The worth of the gaming industry is over 300 billion dollars this year. Around 2.9 billion people around the world are active in games. Do you want these 2.9 billion people to enjoy your games? For this, you need to understand the mindset of the gamers and develop your games according to their preferences. The important thing to note is that you can not develop games separately for every region. Therefore to make your games available to a global audience, you have to take the assistance of game localization services.
Significance of Game Localization
The video game depicts the culture or the origin from where it is developed. For instance, the games that are developed in China don’t display blood, wars, and any material against the government. If the foreign developer has made such a game then he needs to remove such things from the game to cater Chinese target market. Here localization services can save you.
Cultural intricacies and mistranslations provide an unpleasant user experience to gamers. Because of the unpleasant user experience, people will not download your game and it will harm your company’s reputation and cost you high. What to do then? Take the assistance of a professional translation company. These companies provide you with robust game translation and localization services. With these services, you can easily tap into global markets. If you want to release your game in Italy then Italian translation services can make your entry into the Italian market easy.
Let’s have a look at the best practices for game localization that can make your entry to foreign markets easy.
Don’t go for Hard-coding
Hard coding is the most difficult part of the localization. There are a large number of localized words that are spread over different lines. The localizer should have a technical understanding of the codes. In this regard, they should take the assistance of technical translation services. These services can make them understand coding in another language. Hard coding if dealt with carelessly can result in overwork as the localizer needs to check the lines again and again. The solution to this problem is to use external resources of files to store the data that require localization.
Use Local Languages instead of Flags
We often see Flags in video games. They represent different cultures and languages. Although flags are easy to use, however, the use of flags is not a good practice. Around 63 million people around the world speak the Italian language. This does not mean that these speakers reside in Italy only. The Italian flag cannot represent the Italian people living in the UK, USA, Canada, and other parts of the world. Contrary to this many countries have one flag but multiple languages are spoken there. Therefore, to avoid confusion created by flags use the native locals. For instance, if you want to release your game in Italy then professional Italian translation services can be of great use. People will download the game which is in their native language and get immersed in the game. The language code of Italy is IT.
Use Flexible Designs
In the game localization process, you need to change the user interface of the game whenever it is translated into another language. To avoid this problem, localization should be kept in mind from the start of the game development process. You should leave ample space in the game to accommodate the languages that take more space after translation. Contrary to this some languages contract after translation. Therefore you should make a flexible design so that long and short text can immerse in the game. For the game encoding process, the game developers should make user-friendly architecture in which all the elements of the game are clearly defined.
Subtitles vs Dubbing – Which One to Follow
Whether to go for subtitles or dubs, it is the most trendy topic in the game localization industry. Some gamers go for subtitles because they think subtitles can provide gamers with a good playing experience. You cannot decide which is the best option, it entirely depends upon the target market. For instance, Chinese gamers go for subtitles for video games in Japanese or English to get intact with the theme of the game. On the contrary, Spanish gamers like dubbed games because they don’t understand subtitles.
You can judge your audience by checking how each local population prefers TV shows and movies. In some regions, people have a habit of reading subtitles. Therefore, they love to listen to original voices instead of subs. There is no second thought on the fact that sound is the most important component of the video game industry. It creates immersion that avid gamers enjoy the most.
Hire Specialized Translators
The characters and terminology used in the gaming industry are entirely different. You cant find such characters and terminologies in books, the web, and in movies. Therefore you must hire a specialized translator that is aware of the gaming industry and is a subject-matter-expert in handling gaming translation and localization challenges. The foremost benefit of the specialized translator is that he or she spends time understanding the gaming project and then go for it. Continuity is very important in the game to provide gamers with a nice user experience. Therefore professional translation agencies give the gaming localization to the specialized translator that has prior experience in the gaming field so that they can provide professional translation services along with localization.
Wrapping Up
The development of the game and releasing it in foreign markets is a difficult task. Behind the release of the game, the hard work of the entire development team is involved. To successfully launch your game in international markets, you must follow the above-mentioned localization practices.
Also Read: How to Become a Certified Medical Translator
