In today’s market, game translation or game localization is a must. We understand starting a blog post with this sentence sounds a little bit too convenient for a language services provider. BUT, we will explain the reasons and hopefully convince you that we have a reason to say so. Let us take you on a journey about gaming, gamers and the gaming platforms.

Gaming, Gamers and Gaming Platforms

20 years ago gaming was very different than it is today. The devices, graphics, competition almost every aspect of gaming was different. But the most important difference was the players or gamers. How many 40+ players do you think there were in the 90s? Compared to today, statistically, almost none. This is why the main target of the gaming industry was people between 12-30 years old. Of course, there were older and younger players but the main target group was pretty small. There are many reasons behind this but let’s focus on two major facts. First, gaming was way more time-consuming than it is today and second, the competition was pretty limited within outside of this age group.

In years, technology has advanced, gaming platforms have gotten smaller and smaller.  But still, it was not enough. Then something amazing happened. The Social Media. At first, everyone was quite reluctant but after a while, it reshaped everyone’s life. There was a platform where you can compete with your elementary school friends in a game that you don’t need to buy or install. One click and boom. You are in it. Wherever you want and whenever you want. Games came and go but the culture and the perfect feeling of competition stayed.

Gaming Industry

According to this source, the market value of mobile gaming was $38 billion in revenues, console gaming $6 billion and PC gaming $33 billion in 2016. In total $78 billion revenue.

There is no market this big without huge competition. Every company out there is doing their best to attract gamers. Also every day new companies are trying to enter the market. This is another reason makes game translation important. Publishing game in more languages attracts more gamers. The more your games are played, the more revenue you create from them. So it is a win-win situation for you.

Game Translation

Translator

Game Translation might be too challenging for some translators. This is why it is not a suitable task for every translator. Gaming experience in game translation should be essential and beneficial for all of the parties.

Terminology

The biggest challenge in game translation is the terminology. Games come with a story and every story has a different terminology. If the translator does the translation without being aware of the special terminology of the game, the results would be terrible. This is why each translation project should include a terminology and this terminology must be examined thoroughly before even starting the translation.

Quality in Game Translation

Translation or localization of games is a challenging task for a translator. It requires a different kind of expertise. You can’t approach a game as you approach a text. You need to get involved and be ready to get your hands dirty as a translator. Nothing else than perfect is acceptable. Therefore, you, as a translator, need to give the correct sense and also the atmosphere of the game with your translation.

Quality Assurance in Game Translation

Quality assurance is an absolute must for game translation projects. The stage is crowded, the translation that translator presents will be visible for millions of eyes. One tiny mistake would cost a lot. And not only for the translator for everyone involved. This is why the translation of games is also a stressful task. This is why every project should be proofread and edited by different translators. And if possible, the game should be controlled by linguists before it gets published.

As Link Translations, we offer translation and localization services for games. If you have further questions, do not hesitate to contact us and get a no-obligation quote for free.