Game localization in 2022: a summer snapshot
Has 2022 been a good year for you? What challenges have you faced? Here's our take on some of the game localization success stores of the year so far, and the reasons behind that success.
Blog Posts
What Languages To Translate Your Game Into In 2022 (Trends & Insights)
For a game developer, it can be difficult to decide which languages to localize a game into and what parts of the game to localize. Here, we're talking about the most promising and the most popular languages for game localization in 2022.
![How To Write A Great App Description With The Wrap-App Technique [+DIY Checklist]](https://d33wubrfki0l68.cloudfront.net/69ac876878674410eecb9bf5b0fc2d8d9d4c5f54/9adc6/images/blog/great-app-description/image_0.png)
How To Write A Great App Description With The Wrap-App Technique [+DIY Checklist]
You’ve worked hard to develop an app or game that people will find useful and enjoy using. But how do you stand out of a million-strong crowd? With a great app description you’ll create a favorable impression & entice people to download your app. Use the Wrap-App Technique - and you’ll increase downloads immediately.
Chinese Game Localization 2022: Translate Games With This 4R Technique In Mind
China is a multibillion-dollar gaming market, the largest in the world. But expanding your game to PRC, don't simply think that a Chinese translation will be enough to conquer local gamers - you may also need to significantly alter your title. Get tips on how to localize your game into Chinese.
LQA Guide: What Is Game Localization Testing And How To Do It Right
How can you trust that your translated game is as cool as the original and the gamers enjoy it as if created in their own language? Here's where the localization QA testers step in. Learn about different types of game testing and why LQA can be a game-changer for your title.
Localize Direct: if it matters to you, it matters to us
When you’re an industry leader, it’s tempting to assume that you know what your customers think. Tempting, but still wrong.
Ask the Game Experts: Localization FAQs Answered
We sat down with three industry pros to find out what they think are the most important things to consider. So whether you’re just getting started with localization or looking to improve your process, these experts will give you the insights you need.
10 Actionable Tips For Your Chinese Video Game During Singles' Day
Many people in China are fascinated by lucky numbers. 11.11 (November 11 or Double 11) is known as Singles Day. This Day has become the largest shopping day in the world. Why should you, working in the game industry, care? Read more to find out.
Top Languages For Game Localization 2021 And The Effect Of Pandemics - New Report By LocalizeDirect
LocalizeDirect localization data revealed the most popular languages in game localization and LQA in 2021. This game report will help you to make better decisions in selecting languages for game translation.
How To Prepare Your Game For Localization: Step-By-Step Guide (part 1)
You’ve put all the in-game text together in a nice Excel, GDOC or game translation tool and that’s a great start for your game localization project. But that's not enough. Check this practical guide to learn how to prepare your game to get a high-quality localization back.
Game Localization Into Brazil: Why Using EU Portuguese Is A Bad Idea
Localizing your app or game into Brazilian Portuguese is a good investment. If you are considering entering this space then we have a few pointers for you in this factsheet.
Game Localization On A Tight Budget - Tips When Choosing Game Translation Languages
In this article, you will learn which language to translate your game into depending on your game's platform. Should you translate your Steam game into Russian or Chinese? And what about your iOS app - is Japanese a good choice for your game translation? You are about to find out.
Games Rule The App Stores: Most Popular Genres 2020-2021
How different are the gamers' preferences in various regions? We'll take a look at the popularity of the games genres within the iOS and Google app stores and explore the most popular genres, comparing them by country. Some exclusive conference data is revealed too!
![Localization Of The Mobile Games Into Italian: Strategies And Interesting Titbits [Case Study]](https://d33wubrfki0l68.cloudfront.net/8c379e14475f05f087e24cd178cb8b4bd125fae1/49a14/upload-data/manor-cafe.jpg)
Localization Of The Mobile Games Into Italian: Strategies And Interesting Titbits [Case Study]
It might be tempting to think that localizing a simple mobile game is not a particularly difficult task. This article, however, will reveal some of the traps and pitfalls which can come up when translating a fun, light-hearted match-3 game such as Manor Cafe into Italian!
Transcreation vs Localization: Definition And Examples From The Video Games Industry
Have you played a video game with verses or songs that were in your native language? Or are you a game developer working on this type of game and would like to adapt it to other languages? Translation of poems and songs may be one of the toughest challenges for translators. This article will share some tips on how to handle the transcreation process.
Best Turkish Game Translation Practices 2021
Turkey is the most developed games market and the video game centre of MENA, #18 globally. However, there are a few important things to consider before localizing your game into Turkish.
How To Create Video Ads For Your Mobile Game’s Social Media Campaign
Mobile games are having a blast! How to nail your next video ad for your game’s social media campaign and encourage more gamers to download your creation? Here are some tips and ideas.
Game Localization For Indonesia - Will You Miss The 4th Largest Country In The World?
For many, Indonesia is known for its volcanoes, coffee and Bali island. For game developers, it's one of the most promising markets with the population accounting for 3.5% of global numbers, right after China, India, and the US. If you’re considering promoting your game in Asia, you can't skip Indonesia. And here's why.
How To Publish Your Game To China - An Essential Guide For Mobile, Console And PC (2021)
As a game localization company, we have helped over 600 games companies localize their games from English to Chinese. Just localizing your game into Chinese (Simplified) doesn't necessarily mean that you have entered the market successfully. In this guide, we'll explain how to get fully involved in the Chinese market and publish your game successfully on various platforms (PC, Console, Mobile).
Why You Should Localize Your Game For India ASAP
India is a true mobile-first market. It has the second-largest smartphone user base in the world and is home to 10% of the global gaming audience. In this blog post, we'll dig deeper into what you should know about the Indian gaming market, and how you can succeed in India, from language specifications to cultural context.
Japanese Localization 2021: No Blood But Tolerated Suicides
It’s one of the top three games markets in the world, nevertheless, Japan can be a real challenge for the Western game studios. Learn 10 main lessons to successful Japanese game localization to gain favor for your game!
Game Localization To Poland - Why Your Title Is Worth Being Translated Into Polish
With 16 million players and consistent market and revenue growth, it is predicted that Poland could become the largest game dev hub in Central and Eastern Europe. It is the first country in the world which has introduced a video game into their education system (and it's not Cyberpunk 2077). Learn what can help you during the Polish localization process and what kind of preferences Polish gamers have.
Should Game Devs Still Invest In Christmas-Themed Video Game Updates?
Spoiler: it depends. We've asked game creators of varying size about their plans for their Christmas updates - and received some quite controversial answers. Read on to find out how to wrap a video game for Christmas (and how we used the holidays in our branding).
Game Localization Into FIGS - Will It Still Matter In 2021?
FIGS is the sacred cow in the world of game localization - everyone’s doing it or starts their game translation push with these four languages. But is it still important? Shouldn't we switch to the other languages spoken in the regions like APAC or BRICS? Let's dig into the FIGS markets’ potential.
How Game Devs Use Halloween To Revitalize Their Gamers
While shops, restaurants and pretty much every mall gets into Halloween mode with pumpkins, skeletons and all things ghoulish, we take a look at video games. How are game developers integrating Halloween elements into their games? Let's see how you can treat your gamers and make your video game even more spooktacular.
The Top 5 Mistakes Made When Ordering Translations That Cost You Money
I've been working with localization for almost a decade now, and oh boy, I’ve seen some troublesome projects in my time. I’m hoping that this list will serve to better inform those embarking on the loc text request phase of their development. I also hope that those handling loc project management will nod and tell me “oh man, I know what you mean.”
![How To Choose The Right Localization System: Essential Features & Functions [Part 2]](/upload-data/localization%20system%20features%20and%20functions.png)
How To Choose The Right Localization System: Essential Features & Functions [Part 2]
The right localization system will enable you to localize your game for several different audiences around the globe simultaneously. It will enable developers, translators, testers, and managers to work together seamlessly, allowing you to craft a tailor-made collaborative workflow and maintain a real-time overview of progress. What features should you pay attention to?
![What Is A Game Localization System And What Can It Do For You? [Part 1]](https://d33wubrfki0l68.cloudfront.net/cf1e9b64f73a93a3619a3cf732aef81d5106264e/6e974/upload-data/game-localization-system-cms-tms.png)
What Is A Game Localization System And What Can It Do For You? [Part 1]
Maintaining a real-time overview and ensuring localization is completed in a timely fashion can prove impossible when you’re juggling multiple spreadsheets and trying to coordinate different departments. A localization system can take all the pain out of the process. So, how can it help with game localization?
How Mobile Game Localization Can Widen Your Audience Worldwide
Most mobile games have the potential to reach a global market. Yours too :-) English language support will only enable your mobile game to reach a certain number of people, but mobile game localization will significantly increase your potential market. Think bigger and aim for world dominance. Game localization will help your mobile app reach a wider audience.
Fan Game Localization, Its Pros, Cons, And Hidden Costs - A Case Study
When thinking about taking their games global for the first time, many game developers consider asking their community to help with translations. While this can be seen as an affordable option, it still comes at a price. Akupara Games shared their experience with crowd translation: the pros and cons, hidden costs, and what to pay attention to if you decide to involve your fans in this process.
Korean Game Localization: How To Conquer One Of The Top 5 Games Markets
Korean gamers downloaded more mobile games and spent 15% more on their games in the first quarter of this year - nearly $1.1 billion. They no longer primarily purchase games from Korean developers, which means that the door has opened to non-Korean game makers. Read more about how this change in the Korean video game market will affect your studio.
What Is Video Game Localization And Why Should I Care?
In this article, we're going to explain what localization is really all about and discuss how to plan and execute it properly. We're also going to look at why you should allocate budget and resources to localization, and how to maximize your return on investment.
Dynamic Language Optimization for Facebook Game Promotion Explained in 5 Minutes
Since there is no longer a gamer archetype, like several years ago, video game advertisers have to deal with a diverse audience. eMarketer reports an approximate $3 billion market for mobile in-game advertising with gamer’s age diversity from 21 to 50 and older. Video game advertisers can reach more people with their messages using Facebook ads but they need to find new creative ways for that. Check this guide to run top-notch campaigns on Facebook.
Western Localization Of Asian Games: 5 Tips
Localizing or adapting games is not just about translating a game from language A to language B. On a much broader scope, it’s about bridging cultures. So here are some tips to keep in mind when localizing games from the east for players and audiences in the west.
Game Localization For Russia: Go Hard Or Go Home!
Russian is one of the top 10 languages for video game translation. Learn how to localize your game into Russian, what are the most common localization mistakes, and how to save your title from potentially bad reviews. Validated by our Russian linguists!
How To Choose A Name For Your iOS App Or Game: 9 Tips
In this guide, we’re going to look at some practical considerations when you’re choosing a name for your iOS app. We’ll take a look at the limitations, the impact on search, the potential of keywords or other references, the importance of localization, and a whole lot more. Grab yourself a drink, put your feet up, and let’s explore the strange art of picking an app name.
Localization QA: How Video Game Testers Work (Q&A)
German and Italian LQA testers talk about their work, typical translation issues they see in games, and why localization testing is a must for the German audience. Bonus: tips for the game devs on how to make the LQA process smooth and sound.
Game Localization To Arabic - Why And How?
The 5th most spoken language in the world - Arabic - is not an obvious choice for game developers and publishers. Nevertheless, Arabic is the language of the most affluent and some of the most populous emerging markets on the globe. But it has its own specifics which you'll learn about in a minute.
Pixelbite Studio: "We were told our game wouldn’t sell in China. What happened next surprised everyone else except us!"
LocalizeDirect interviewed Pixelbite about their new game Xenowerk Tactics, game localization secrets, and their ad-hoc game testing on the couch.
Make Your Mobile App Or Game A Great First-Time Experience
If you want to improve user experience, mobile app localization is an important factor. To make mobile app or game localization easier, preparing for localization during app development is a good idea. There are a few other important things to keep in mind when working on user experience. Here are 5 tips on how to improve your app’s user interface when developing an app or a game.
Game Localization Matters: 7 Reasons Why You Should Localize
All games are developed from a cultural context. Localization is about customizing that context to another, specific market. For a game, to attain a global reach, localization is an effective way to widen the market and reach more gamers.
How To Prepare Your Game For Localization: Keep Costs Down (part 3)
What does and doesn’t need translating? In this blog post, we’ll focus on how to work with game translators - a safe way to keep localization costs down and translation quality high.
How To Prepare Your Game For Localization: A Few Translation Tips (part 2)
In this blog post, we will focus on the in-game dialogues. We'll look at maximum text length in game translation and handing game translator questions throughout the game localization process.
7 Quick ASO Actions To Improve Your Mobile App Downloads
In this blog you will receive 7 tips on how to improve your app’s ASO. Ranking your app in App Store or Google Play may feel like an unrealistic goal, but following these steps will help you get where you need to be. Give your app the full treatment and perfect your app store optimization. Let’s start!
Choosing The Perfect Keywords For Your iOS App
It’s time to generate a list of keywords that will help potential customers to find your iOS app. This article will show you how to boost your chances of choosing the right keywords for maximum App store success.
Learn How Language Quality Assurance Can Elevate Your Game To The Next Level
One of the best ways to boost interest in your game in foreign markets is to localize it. Translating the text into the local language is likely to boost downloads or sales and increase player satisfaction in your target market, but it must be done properly with due care and attention.
Localizing Your Game Into Spanish, Which Spanish Do You Choose?
You want to localize your game into Spanish, ok no worries there. However are you aware that you need to choose whether to translate your game into Euro Spanish or Latin American Spanish? There are around 480 million native Spanish speaking people in the world spread across 22 countries. Localizing your game is the best way to reach them but then you have a choice to make: Which Spanish do you choose?
![[Checklist] Localization To Chinese Market: How To Prepare The Website For China](https://d33wubrfki0l68.cloudfront.net/75847b2bdf53e20e507ce9031d6164eda5e484f1/67cbb/upload-data/game-localization-for-the-chinese-market.png)
[Checklist] Localization To Chinese Market: How To Prepare The Website For China
Are you a game developer thinking of entering the Chinese app or game market? Do you want to present your website to the Chinese audience? Perhaps you need to translate your website into Chinese first and make other important adjustments.
A Picture Paints A Thousand Words: Choosing Screenshots For Your Game
Today we're going to take a look at how to create good display screenshots for your game page in the App Stores. We'll discuss the technical requirements, how to stand out with overlaid text, or lifestyle photos, the importance of localization, and what to avoid. We'll also briefly discuss preview videos.
Creating Your App Store Video: Increase Downloads In 7 Easy Steps
Take a look at how to create your App Preview video for your product page in the App store. A video can really help you sell your app, so here's a guide to making a great one and highlighting the best your app has to offer.