Game Localization: Essential Information to Know Before You Begin (Part 1)
The gaming space feels like an entirely different world. You feel like you are in there, interacting with the game story like it’s your own. You play the lead character (and sometimes the supporting ones) and assume that it’s you, walking or running around, climbing the walls or targeting the enemies. That experience is thrilling, to say the least.
Well, that’s one of the primary motives of the gaming industry — to deliver a user experience that feels real, even when it’s virtual! And do you know how gaming companies become successful in doing this?
You might say ultra-high-definition graphics, 3-D sound, interactive storyline, and seamless gameplay are some of the elements that make your gaming experience as soothing as possible. But there’s one more thing that enhances the user experience of the players — Game Localization.
Today, launching a video game in the global market is gruelling. The primary objective of game studios is that their games are welcomed in all the targeted markets with open arms. It helps them get a foothold in the gaming industry, increase their user base, and ultimately maximise revenue.
However, it is easier said than done. You must appropriately localise the gaming content to deliver a gaming experience that attracts global markets.
All you have to do is translate the audio-video content of the game into the target language, easy peasy!
Well, if that were the case, every gaming company would be taking the stage. Unfortunately, that’s not how it works. Game localization involves much more than mere translation. Let’s keep reading this information piece to know the essentials for game localisation.
Game Localisation: Understanding the Hype
Before we discuss what game localisation is all about, we need to understand why game localization is essential to the success of the game.
Okay, so here are some facts you need to know before anything:
- Around 3.24 billion people around the globe play video games. (Statista, 2021)
- In 2021, the PC gaming industry collected approximately $36.7 billion in revenue worldwide. However, mobile gaming remained the top player, with almost $93.2 billion in annual revenue. (Statista, 2021)
- Of the top 10 global video gaming markets, Asian countries have a whopping 40% of the share. (World Economic Forum, 2021)
- China tops the list with the biggest gaming industry market, with an approximate turnover of $49.3 billion in 2021. (World Economic Forum, 2021)
- Tencent, Apple, and Sony were the top companies in 2021 in terms of generating revenue from the gaming industry. Tencent, the Shenzhen-headquartered China’s biggest gaming company, generated almost $32.2 billion during this period. (Statista, 2021)
These stats clearly depict how the gaming industry is booming daily and why companies are shifting their interest in the video game development sector and localization.
Game localization can be expressed as the process of making a video game to fit the cultural and regional backgrounds of your target audience, including their values, behaviours and preferences. When you adapt your game based on the cultural relevance of the players located in different locations, they feel as if the particular game is made for them. Simply put, it provides the game players with the best gaming experience.
With this, you might have understood that game localization does not only deal with translating gaming content. To make the characters, storyline, and dialogues relatable to local game players, you might also need to change symbols, colour schemes, graphic elements, and cultural references in addition to translating the material.
Get your game noticed and played around the world with Into23‘s localization services. Get a quote now for our localization services for your revolutionary new game here.
Read Part 2 with examples of Gaming Localization gone wrong here!