The video game industry is a hugely successful industry. Today, there are 2.8 billion gamers worldwide, with 1.5 billion of these gamers being from the Asia Pacific region. It is essential for Western video game companies to invest in the best translation services in order to appeal to gamers from across the globe. Fans of games are usually more picky when it comes to correctly translating game terminologies, characters, and other features. Let’s take a look at 5 video games where translation and localization services aided their global success:
Legend of Zelda’s Localized Translations
Legend of Zelda’s most recent game, Breath of the Wild, is one of the best-selling video games of all time. But how did this franchise achieve this status? Legend of Zelda’s first game was released in Japan in 1986 and in America the following year after the game underwent Japanese translation services. The game had to first be localized to accommodate different fonts and different preferences due to differences between Japanese and American audiences.
The localized translations also had to remain consistent among character names, monster names, and item names. Eventually, as the game became more popular and video games evolved with technological advancements, video game translation services were needed to properly dub the audio of the games and translate the subtitles. The care and detail-oriented foreign language translation of the franchise allowed for the games to prosper in all realms of the globe.
Final Fantasy’s Localized Translations
Final Fantasy has sold more than 173 million copies worldwide. Like the Legend of Zelda games, this franchise underwent translation and localization services in order to appeal to a wider audience outside of Japan, where the games were first released. Final Fantasy is known not only for its complex storyline, but its successful localized translations of character dialogue. For example, in Final Fantasy XV, a British butler says “Let’s go” in Japanese, but in its English translation the butler says “chop chop,” which is often used in British English as a colloquial “hurry up.” This attention to detail demonstrates the power of localized translation to the franchise’s global success.
Riot Games’ And Localization
Riot Games’ League of Legends is the most played computer game in the world, with professional competitions being held in different countries every year. This American-based company has gained global recognition and success with its fantastic globalization investment, proven by its 3,000 employees spanning the globe. Riot Games’ language translation services aid in providing more content, such as new characters and new lore, for not only League of Legends, but their widely successful FPS game, Valorant. Riot Games is careful to invest in marketing translation as well, as each season of the games are advertised globally, and the characters and lore must remain consistent in order to appease longtime fans. This is why the best translation services are needed to ensure your video games are accurate and allow fans to stay immersed in that virtual world.
About Language Connections:
Language Connections is one of the top language service companies in the US. Over the last 30 years, we’ve focused on providing the best business translation services, interpreting services, as well as interpreter training and customized language training programs. In addition to top-tier corporate language training, we offer certified corporate interpreters and professional business translation services in 200+ languages. Our network includes linguists with backgrounds in all major industries. They’re ready to meet your needs, whether they’re for technical translation services, legal translation, government translation services, international development translation services, education translation services, life sciences translation, or something else. Reach out to us today for a free quote on our cost-efficient and timely translation services, interpreters, or other linguistic services.
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