Video Game Localization Services for Every Genre

How can you instantly increase the revenue of your video game title and make the game successful overseas? Nowadays, in the video game industry, most game developers and publishers are well aware of the need for localization.

While game translation refers to the process of contributing the text source in another language with small adjustments, localization is adapting the text to a particular culture or language.

In other words, localizing a video game means retelling a game story in a different language and culture. The process involves translating both in-game dialogues, character names, technical parts, changing metric conversions, etc. Game localization agencies take into account essential points like the game’s source and target language, cultural similarities and differences between the languages, genre, industry audience, and many more. 

The early prototypes of video games mainly consisted of simple texts and graphics, which ended in low-quality localization and literal translation with nonsensical grammar and spelling mistakes. So there was no or less need to deal with professional game translators.

Over time, games grew more complicated and immersive. The current world of game development is in constant demand for accurate game translation as well as high-quality game localization. Moreover, this demand is tied to players’ growing needs of having great and smooth gaming experiences, since game-producing companies try to find the best approach to make players enjoy the entire game as if it is made based on their preferences and favorites. That is to say, the growing demand for high-quality games requires higher quality localization. 

Depending on the financial viability, there are two types of game localization – full and partial. Full localization keeps users engaged with content that is culturally relevant for the target region. It requires all documentation, voiceover, interface, game text, and other assets translation and localization to the specific market. Meanwhile, partial localization covers only game text translation without graphics, voiceovers, and manuals. Indeed it is cheaper than full localization but it is mainly used for games with short stories.

Mainly for AAA game companies, full localization takes the spotlight. Thanks to natural, native and proper localization, social games fully realize their potential. It is a worthwhile investment that guarantees exponential growth in various gamer markets.

When it comes to translating and localizing video games, CCC International is one of the most reliable partners in the game industry globally. With more than 10 years of gaming experience, our team has been providing natural, accurate, proper game translation and localization services to global clients.

Our expert translators are savvy gamers themselves. That’s why we are proud to offer turnkey multicultural and multilingual solutions in more than 30 languages in Europe, Asia, and the US.

Our localization process began with more nuanced human translations that encompass subtler issues such as cultural norms, historical sensitivities, and local tastes. The result is exponentially enhanced revenues and a large audience of universal game players.

Whether it is a story or action-driven game, or holiday-themed one (like “The top Halloween video games”) that needs to be adapted for PC, smartphone, or console, we provide an error-free localization service worldwide. Along with localization, you can also order game-related content translations such as game websites, software, FAQs and in-game announcements, social media content, instruction manuals, gaming interfaces, professional voice-over services, in-game customer support, etc.

Make your game available internationally with our all-encompassing approach called game culturalization, guaranteeing our full involvement in a specific culture and/or broader adaptation of your game for the diverse gaming audience.

If you are a game developer or a game producer, it can be a difficult task for you to decide which languages you should translate your game into. Should you go for the most spoken Asian languages like CJK (Japanese, Chinese, Korean) or choose the most in-demand European languages like FIGS (French, Italian, German, Spanish)? Maybe Arabic, Russian, Hindi, Malay, Thai, Filipino, etc.?

Among all the must-have languages for game translation and localization, often FIGS (sometimes English is also supplemented to it and makes EFIGS) play an integral part, accounting for more than 40% of the total word count. Hence, video game localization into FIGS is considered to be a safe bet as long as it remains the priority choice of game developers, publishers, and producers. The Western European game localization market segment is always known as among the major markets around the world. Case in point, the best-selling video games that originated in France contribute huge milestones in the global video game industry.

Nevertheless, having your video game localized into FIGS isn’t enough, and if you focus on this region alone, you will be missing big opportunities to reach vast gaming audiences in Asia.

On the whole, English is the principal language that gives you access to players in all geographies. The major thing to take into consideration is the separate localization for UK and US English.

Meanwhile, China, the U.S., and Japan have relatively large domestic and leading game markets worldwide. Despite the massive opportunity, the competition is intense and there are many restrictions, barriers, and risks to enter them, one of which is language barriers.

The Middle East is considered one of the best and stable regions to invest in, especially in the gaming industry. This is because it has a rapidly growing and high-demand market for modern games, whether they are for PC, console, or mobile phones. Nonetheless, depending on the language specifications, gaming companies should consider the challenges of video game localization to Arabic.

Among others, the Russian market is worth mentioning. It is one of the biggest but complex markets worldwide (over 65.2 million players nationwide), given the vexing problems in Russian game localization.

Beyond the linguistic approach, companies should keep in mind all the considerations of the audience size, interests, and potential revenue, as well as some localization challenges. No matter what country you aim to expand to, you will probably require localization testing and rigorous quality check.

Game localization testing or quality assurance can be undoubtedly a game-changer for your project. It’s the next step after translating your game. Testing ensures that there are no linguistic, cultural, or functional issues in the game translated. Our localization testing service is a supplementary service to our game localization. We also offer this service for your already translated games.

The term is a compound word derived from “translation” and “creation”. This method or approach in translation allows making significant changes on a game project like rewriting the game story or replacing the original content while keeping the original meaning. Accompanying localization, transcreation is the process of adopting the target language and cultural nuances. You can consider getting started with mobile game localization/transcreation to build a sense of community with your players. 

Are you a domestic game developer, large game publisher, or a gaming firm planning to expand globally? Do you produce a PC, console, or mobile video game? Are you an indie game, RPG, or AAA game publisher? Which type of video games do you develop – action, adventure, educational, simulation, or sports games? Are you an augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) apps and games development company using the latest game devices?

Regardless of your answers, CCC International will help your video games transcend borders and change the video gaming landscape. Stay relevant in the international gaming stage, and book your game localization and translation project now.