Video games have gone from being impersonal dot monsters to very real experiences with backstories for the characters. They also involve more human faculties than just the digits on the hands. Video game studios are now selling concept-based games instead of those that mainly included beating the monster to pulp.
With this trend comes the requirement for high-quality translation and placement, as each market has a new language and significant cultural differences that must be addressed in order for the game to have a chance to be successful. Also, translation is taken seriously as children and adults play video games and will quickly notice any distortion in language translations.
Video game localization itself involves many processes and you are free to obtain the right to transfer a game from one language to another. The process of translating a game into another language usually starts from the game development stage. The video game studio first decides whether the concept of the game being developed has relevance in the country or region in which it wants to launch it, other than the region of origin. If the concept is new or cannot be identified with it, a translation service can be incorporated to modify the backstory or develop one along the same lines that will work in other markets.
Typically, location partners work from the game development stage to ensure that the game has the best chance of success. After the concept is finalized, the game unfolds. At this juncture, the language translators test the game designed to ensure that the game does not contain any text, speech or process that could offend any culture and offer suggestions to make the game more accepted by the target markets. With all the inputs gathered and assimilated for the game to be accepted by a wider audience, the game is finalized and ready for release.
Here are some tips that help video game placement:
1. It is important to be clear about the context of the game at the time of placement, as well as simply translating the concept into the game.
2. Involving the team of language translators from the beginning will help reduce last minute translation anomalies.
3. Cultural attitudes change over time, so it is important to take current events into account to ensure that a video game is well received by the destination country or region.
4. At some point, the developer needs to be told to freeze the text so that the language translator can fill the text boxes without confusion.
5. Encourage language translators to ask “why” and “how” questions to ensure that they understand the concept of the game.
6. Understanding cultural differences from the beginning of the game creation process will help developers get the idea right and speed up the development process.
7. Share biographies of game characters, as this will help language translators to better display characters when translating content.
8. Use test-level customer reviews to help fans provide input for a complete translation experience
To ensure that you meet these criteria when developing a video game, you will need to rely heavily on a translation service that will do more than simply translate the text. Try Mayflower’s translation services; They offer translation services that will give you peace of mind when developing a video game to sell in different geographies.