Introduction
The mystifying world of video game creation has a very significant but broadly unconsidered appendage in video game localization. Bringing video games to a global market is considered almost essential in guaranteeing a game's success and longevity. As the increasing number of gamers around the world are becoming more savvy and open-minded with their purchases, and word of mouth is stronger than ever through the medium of the internet, ensuring a video game has a high-quality localization can make or break a game's reputation and subsequently its sales. Despite this pressure, internationalization, translation and culturalization processes offer exciting challenges and rewards for accomplished localization experts around the world who take professional satisfaction in knowing they've delivered the ideal version of a game creator's vision to players around the globe.
Over the following two weeks, Andovar will be releasing a series of blog articles focused on video game localization, sharing our firsthand experience and industry knowledge on the processes and tricks that go into making the localization process as successful as possible. These articles will examine the many moving parts of localization and the industry at large, analyzing how various technologies, agencies and outcomes blend together to produce world-class localization for modern video games.
What does it take for a localized game to be found worthy of entertaining today's most sophisticated gamers? Who are the gaming and localization industries' most engaged and experienced critics? This comprehensive guide will answer these questions and more as we offer insights into maximizing the accuracy of translations and culturalizing content. We will cover every step of a localization project, from pre-production, localization, translation, culturalization, internationalization, use of technologies, best practices and challenges, to executing the final and seemingly minor quality assurance modifications and market assessments needed to bring the overall gaming experience to the next level.
In the first couple of articles, we'll look at how and why localization and culturalization must be understood as blended objectives at national levels and further refined at local levels in order to create high-quality translations in games. We will focus on providing advice and tips on the preparation required for localization, elaborating on the internationalizing process that occurs prior to handing a game over to a localization team, as well as how to achieve an organic authenticity in dialogues and text elements.
Following this, our next batch of articles will address industry conditions, offering insights and tips for success in various key international markets, before taking a closer look at definitive localization industry examples seen in the Asian gaming market and sharing critical points learnt from those. This selection of articles will provide insights into understanding attitudes, behaviors, and market trends and drivers that inform good game localization and culturalization strategies, as well as new product development and plans for "continuing localization" in various international target markets.
Finally, we will summarize with an analysis of the common challenges and current range of QA testing options and essential localization technologies available. We highly encourage you to check out the discussions on best practices, common challenges, quality assurance and localization markets in particular as they are all must-reads for those interested in the industry.
The number and complexity of challenges facing game developers when launching their products into international markets can be daunting. The goal of this comprehensive guide is to provide a base of foundational knowledge that is sufficient enough to lay out a roadmap to success for game developers looking to work with localization professionals, as well as to serve as a helpful primer for aspiring localization professionals to localize games for Asian and Western European gaming markets.
Ultimately, these combined articles aim to be a comprehensive introduction to game localization, with content rich in industry vocabulary and general points of knowledge, to help readers ask the questions that will allow them to successfully navigate industry options and identify the right partners for their projects; one that brings the passion, technical expertise, international market knowledge and industry experience necessary to help their games succeed in every market.
For those game developers who are embarking on their own game localization journeys, we very much encourage you to partner with an experienced games localization company with a proven track record of consistently producing exceptional results for game creators and players alike. We wish you luck in your adventure and hope you find our articles as an invaluable reference point to guide you on your way!
A full version of this guide is now available here.
Individual chapters are also available:
Part 1: Pre-production
Part 2: Localization
Part 3: Translation
Part 4: Culturalization
Part 5: Internationalization
Part 6: Technologies
Part 7: Best practices
Part 8: Challenges
Part 9: Quality assurance
Part 10: Localization markets
Part 11: Conclusion
