Struggles of the Video Game Translation Industry
The video game industry is currently on the rise. This success has been possible because of the launch of fabulous games like AAA games and the new gaming technology. Since the inculcation of extended reality (a combination of VR and AR), the metaverse, and cloud gaming, there has been greater engagement from the audience side. This highlights the importance of gaming translation, as game developers turn to the best translation company to ensure their games have a broader global reach. It transforms your gaming experience and makes your games more enjoyable and memorable for the global gamers.
Just like other industries, there are also ups and downs in the global game translation industry. And despite the efforts, this industry can’t shake its struggles. So let’s just explore these struggles.
Game Translation Industry
First of all, let’s talk about the game translation industry, which is flourishing right now based on the increasing demand for localized games. You can find many agencies currently catering to gaming companies that are providing the best video game localization services in the market. The rise of globalization has urged gaming companies to translate and localize their gaming products for diverse audiences. In 2021, this industry was valued at $195.65 billion. In 2022, the game translation gained its true fame. It was mainly because of the COVID-19 pandemic that surged the demand for understanding foreign language games. According to critics, by 2025 this industry will go beyond $268 billion.
The pandemic was one of the major driving factors behind the surge of this industry, as people were stuck at home, and mobile gaming was one way for them to deal with the stress of this viral disease. Since then, game translations have been in high demand.
Challenges of the Game Translation Industry
Despite the attention and success this industry enjoys, it faces many struggles. Ups and downs are part of every business; the same is true with the game translation industry. But first, you need to understand that game translation and localization are not easy at all. Even the agencies that provide the best video game translation services are constantly under pressure to deliver expert and accurate translation solutions.
AI vs Human War
There has been a long, ongoing war between AI and human translators. At first, there was this struggle that AI was going to take over humans and the work they had done over the years. Even after recognizing that AI can’t take over humans, there is still the use of AI technologies in fields where human expertise should be used. For instance, when it comes to retaining humor in translations, there is no better fit than human translators. Still, the increased use of AI diminishes the original intent of the game and misleads gamers. This leads to the total abandonment of the game, and your game suffers a heavy loss.
AI translation might not be that costly, but in the long run, it affects the game experience and brings down its revenue.
Battling With Cultural Contexts
Even the best translation companies have to wrestle with cultural contexts when it comes to translating and localizing a game for the target audiences. Retaining the cultural context of a game is one of the hardest parts of game translation. It means that humor and the original meaning have to be kept the same as what the game developer intended to provide. Oftentimes, translated games lack the cultural part, which brings down your game in the market.
Why do you think Final Fantasy is a renowned game despite being of Japanese origin? This game has been completely localized for different markets, making it a global experience for game enthusiasts.
Role of Fan Translations
Fan translations are one of the new things added to this industry. Simply speaking, fan translations refer to the translations of games done by fans of the games or those who have little to no game translation experience. There is also no surety of accuracy in these translations, unlike certified and professional translators. Any gamer who can speak a different language, even if he is native or not, can translate the game.
Or sometimes, gaming companies who don’t want to spend much on game translation and get games translated at low costs. These fan-translated games are good for gaming audiences who can’t afford to buy costly games. These fan translations sometimes compete with big game translation services, as these translation firms can be costly, while game translation from a gaming fan is almost free of cost.
Despite the struggles and challenges of the game translation industry, we can’t deny the fact that these huge titans (game translation companies) are the reason behind the globalization of the gaming industry. AAA game developers never seek fan translations. They always reach out to the big game translators who have experience in keeping the cultural and linguistic nuances in the game. And as you have seen the stats, it is quite sure that this industry will rise more in 2025 as the world is entering a new dawn of globalization.
Final Words!
To sum up, the game translation industry is in high demand based on the fact that gaming companies are looking to globalize themselves by enhancing demand for their games. There are a few challenges that this industry faces, which include the use of AI technologies, retaining the cultural context, and fan translations.