encompasses. Thus, it will be defined as a ‘process to adapt a game to be properly presented to local audiences’ in this article.
Game localization includes not only text translation but also character modification, voice recording in the target language, and modifying UI and UX to cater to target audiences.
# The importance of Game Localization
So, why does game localization matter?
As aforementioned, localization is the first step towards global publishing. It is an essential process to launch your service overseas.
First of all, subtitles are essential. Subtitles should be context-sensitive and flow naturally. Furthermore, they require a consistent use of key terms and they must portray the characters correctly.
A specific challenge often faced when translating is adjusting the text length. The target text can be shorter or longer than the source text, but longer texts often present a problem with overlapping. Because of this, they must be carefully planned and translated to avoid issues.
In addition, sometimes the source text contains terms and expressions that are offensive in the target language due to cultural differences and context. In these cases, the target text should be edited or rewritten to avoid problems.
A well localized game can gain popularity or even become a Hall of Fame game in the target country.
A badly localized game on the other hand disappoints local players. They may think that the developers don’t care much about them. Losing loyal customers is a grave mistake for game developers. It takes significantly more effort to regaining loyalty than retaining it.
Game localization requires a lot of effort. It is an indispensable process to successfully service a game abroad. It is why many game developers and publishers are looking for a dependable global game localization company that knows the ins and outs of many different countries and cultures.
Did you find this article useful? In the next article, we will discuss a couple of success stories regarding game localization.
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