The gaming industry is booming in the world by leaps and bounds. If you are working in the gaming industry and want to reach a global audience around the world then you need to go for game localization services. Localization of the game is a very tedious job and requires great effort, time, and cost. In this world of fierce competition, you need to develop and release video games before the competitors otherwise you will lag in the digital world. If the bugs appear in the game when you release it then all your efforts, time, and cost will go in vain.
Let us have a look at tips and tricks for fast and economical game localization.
Understanding The Target Market And Cultural Nuances
Before tapping into any other region, you need to know the demographics and cultural nuances of the region so that you can devise your localized strategy accordingly. You need to include localization in every developing step of the game so that the game is developed according to the preferences of the target market. If you are unable to do so then it will be very difficult to make alterations after the release of the game and all your resources, time, and effort will be useless. You have to make efforts again to make your game acceptable in the digital world. Meanwhile, your competitors will grab the game market share so it is important to know your target market and cultural nuances for fast and economical game localization.
Hiring The Project Manager For Your Game Localization
One of the best ways to get fast and economical game localization services is to hire a translation company. They give the game localization project to a project manager. Project managers are in the best position to know which part of the game requires localization and which does not. Game localization project managers have a better idea about
- Internationalization
- User interface
- Strings and Codes
- Graphics
- In-game localization process
- Content localization according to cultural and linguistic intricacies.
Native translators are the subject matter experts of the game localization industry and they understand the unique terminology used in the games and can translate them accurately. You can also consider the translators as a content developer in the game localization project. Moreover, the project managers and translators ensure that the translation team is accurately translating and localizing the content for the first time and preventing the waste of time that occurs due to errors in the localization process. The project managers can help in
- Completing the localization process on schedule.
- Errors are rectified promptly.
- Acts as a bridge between translators and the game developers
- Gives the translation task to subject matter experts.
This results in robust game localization services.
Provide Context To The Translators
If the proper content is provided to the translators then you will get high-quality results and it will save a lot of your time and money because you need not to revise the content again and you don’t need to remove ambiguities in the text. Most translators translate content from English to other languages. You need to select a competent translator who can translate your games in multiple languages. The translator should also know the difference in the length of the context that occurs while translating. For example, when you translate content from English to Chinese, the content is compact but if you translate content to Spanish and French, the text expands. Additionally, the translators should know the programming of the game so that content cannot overlap the graphics and you do not need to revamp the context and the translation.
Content Should Be Comprehendible
There are many people involved in the localization of the game like translators, artists, testers, and developers so you need to prepare and develop such content of the game that is easily accessible, editable, and readable. It will require little effort in the translation and localization of the game otherwise you need to develop a separate resource file and integrate the contextual strings with it. It takes a lot of time.
Strings With Grammatical Changes
You need to make sentences in small strings so that grammatical errors can be checked easily. Sentence formation in every language is also different, containing different suffixes, prefixes, and grammar elements. Small strings can make the grammatical check easy and you need not change the complete formation of the string. It saves time in the formation of new strings and checking the grammatical mistakes again and again.
Use of Visuals
Embedding the text strings is very crucial in the game’s localization process because all the errors crop up from there. To avoid these errors, you need to use text in the graphic files. Do not develop multiple versions of the same icon in different languages. This is because you can easily use a single icon and integrate the translated content with it. You need to be very careful in using graphics and symbols related to currencies, measurements, and themes. This is because, if they are not according to the target market, then they will fire back.
Wrapping Up
Are you ready for the game localization services? With the correct use of your localization strategy, you can localize your game rapidly in a cost-effective manner. Moreover, you must hire a professional translation company.
