Game localization research and translation studies
Minako O’Hagan, Heather Maxwell Chandler · Benjamins translation library · 2016
Game localization has been largely ignored in game studies and constitutes a relatively new area of research in translation studies. It is a specialized translation practice requiring technical, cultural and business considerations specific to games with multiple stakeholders involved. Addressing a general lack of dialog between these parties, the chapter brings together perspectives of a game producer and a translation scholar under the key theme of “loss and gain” with the third voice of a game localization practitioner enriching the final synthesis. Our tri-party views confirm that games as interactive entertainment designed to maximally engage the player call for deeper and more trustful partnership between the stakeholders in game localization than is the case today. Further changes in the dynamic game industry are evident in the application of crowdfunding and crowdsourcing of translation. In such a climate this chapter demonstrates the value of combined perspectives in further advancing game localization as practices that must be built on mutual understanding of parties serving different roles in delivering compelling gameplay experience across languages and cultures.