Friday, May 29, 2015

Translation for video games – a “glocal” business!

When someone says that “Gaming is a serious matter”, some still might take that as an oxymoron, but every day more and more people are realizing the truth behind this once popular misconception. With expectations of $74 billion in earnings for 2015 according to a report from SuperData Research, video games have become THE thing, surpassing Hollywood and any other entertainment industry.

The boom of video games is as evident as it is international, and as such, it requires a proportionally huge investment in good translation.

According to Joost van Dreunen, CEO from SuperData Research, “Today, people don’t just consume entertainment but increasingly play an active part in it.” And for this to be possible, language is key. Gamers want to savor their favorite games in their own languages in order to get a complete sense of immersion and identification with the story of the video game as it unfolds.

Translation for video games is definitely one of a kind.

First of all, localization is extremely important. Even if you have all your text translated for a video game, gamers from UK want to hear their characters speak English with a UK accent and use UK expressions; gamers from Mexico want to hear Spanish with Mexican accents and idioms; French gamers will always prefer French accents over Canadian ones. Not taking this into consideration will break that precious “immersion effect” that can easily be the difference between success and failure for a game – and the industry is competitive enough as it is!

Video game translation also tends to be difficult due to technical aspects, such as character limitation and audio synchronization. Also, when a game is very big or has prequels and/or sequels, consistency is a major issue – and you can be sure that if something is not properly researched and proofed, the gamers will most likely express their outrage openly. Such is the industry nowadays: the final customers have as much of a saying as the companies themselves.

Lastly, initiatives such as Kickstarter and the lower costs of video game production in general due to newer, more efficient technologies have caused the emergence of millions of independent video game companies in recent years. This means that small companies need translation done fast, efficiently and at affordable prices in order not to go over budget.

Thus, it seems like a logical conclusion for a small, versatile translation company known for its efficiency, excellent price-performance ratio and delivery speed to be their best option.

Good thing that at inWhatLanguage we have a group of extremely professional linguists ready to work on gaming translation whenever the need arises! At inWhatLanguage, we are proud of our large networks of local translators who “get” the people you are targeting. We want you to become a “glocal” phenomenon – a global company that excels at localizing to needs around the world.


And “glocal” translation is definitely the way to go when it comes to video games!

1 comment:

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