Publication by Miguel Sepulveda.
In recent years localizing video games has become one of the essential strategies for reaching more players worldwide. The rapid growth of technology networks, the sophistication of today’s mobile phones and their increased affordability have made it easier for millions of people to access the Android and iOS app stores.
While nowadays many games publishers know that localization is the key to opening the door to international markets, there are still those who overlook another important process when designing a truly global game: culturalization.
Distributing a game presents a series of challenges that a games publisher must analyze and study to maximize their chances of international success. By not adapting a game to today’s diverse multicultural marketplace, companies run the risk of leaving money on the table in regions where they might have been truly successful. Even worse, they could find themselves offending players in some countries.
Craig Alexander, VP of Product Development for game studio Turbine
Let’s start with some theory first to understand why localization and culturalization are different.
Localization is the process of adapting a game’s content to a target locale’s language, legal and format requirements (currency, date and font among other parameters). However, video game localization cannot be accomplished without its other counterpart—culturalization.
“Culturalization is going a step further beyond [simple] localization as it takes a deeper look into a game’s fundamental assumptions and content choices, and then gauges the viability in both the broad, multicultural marketplace as well as in specific geographic locales. [Simple] localization helps gamers simply comprehend the game’s content (primarily through translation), but culturalization helps gamers to potentially engage with the game’s content at a much deeper, more meaningful level.” - The Game Localization Handbook, 2nd edition
We all know how quickly the video game industry has grown into a worldwide market. We also know how important localization and cultural adaption is for companies seeking to go global. But what is the best way to integrate language technology into game development? What technologies are available and which ones are the best?
12 August 2020