The thrill in gaming is all about sharing the stages and achievements bagged by a gamer in a particular game with colleagues. Just like every real-life success, game success also releases dopamine in the brain of gamers to make them feel good. But how can a game create that “good” feeling when we can’t relate to the game? That’s where localization plays a key role. Game localization is the process of translating a game for foreign markets. It involves the adaptation of videos, images, sounds, songs, texts, colours, hyperlinks, and even the characters to the target local context.
In 2018, the global gaming market was reported to be worth $137.9 billion. Currently, there are 2.8 billion gamers in the world. Arabic, being the 5th most popular language globally with about 420 million speakers, occupies a special place in the gaming industry. Arabic is one of the fastest-growing languages in the video game industry, and is ranked among the top 20 languages in the gaming market. There are about 237 million Arabic internet users and more than 20 countries use Arabic as their official language.
In video game localization, there are many countries that have banned certain games due to cultural disparity between the game and the country. Have you considered the cataclysmic financial impact on a gaming company if its product gets banned in a particular country due to cultural misunderstandings?
The answer to the above question was provided during the seventh episode of Africa’s LSP Podcast titled “Game localization and the rise of Arabic in the gaming industry,” in which Ady Namaran Coulibaly hosted Eman Abdo, a game localization specialist and English—Arabic translator based in Egypt.
Addressing the issue of culture in game localization for Egypt, Eman indicated that mentioning verses from the Quran or Bible are some of the things that should be avoided. “Even if such Quran or Bible verses exist in the original language version of the game, localization experts usually adapt it in a way that will not offend Arab gamers or governments,” Eman added.
Listen to the full episode with Eman Abdo, and many other amazing conversations about the language services industry in Africa.
