A quick rundown on localization
Localization is a bit more than just translation—it’s tailoring the content to the “local” culture of the game’s players.
Games feature various stories, with beautiful, rich worlds enjoyed by players all over the world. It’s only natural that these games should be translated in a way that the players can easily relate to, with easily understood cultural and historical references. This allows the players to more easily immerse themselves in the gaming experience. Localizations with care given to local customs, practices, and trends are an important part of this process.
Active Gaming Media's Localization
Released in October of 2019, the story in this RPG was considered too deep,
too difficult to translate. It was more like reading a novel than playing a game.
Many considered localizing it too daunting a task.
Title: Disco Elysium Language: Japanese
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Localization examples
Original text
Yes. Beat yourself up for it. Good. Everyone must suffer.
You, the tree, everyone.
Machine-translated text
そうだな、自分を責めるべきだな よかった 誰もが苦しまなければならない。あなた、木、みんな。
Simple translation
そうだ。自分を責めればいい。それでいい。
誰しもが苦しむべきだ。お前も、木も、全員な。
AGM's localization
いいぞ、その調子で自分を責めまくれ。みな苦しまねばならない。
おまえも木も、生きとし生けるものすべて。
Original text
“I’ve wasted my life protecting humans.
They don’t deserve it.”
Machine-translated text
「私は人間を守るために人生を無駄にした。
奴らにその資格はない」
Simple translation
「人々を守ることに人生を無駄にした。
彼らにそんな資格はない」
AGM's localization
「俺は人生を懸けて人間を守ってきた。だが無駄だった。
人間にそんな価値はない」
The story is localized with special care given to fine details, allowing users to fully immerse themselves in the story.
What people in the industry have to say
“Considering the volume of text and the number of terms that would be hard to translate, many thought a Japanese localization of this game would be incredibly difficult.”
“The full text exceeded one million words and they localized it all in about 10 months.”
“This game is now highly acclaimed by Japanese media outlets.”
“The inclusion of translation notes ensured that the Japanese localization conveyed the nuances of the original language as accurately as possible.”
“Despite the incredible volume of text, I have yet to find a single mistake.”
“The game includes philosophical text, sarcasm and jokes mixed in with abstract expressions, and other turns of phrase that would otherwise be incomprehensible to anyone who was not a native English speaker.”
“To have translated the same amount of text as the seventh Harry Potter book in under a year seems inhuman.”
“They took into consideration technical issues not involved in a simple text translation, such as line breaks, how icons appear, and overall readability.”