Game Localization: October 2017 Link Roundup

Did you notice it too? October provided an incredible amount of really great content on game localization. We're taking this opportunity to introduce a new series of link roundup posts that will gather the most valuable articles, podcasts and videos on our favorite topic.

​Here are our picks from last month:

GAMASUTRA

How Bungie Localized Destiny For The World Tom Slattery presents Bungie's approach with Destiny’s localization: the problems they encountered (localizing art, acronyms, gendered dialogues), the mistakes they made and the solutions they found to their problems.

Translating A Game 1/3 - The Process This series is so great we wish we had written it! Using his own game as a reference, Rasmus Rasmussen covers the basic requirements for localizing a video game. This first part breaks down and details each step of the localization process.

Translating A Game 2/3 - Preparation & Tools The second part of this series provides great advice on how to prepare a game for localization as well as an interesting discussion (in the comments) on the most suitable file format for translators.

Translating A Game 3/3 - Example Project The last part is all about implementing translations in a Game Maker Studio 2 project and avoiding potential issues during that stage.

GAMESINDUSTRY.BIZ

Waking Up To Localization Bedtime Digital’s CEO explains how supporting a variety of languages at launch made a big difference for their game and why good preparation is key to success.

J-EN TRANSLATIONS

Cultural Anthropology And Localizing Video Games

Japanese to English game translator Jennifer O’ Donnell discusses the role played by cultural anthropology in game localization.

LEVEL UP TRANSLATION

Is It Worth Localizing An Indie Game? - Interview with 3 studios Wonder if localizing your game will be worth it? We asked some indie devs to answer that question and share their uncensored experience with us. This interview is packed with practical advice and tips, from developers to developers. Make some time to read this post, this is our longest to date :)

Game Localization Tools - Collaborative List Some of the most popular tools & Unity assets for localization, all gathered in one place.

This list is collaborative and only waiting to grow, so make your suggestions!

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STAFF PICK - NOCLIP

Found In Translation - Localizing The Witcher III

If you read our recently updated post 5 Most Expensive Localization Mistakes, you're probably already familiar with this insightful crowdfunded documentary from Noclip. CD Projekt Red go into the details of The Witcher III’s localization: how they used accents to reflect the broad scale of the game’s world ; how they handled “butts, gods, alcohol and prostitution” to avoid offending their Arabic audience ; what it's like to work with children voice actors & more interesting topics that may not come to your mind when thinking of localization.

This is a brilliant documentary and an absolute must-watch for developers and game translators alike!

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And that's it for this month! Feeling smarter already? ;)

Make sure you check our blog for more game localization best practices, market insights and interviews.