Since its inception, video games have become an incredible phenomenon, bringing millions of people around the world under its banner. However, faced with the diversity of cultures and languages, the gaming industry has encountered insurmountable barriers. How can you avoid losing your game's relevance due to cultural differences? In this article, BG Games will dive into the world of game localization with you, exploring its key aspects and looking at examples that highlight the importance of adaptation for a global audience.
The art of more than translation (the origins and nuances of localization)
The first steps towards localization involved primarily translating dialogue and textual elements of games. However, localization is a much more complex process that involves adaptation for multiple cultures and languages. Translation is only the beginning. Adapting cultural realities, revising normative aspects, and modifying audio and visual elements are all done in order to meet the expectations and preferences of the target audience.
The origins of localization can be traced back to the period of early video games as they began to spread to the global market. Initially limited to translation localization, games quickly faced the need to adapt to a variety of cultural and linguistic contexts. With the advent of computer games on game consoles and mobile devices, the importance of localization has only increased.
Cultural sensitivity: understanding local norms and values
The secret to successful localization lies in careful cultural awareness and sensitivity. What may be considered as ok in one culture may be misunderstood or even presented in another. Companies like Ubisoft put effort into learning local norms and values to create not just a translation, but a unique gaming experience while maintaining the spirit of local traditions. The "Assassin's Creed" series includes games whose actions take place in different parts of our planet at different times, so matching not only the culture but also the history is a key task for developers.
For more accurate adaptation of the game to the local audience, developers and localization companies often cooperate with experts on local cultural aspects. These can be language specialists, historians, sociologists and even psychologists. This helps to ensure that elements such as dialog, characters, environments, and even gameplay feel natural and relevant to local realities.
Where to experience successful localization?
There are games that have become symbols of successful localization. CD Projekt RED's "The Witcher" series has allowed players to experience iconic fantasy worlds in their own language thanks to extensive localization in hundreds of languages. This localization doesn't just translate dialogue, but also takes into account details such as atmosphere, humor, and cultural references.
Atlus' "Persona" series is also known for its careful localization. This Japanese RPG is about school days, friendship, and monsters brought into the real world. Localization not only adapted the dialogues, but also conveyed the whole flavor of the school environment, traditions and lifestyle of Japanese youth.
New challenges and the future of localization
With the emergence of online games and related services, localization takes on a new complexity. How to adapt collaborative interaction-oriented game experiences to diverse cultural contexts? How to ensure fair competition and communication among players from different countries?
The future of localization is seen in the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning. This will automate part of the process, taking into account dialects, regional differences and cultural specificities. Nevertheless, the human factor will always remain key, as only people are able to appreciate the subtleties of cultural contexts and ensure the harmonious fusion of diverse worlds.
Game localization is an art that requires a deep understanding of cultural aspects and linguistic peculiarities. It is an important part of the gaming experience that can convey to us the essence of what is going on. It allows players around the world to enjoy gaming adventures by customizing them to their national context. Through careful localization, games are no longer just entertainment — they become a means to immerse in different cultures, enriching the gaming experience and broadening players' horizons by telling the story of a specific era, and immersing users in history!