Video game localisation is the process of translating and preparing a video game to a specific market. Localisation goes beyond translation; the content is adapted to the target culture, which is very important for the player experience. Localisation also includes quality control.
Video games are complex products that comprise text, lines of code, graphic components and music, and many other elements. Localisation therefore has a lot in common with audiovisual translation; to achieve an adequate translation, we must pay attention to audiovisual elements. Translation and localisation go hand in hand and are inseparable.
Do you want your players to feel at home? How to expand your video game overseas? We answer these and any other questions you may have in this article.
Why localise and not translate?
First of all, some background. Video games are a relatively recent audiovisual product. Most games started to feature text in the 1980s and many didn’t have a narrative or dialogues until the 1990s. A lot of those games came from Japan, and it was the growth of that market that sparked interest in localisation.
Back then the process was largely unknown. That era left us with translations with blatant errors that we find laughable even today. Specialists soon realised that it was not enough to translate; they had to localise.
Video games are different from other audiovisual products in the sense that they involve a lot more than storytelling or dialogues. Games are interactive and therefore are also user experience (or UX). When translating a video game, we can’t just use the English equivalent.
For example, there are many interface elements that have to be adapted to the layout; character limits mean words like “Attack” have to be shortened to “At.”. Other interactive elements contain variables and tags, which are lines of code that can replace or modify other words. For example:
- You bought %J’s %O!
How can we translate this if %J is the name of any player and %O is any object? In English, there would be no issue with saying “You bought Peter’s apple!” or “You bought Sarah’s orb!”. But in Spanish, we could end up with something like “Has comprado orbe de Sarah” (lit. You’ve bought an orb from Sarah) if we are not careful. Hence, professionals had to come up with some practices to avoid such pitfalls and ensure the best UX.
The steps to follow in video game localisation
The process of localising a video game is long and arduous, yet highly rewarding. Enthusiasm and patience are key, as well as a professional team to ensure good project management. We recommend using a translation agency to organise and allocate each task properly. Let’s take a look at the steps usually comprising a project of this nature.
Development phase and creation of a locKit.
As we have already explained, a video game is an interactive audiovisual product that has been developed just like a computer programme. Thus, everything starts right at the development stage. A game can be localised during or after development, but in either case an adaptation process is involved: it might be necessary to change the alphabet or graphic elements, create pronoun variables… A linguist is very important in this phase as he/she can advise the developers.
Once it is clear what needs to be translated and adapted and how, the next step involves the creation of a locKit. LocKit stands for “localisation kit” and is a set of files with all the information about the game and its development, among other details that linguists may need. Each locKit is different, but generally it always contains all the game text, character and story information, screenshots and variable and tag data.
Once the locKit as well as the guidelines and best practices for localising the game have been received, the translation begins. A team of developers should be available during the entire localisation process to handle text insertion and queries. Teamwork makes for the best localisation.
Translation phase
Once the developers and project managers have prepared the project, the translation begins. Before starting to translate the text, the team must familiarise themselves with the game and create glossaries. Terminology management in video games is essential as each genre uses its own jargon.
On top of that, each game also has its own terms that must be taken care of in order to produce a consistent translation. The beginning of the project is also a good time to make stylistic decisions or even create our own style guide. Ensuring consistency is our priority.
To handle terminology and text easier, it may be useful to use a computer-assisted translation (CAT) tool. However, one may also opt for the most rudimentary method of using an Excel sheet with the text divided into columns. The choice may also depend on the number of words. Some games have a million words, others – five thousand, and the more words, the more complicated it results to translate without using a CAT tool.
With all the preparation completed, the translation specialist (or translation team) will start translating. The proofreader or team of proofreaders will collaborate with the translators to produce an immaculate text that respects all linguistic rules. They will also communicate to the developers any questions or suggestions; this information is often very valuable, so it should be kept safe.
A localisation specialist will not only be able to create an effective and engaging text, but will also have all the resources on hand to avoid terminology or UX issues. With the great diversity of texts in this world, sometimes a video game translator becomes a poet, sometimes a storyteller, other times a scriptwriter. A successful video game translation is one that wins the players’ hearts.
Test, test and keep testing
Okay, so we already have the text translated and proofread, what else could be left? Next is a phase that is perhaps less known but no less important. In fact, it is fundamental. This is when developers start inserting the translations in the game.
This process never goes flawlessly, neither technically nor language-wise. No matter how diligent they are, translators and proofreaders work without seeing the game. In turn, developers cannot fully predict the errors that the insertion may cause. This is where the linguistic tester and the discipline known as localisation quality assurance (LQA) join the process.
This task normally requires considerable technical resources and is performed by a specialised company since the testers work on the finished game and this is not usually done from home. Copies of the game are sent to secure offices to avoid leaks and other confidentiality issues. This does not mean that the testers cannot communicate with the translators, proofreaders and developers; they should.
The testers will check all the text as they play and report any issues they find to the developers. Sometimes one of the translators or proofreaders is present to resolve language queries. Whether or not there is a linguist, the testers too can (and often do) suggest changes: these are usually length or context problems, but can also concern style or coherence. In other words, we have to be prepared for everything; the more we check, the better the results.
Testing further
As with translation, there are testing projects of all scales. Investing the time and resources a game needs saves a lot of trouble. Some game publishers require that all text be reviewed at least twice by two different testers. On top of this, there are reviews of the issues that the developers have fixed; make sure not to skip this step! It’s always better to double check whether a problem has been resolved.
Market launch and beyond
After development, translation and testing, the game is ready for release. Thereafter, users may report bugs or the developers may add content. You never know what might happen, so better safe than sorry.
We have gone over the best practices in the localisation industry that we hope you have found useful. If you have a project, Overseas Translations will be happy to help. Our video game localisation specialists will know how to bring your games to fruition so that players around the world can enjoy them.
