Western Europe Game Localization Market

The gaming industry in Western Europe has had a steadily growing demand for games in the region. The Western Europe game localization market segment is always known as among the major markets around the world. More so than ever before, the increase of people using smartphones and the popularity of mobile gaming is further augmenting the demand for game translation and localization services in Europe.

The area also has a large number of broadband subscribers and smartphone users, which is influencing Western Europe game localization market demand. According to a study conducted by the telecommunications firm Ericsson, mobile subscribers in the Western Europe game localization market reached 390 million in the third quarter of 2019, and with the arrival of 5G, this figure is projected to exceed 490 million by 2025.

Moreover, there are a number of initiatives that are spearheaded by the government in the region where they are using different gaming solutions for educational purposes. A perfect example of this is the LUDUS project. Their goal is to successfully push for the transfer of best practices and knowledge through the use of a European-wide gaming network.

As with any part of the world, every country under Western Europe is very unique because of the variety of languages that they have in their respective countries in the region. It is popularly common that video games that are consumed in the Western Europe game localization market would always receive a localization. It is so popular that translations made for the region have even received its acronym within several different industries – EFIGS or FIGS – which refers to the individual languages that are commonly used in the region; English, French, Italian, German and Spanish.

Within the Esport market share alone, Europe stands as one of the top consumers in this gaming space covering at least 40% of the Esport market share in comparison to the world. The top-ranking countries within Europe are being led by Sweden which is part of Western Europe are at 14.3%. Followed by Russia which is part of Eastern Europe and currently stands at 11.6%. Back again to Western Europe for the third to fifth spots, has a combined market share of 18%. When broken down, the countries leading the rest of the top spots within the Esport market in Western Europe is France, the UK and Spain which have a standing market share of 7.1%, 5.6% and 5.5% respectively in the Western European video game industry.

Western Europe game localization market is one of the most diverse regions in the world. Thus looking into each of the individual markets will help us understand how they rank in the Western European video game industry.

• French has continuously become one of the go-to languages for video game localization in Western Europe.
• French language voiceover is commonly added in multiple games.
• 16.9% of the region’s market share comes from France.
• Following the UK and Germany, France is the 3rd leading gaming country in Western Europe.
• 65% of the population or 44 million+ are gamers where the majority are on mobile and pc platforms.
• Reported software sales alone have reached $3.8 billion.
• At $30 ARPU, The country has the second-highest (ARPU) average revenue per user on mobile games.
• 30 million+ are mobile gamers while 37 million+ are pc gamers and 13 million+ are console gamers.
• As the third-largest Esport Video game market in Western Europe, France is quite popular for competitive gaming.
• The most popular game genres in the country are Sports and Trivia.

• German has continuously become one of the go-to languages for video game localization in Western Europe.
• German language voiceover is commonly added in multiple games.
• 20.2% of the region’s market share comes from Germany.
• Following the UK, Germany is the 2nd leading gaming country in Western Europe.
• 67% of the population or 65 million+ are play games regularly.
• Reported console game software sales alone have reached $3.6 billion.
• At $26 ARPU, The country has the fourth-highest (ARPU) average revenue per user on mobile games.
• 56 million+ are mobile gamers while 47 million+ are pc gamers and 20 million+ are console gamers.
• Germany has the single largest population in Western Europe.
• The most popular game genres in the country are Simulation and Strategy.

• Italian has continuously become one of the go-to languages for video game localization in Western Europe.
• 9.3% of the region’s market share comes from Italy.
• Following the UK, Germany and France, Italy has the 4th biggest game software sales market in Western Europe.
• 63% of the population or 38 million+ are gamers where the majority are on mobile and pc platforms.
• Reported software sales alone have reached $1.6 billion.
• At $25 ARPU, The country has the fifth-highest (ARPU) average revenue per user on mobile games.
• 26 million+ are mobile gamers while 32 million+ are pc gamers and 11 million+ are console gamers.
• The most popular game genres in the country are Action and Word-based games.

• Spanish has continuously become one of the go-to languages for video game localization in Western Europe.
• Spanish language voiceover is commonly added in multiple games.
• Games released in Spain and Latin America are usually preferred to include Spanish voiceovers as it is well known in the gaming industry that excluding voiceover localization on games released within this region will be met with heavy critique and noticeably inferior sales.
• 8.2% of the region’s market share comes from Spain.
• Spain holds the 5th biggest game software sales market in Western Europe.
• 60% of the population or 28 million+ are gamers where the majority are on mobile and pc platforms.
• Reported software sales alone have reached $1.5 billion.
• At $28 ARPU, The country has the third-highest (ARPU) average revenue per user on mobile games.
• 24 million+ are mobile gamers while 23 million+ are pc gamers and 8 million+ are console gamers.
• As the fifth-largest Esport Video game market in Western Europe, Spain is quite popular for competitive gaming.
• The most popular game genres in the country are Racing and Board games.

•  Swedish or more locally known as Svenska has never become one of the go-to languages for game translation and localization services in Europe.
• In Sweden, everyone studies English from a young age, and television shows and movies are subtitled rather than dubbed.
• When combined, The Scandinavian countries Sweden, along with Finland, Denmark and Norway, comprise 10% of the gaming software market share in Western Europe and can be considered as the 4th largest market in Western Europe beating Spain and Italy.
• Alone, Sweden’s market share covers 3.8% of the region’s market and only 7th overall.
• 70% of the population or 7 million+ are gamers where the majority are on mobile and pc platforms.
• Reported software sales alone have reached $668 million.
• 5 million+ are mobile gamers while 5 million+ are pc gamers and 3 million+ are console gamers.
• With the advent of professional competitive gaming, Sweden has grown to become the largest Esport Video game market in Western Europe. Even with its lower population compared to the neighboring countries it still impressively comprises 14.3% of Europe’s Esport gaming market share.
• The most popular game genres in the country are RPG, Word-based and Strategy games.

• 26.7% of the region’s market share comes from the UK.
• The UK has the leading gaming country in Western Europe and is also ranked as the 5th largest gaming market in the world.
• 60% of the population or 40 million+ are gamers where the majority are on mobile and pc platforms.
• Reported software sales alone have reached $4.8 billion.
• At $60 ARPU, The country has the highest (ARPU) average revenue per user on mobile games and is around twice as much compared to other countries in the region.
• 31 million+ are mobile gamers while 29 million+ are pc gamers and 17 million+ are console gamers.
• Is the fourth-largest Esport Video game market in Western Europe, behind Sweden, Russia and France.
• The most popular game genres in the country are Racing and Trivia.

Take your games global with CCCI. We translate and localize video games for players around the world to create immersive experiences in 30+ languages. Whether in Europe, Asia, the United States, or the Caucasus region, CCC International provides customer service solutions in and for every country in the globe. This includes translating scripts, localizing user interfaces and testing it all for each platform and device you serve.

CCCI will allow you to expand your scope whether you are already a global or a start-up gaming studio just about to venture into the global gaming world. Let’s chat about your new global game today!

Check also – Covid-19’s impacted on the gaming industry, and NFT in video games: what is an NFT and how does it work.