Issues in the translation of online games David Lakritz, Language Automation, Inc.

Transcription

1 Issues in the translation of online games David Lakritz, Language Automation, Inc. This whitepaper discusses important issues to consider when translating an online video game: How the translation of online games is different from that of other games How to balance the conflicting constraints of cost, quality and speed What you must do to ensure a successful localization of your online game, and Guidelines to follow when choosing a translation vendor Note: in this whitepaper, we use the terms translation and localization interchangeably to refer to the process of adapting a game's language and content for a foreign market. Background With the rapid growth of online gaming worldwide, the business case for making games available in multiple languages has never been greater. The chart below shows the growth of the worldwide online gaming market. As can be seen, the areas experiencing greatest growth are outside the U.S. $14 $12 $10 $8 Worldwide online gaming market ($B) 13.0 U.S. market 12.1 International markets The broadening of the online gaming market has increased the demand for translation. When online games were played mostly by dedicated groups of hardcore gamers, those gamers were perfectly happy playing games that were not in their native language. Now that online games have become a mass market phenomenon, making a game available in the local language is no longer a luxury; it has become a requirement to reach a worldwide audience. This can be seen in the chart below which shows the breakdown of World of Warcraft gamers by continent in March, $6 6.1 $ $2 $ Source: DFC Intelligence

2 With publishers and developers competing for the mindshare of gamers, online games that have been localized into the language and culture of the target market will enjoy a significant competitive advantage over those that have not. Gamers prefer to play games in their native language because localized games offer a greatly enhanced and more personal experience. This is particularly true if the game contains idiomatic language or cultural context that would not be understood or would be considered inappropriate for the target market (cultural context is explained in more detail below). How online game translation is different There are a few aspects of online games that make them particularly challenging for translation and localization. Large number of languages Online games typically reach a larger worldwide audience than conventional games. This is due to the wide availability of broadband, the ubiquity of the Web and the worldwide penetration of the PC. As a result, online games are typically translated into more languages than games deployed on other platforms or through other channels. High cultural context Another challenging aspect of online games is their high degree of cultural context. Cultural context refers to implicit or explicit references in the game that would only be understood by gamers immersed in the source culture of the game. Examples of cultural context might be references to old TV shows, historical figures or pop-culture icons. Since a large number of online games are RPGs with historical or mythological storylines, they frequently contain a high degree of cultural context making them particularly difficult to translate and adapt between cultures and languages. Frequent updates Because online games are primarily distributed digitally, updates and new content can be made available over the Internet quickly and easily. This is great for the gaming audience, but it also puts an increased responsibility on the developer to constantly refresh and deliver new content together with the corresponding localized versions, to encourage gamers to return to the game. Consequently, online games typically require faster and more frequent localizations compared to conventional games. This can be particularly challenging if the game has been localized into a large number of languages. Large volume Online games are typically much larger in terms of content than conventional games. This can make them more expensive to translate, especially when they are localized into a large number of languages. To reduce the cost of translation and maximize ROI, it is critically important to have an efficient localization process in place that keeps overhead to a minimum. This will be discussed in more detail later. Another important consideration is that online games typically have more items, NPCs, etc. making it essential to ensure consistency in terminology throughout the localization process, both initially and in later updates. In summary, online games are larger, more difficult and more costly to translate than conventional games, and they need to be translated into more languages. In spite of this additional complexity, updates need to be fast and frequent and must be localized in order to retain gamers and for the game to remain competitive. Achieving the right balance among the constraints of quality, cost and speed is critical to the successful localization of an online game. This is discussed in more detail in the next section. Balancing Quality, Cost and Speed In this section, we discuss each of these constraints in more detail along with tradeoffs to consider when developing an online game localization strategy.

3 Quality The quality of a translation is usually thought of as the degree to which text in a source language is rendered in a target language so that it remains faithful to the original. However, in game translation, quality is far more encompassing than that. It must also reflect the quality of storytelling in the target language, raising the bar even higher. Machine (automatic) translation is sometimes considered when translating a game because of its low cost compared to human translation, however, game content is not well-suited to machine translation and the results can be quite poor. Even experienced human translators find game translation to be particularly challenging. Needless to say, machines do not make particularly good storytellers. Another idea is to use gamers in the target market who know the game and have played it to also translate it. Although these gamers might know the game intimately, that doesn't automatically make them good translators since their writing and storytellling skills might be lacking. Another consideration is that managing a crowdsourcing project can be difficult, especially if your game is on a tight schedule. Unless you have the right translators, tools and infrastructure in place, quality and consistency will be issues. A third idea is to use professional translators who are also experienced game localizers. These folks are gamers themselves so they understand game content and are skilled writers and storytellers as well. They can be expected to produce good quality translations, but they might not capture the spirit of a particular game since they won t know the game intimately. Given these tradeoffs, a best of both worlds strategy is to have professional translators with game localization experience perform the initial translation and then have gamers in the target market who know the game intimately do any revising or editing. If the initial text has been translated well, it is a much easier task to revise it as needed, compared to having to retranslate it from scratch because the quality was unacceptable. In addition, if you're taking your game into multiple languages, it's usually more cost-effective to have a translation vendor handle the entire process compared to doing it all yourself. Not only can a vendor manage the process in a repeatable and scaleable manner, but with the proper tools, infrastructure and QA, they will be able to achieve a high degree of quality that would be unattainable on your own. In a later section we ll discuss in more detail issues to consider in choosing a translation vendor. As a final step towards achieving good quality, you might consider testing the localized game to make sure the translations are appropriate for the context. Even after your gamers have completed their revision and editing, there could still be inappropriate translations remaining since all the work will have been done outside the context of the actual game. Depending on your business objectives, an open or closed beta program directed towards the target market can be very important before the general release of the game to ensure that the translations fit well within the actual game. Depending on your budget, you might also consider having a specialized testing company test the game. These companies can follow a specific test plan so they can achieve better coverage than random or ad hoc testing. Often, the localization vendor can provide this level of testing as well. Cost Human translation is a labor-intensive activity and its cost can only be reduced so far without compromising quality. However, if the total cost of localization is considered and not just the cost of an individual translator, then there are many ways in which cost can be reduced. For example. implementing a more efficient workflow, particularly in the communication path between you and the translation vendor, can have a significant effect on the total cost of translation. There are three main areas where efficiency can be improved in the overall translation workflow: Before translation starts, getting content to be translated to the translation vendor quickly and efficiently

4 During translation, having good communication with the vendor so that questions can be resolved quickly before they become problems After translation completes, obtaining the translated content from the vendor quickly and without delay If there are communication bottlenecks between you and the translation vendor, or if questions arise from the translation team that can t be answered in a timely fashion, the translators may make incorrect assumptions about the text, which can result in incorrect or inappropriate translations. Once these errors find their way into the translation, the amount of effort required and the associated cost of revising the text later can dramatically increase the total cost of translation. This is illustrated in the chart below Relative cost of fixing translation errors ($) Translation Revision Testing Release As can be seen, costs can be mitigated by finding and correcting errors early. The later that errors are discovered, the more costly it is to fix them. By having smooth and efficient communication between you and the translation vendor, questions from the translation team can be answered quickly before they will become problems. Process efficiency applies not just to the ability to communicate efficiently with the vendor. The vendor also needs to have an efficient process internally as well. Ideally, the vendor s infrastructure should serve to facilitate the communication of information across and between all linguistic teams. The proper use of tools by the vendor can also help to reduce cost and improve quality. Translation memory is an example of a class of tools that can reduce cost by enabling previous translations to be reused, minimizing the amount of retranslation required. Automated QA tools inserted in the vendor s workflow can also reduce cost and improve quality when used properly. Speed Frequent updates are one of the characteristics of online games. Having a flexible, efficient and agile localization process that can respond rapidly to change is critical to keeping all the content fresh, up to date and in-sync. If the target languages can be updated soon after the source by translating them quickly and efficiently, it will give the game a competitive advantage since gamers will return more often, increasing revenue and improving the overall ROI. Furthermore, speed and cost are related since a faster, more efficient process will have less overhead and lower operating cost.

5 How to ensure a successful localization of your online game With the goals of reduced cost, improved quality and faster speed in mind, here are some guidelines on what you need to do to in ensure a successful localization of your game: Implement an efficient localization pipeline so that content and assets can be sent to the localization vendor with minimal overhead, directly out of your database. Minimize unnecessary overhead when communicating with the vendor. Respond promptly to questions as they arise so that questions can be answered quickly before they become problems. Make sure your process is scaleable both in terms of content volume (vertically) as well as number of languages (horizontally). Streamline and automate the process as much as possible, particularly when exporting/importing data from/to your asset database. Provide as much information about the game as possible before starting localization. This could include: Concept diagrams and flowcharts Playable copy of the game (ideally a development version with cheats ) As much context as possible. Translators will be translating text out of context, so be sure to provide as much additional context and explanations about obscure terms as possible. Detailed character descriptions including artwork. This will enable the translators to make good choices when rendering each characters voice. Glossary or dictionary of items, names and other game elements. This can be translated first then reviewed by your in-country team so it can be used as a reference throughout the rest of the translation. Build in a revision/editing step so that gamers in the target market who know your game intimately can revise the translation as needed. Consider options for testing the localized version including using a dedicated testing service or implementing an open/closed beta program. Provide feedback to the translation vendor as soon as possible about any incorrect or inappropriate translations, especially those resulting from misunderstanding of the context. This will prevent these errors from being repeated later. Establish a single point of contact with the translation vendor. Avoid adding unnecessary layers in the interface. Set clear expectations as to deadlines and deliverables. Finally, think of the translation vendor and the linguistic team as simply an extension of your own team. In addition to following these guidelines, selecting a suitable localization vendor is critical to the success of any localization project. The next section discusses criteria you can use to help you with this important decision. Choosing a localization vendor Now that you ve taken the necessary steps to ensure a successful localization, how can you choose the right localization vendor to execute on the process? Below is a list of general guidelines to follow to help you make the right decision. Experience and Team Check the vendor's background and experience carefully. The linguistic team should consist of translators and reviewers who themselves are gamers and game localization should be their primary focus. Building quality in up front will help to minimize the amount of rewriting and editing that you'll need to do later after delivery.

6 Ask the vendor to write a sample translation to get an idea of the writing style. Remember that providing more information up front (including artwork, storyboards, character info, etc.) will help to improve the overall quality of translation by helping to establish context and minimize any problems. Process Be sure the vendor has a flexible, open and scaleable localization process that can respond rapidly to changes and updates. The ideal vendor s process should be tightly integrated with your own asset management system so when new content becomes available, it can be immediately sent out for translation. The process should be scaleable both in terms of volume and by the number of languages. Tools and Infrastructure The vendor needs to have a solid process that supports: Good communication between you and the team A high degree of responsiveness to translate updates quickly Proper tools and infrastructure such as a networked translation memory, terminology management and QA tools to ensure high quality. Good QA tools can help ensure good quality. Make sure that the translation vendor is using translation memory to ensure consistency throughout the translation. With large, complex, multiplayer online games, the likelihood of inconsistencies will increase due to a) the larger volume of text, b) more items, characters and game elements to keep track of, and c) the use of multiple linguists working on a single project. Furthermore, since the individual team members may change during the course of the project (and subsequent updates) the use of a networked translation memory is critical to ensure consistency. Additional downstream QA tools that check for compliance with a glossary as well as conventions such as punctuation and case should be mandatory. However, even with the best technology and tools, in the end it is still human translators ultimately making choices. This is why the translation vendor needs to have a good communication infrastructure in place to streamline the information flow and minimize any errors caused by missing or incorrect information. Cost Cost is important, but it should not be the only criteria used when choosing a localization vendor. In fact, cost is really just a consequence of the other factors mentioned above. If a vendor has an efficient process, their cost will naturally be lower since overhead and bottlenecks are minimized. Be careful of a vendor whose cost seems too low. You should ask the right questions and understand their team, process, tools and infrastructure as these factors will better determine overall quality, and not just cost alone. Conclusions The increasing popularity of online gaming throughout the world means that localization is no longer an option. Aspects of online games that are particularly challenging for translation include a high degree of cultural context, frequent updates, more languages and larger volumes. Choosing the right localization vendor is critical for the success of a game. Factors to look for include experience, efficient and responsive workflow, and tools including QA and networked translation memory. Language Automation, Inc. ( has over 15 years of experience localizing video games and providing technical translation services for the gaming industry. David Lakritz is President and CEO, and can be reached at dave@lai.com.