If you are a game manufacturing company or a game developer looking to get your successful video game in front of international players, language and cultural gaps are the first hurdles you need to overcome. But not with the help of an experienced game localization company. Game localization companies are playing a critical role in helping gaming companies capture international gamers’ interest, growing their player base in the highly competitive market and eventually increasing conversions and revenue on a global scale.
In this article, we will dive into the definition of game localization and the benefits of using such services in the globalization process. We’ve also compiled some of the best game localization companies that you’ve come to search for. Read on for more information.
What is Game Localization and Why Does It Matter?
Video game localization refers to the process of translating a game’s text and adapting language-related and culturally-relevant elements, such as in-game dialogue, interface, audio, art assets, etc., to comply with the legal and cultural requirements of the target market.
Game localization goes far beyond in-game text translation and entails a skilled game localizer who has attention to detail in cultural nuances, such as taboos, traditions, slang, and commonly-used terms while also respecting and retaining the original story. With game localization, your video games can maintain a consistent tone globally, providing a seamless gaming experience for all players within and beyond the game’s country of origin.
What Do the Best Game Localization Services Offer?
As a gaming company, you may have the technical knowledge and equipment to develop and publish video games. But when it comes to how to translate video games, it’s best to leave the job to a professional game localization agency because specialized gaming localization companies have proven expertise in the gaming industry and can provide linguistic and global marketing support timely and accordingly.
Good game localization services offer a comprehensive range of solutions including accurate in-game text translation, cultural adaptation, linguistic quality assurance (LQA), and technical expertise only the most experienced video game translator can provide.
They usually support multiple platforms such as PC-based and console-based platforms and various document file types ranging from .asp to .swf. Using professional game localization services provides a range of benefits, including higher player engagement, increased user satisfaction, wider market reach, and eventually more revenue.
Some of the Best Video Game Localization Companies
Global gaming marketing is constantly expanding and getting ever more lucrative these years. As a game developer or publisher, how do you ensure your painstakingly created game is played and enjoyed and secure the glorious fame it deserves globally?
Selecting the right video game localization services that best suit your globalization needs is the key. To help reduce the time required for your service purchasing decision-making process, we’ve aggregated some of the top-rated gaming localization companies with their unique qualities and advantages.
Wordspath
Founded in 2002, Wordspath is a top-rated and industry-leading game localization agency that provides professional game localization services, including text translation, cultural adaptation, quality assurance testing, and project management to game developers worldwide.
Wordspath has a well-trained and veteran team of skilled and well-rounded video game translators and game localizers who are experts in different languages and cultures with high attention to detail. They have an extensive network of thousands of video game translators who are fluent in 150+ languages, and ready to convey your game’s story in any chosen language.
Wordspath offers a wide range of game localization services specifically for various game genres ranging from action games and role-playing games to adventure games and strategy games. One game perfectly localized at a time, with quality and speed.
Wordspath offers a complete range of game localization services, including:
- In-context Game Localization
- User Interface Localization
- User Manual Localization
- Graphics Localization
- Multilingual Voiceover & Dubbing
- Game Audio & Subtitle Translation
- Video Game Consoles Translation
- Legal Document Translation
- Linguistic Testing for Games
- Marketing Content Transcreation
- Video Game Website Localization
- Game Script Localization
Explore our game localization page for more information or discover how we help the gaming industry thrive. You can also contact our expert game localizer directly.
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Alconost
Established in 2004, Alconost is an international game localization company with operations across the United States, Europe, and Asia. It focuses on adapting content for games, apps, videos, and ads through its high-quality translation & localization, video production, and multilingual marketing services.
Alconost has delivered more than 1,500 localization projects to a variety of customers, including game manufacturing companies, AAA games, and indie game developers. Alconost features a self-developed tool GitLocalize, a continuous localization platform designed to simplify translation workflow.
Localize Direct
Localize Direct has been in the game localization business for over a decade. This company offers professional services like localization, quality assurance, and a custom CMS to help gaming companies speed up their global expansion. Having localized over 1,000 games for global customers, including many big-name studios like Warner Bros, the company has gained a good reputation for its accuracy and punctuality.
Localize Direct provides game localization solutions between 65 language pairs, providing access to native game translators proficient in your desired language. Another reason why Localize Direct is different from others is that its founders were former game developers with over twenty years of experience in the industry.
The Word Point
WordPoint is a relatively new company compared to the two companies above. It has provided translation and localization services for companies and individuals for five years. As a renowned game localization agency, WordPoint specializes in localizing console-based games.
This company uses expert gaming translators who are video game enthusiasts themselves to ensure the localized games are authentic replicas of the original games in a foreign language. To help game publishers promote their products globally, Word Point employs highly-skilled linguists with educational backgrounds in top universities worldwide to adapt any technical or audiovisual content to a new market.
CCJK
CCJK Technologies is a reputable localization service company that offers end-to-end localization solutions covering online and offline games. For over twenty years, the company has enabled countless game developers and publishers to expand their games’ playing field beyond their current markets.
This company claims to have the capacity to handle translation between 2000+ language pairs. Its timely and budget game localization service is 100% conducted by expert game translators who are video game enthusiasts, ensuring all genres of games preserve the original tone with consistency worldwide.
Mars Translation
Mars Translation is an ISO-certified game localization agency equipped with a professional team of video game translators well-versed in handling the technical and cultural intricacies of adapting game-related content to a specific region.
They can accurately and effortlessly convert your craftly designed games across multiple devices such as iOS, Android, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo, and much more, to 100+ world languages. The company helps improve your game’s player experience through their locale-specific formatting and design of games, ensuring the maximum impact of the original game is retained and a more global audience is reached.
Level Up Translation
Level Up Translation provides game localization services in 20+ languages with impressive localization portfolios of console games, mobile games, browser games, indie games, AAA games, and much more.
With localization in mind, Level Up Translation’s dedicated team delivers localized game content that looks and feels natural to the gamer community in the target region. Contracting native linguists who use appropriate gaming terminology, they ensure their work is not only error-free but also complies with the cultural and regulatory requirements in the new markets.
DayTranslations
DayTranslations is one of many video game localization companies specializing in localization in Asian languages. This company groups passion-driven game translators across the world to adapt games across various devices and operating systems.
The company’s mission stands to help preserve languages and cultural heritage worldwide. Another advantage of DayTranslations’s game localization services is that they can provide the option to run intensive code testing before the final delivery of the localized project. This service can prevent or minimize any possible error, simplifying the localization process in the required language.
LocalSoft Games
Located in Spain, Localsoft Games is a professional game localization company with over 33 years of industry experience in localizing content for 3,500+ video games. The company provides a full suite of game localization services, including translation for text-based content, multimedia services such as dubbing and post-production, and testing services designed for text, art, subtitles, audio, and more.
Localsoft Games can handle mid- to large-sized game localization projects and support all gaming platforms from PC and mobile, to console and much more. The company has contributed to the localization work of many classic and popular games that have gone viral globally.
However, Localsoft Games is a game localizer recognized for game localization expertise. If you require translation needs other than game localization, such as website localization for marketing, and look for a one-stop solution for all your globalization needs, LocalSoft Games may not be your best go-to option.
Final Words on Choosing Video Game Localization Companies
With the advancement of technology, video games of all genres are getting increasingly entertaining, captivating, and interactive day after day. In a highly competitive market like this, game localization plays a critical role in helping gaming companies and developers capture the attention of more global gamers and grab a larger slice of the lucrative market.
Game localization projects can be time-sensitive. Because if your competitor has developed a similar game as yours and published it first to beat you to the punch, you will lose the advantage you previously have and find it even more challenging to get back to the top of your game.
Consequently, when making decisions on your gaming localization company, it’s best to work with an agency that provides one-stop solutions to all your game localization needs, including in-game translation, cultural adaptation, LQA, translation for websites and marketing collateral, etc., to increase project efficiency and expedite your game’s time-to-market.
Wordspath can help
Wordspath provides many cost-effective language localization services and multimedia solutions such as transcription, subtitling, and voiceover services, with guaranteed accuracy and at scale.
We take pride in our quality-driven workflow that combines the excellent work of our linguists, desktop publishers, project managers, customer service, and technical team. Their endless support allows Wordspath to provide first-rate language solutions in 150+ languages for thousands of customers who need to connect with the world.
Wordspath also offers machine translation post-editing services translating the content with our proprietary MT engine and having our in-house/contracted linguists review, edit, polish, and proofread the results.
Meanwhile, we are highly experienced in delivering tailor-made localization-related solutions such as desktop publishing, transcription, subtitling, and voiceover. Our ability to quickly handle a wide range of content types between nearly all language combinations sets us apart from our competitors. Should you need to consult on your best-fit language solution, you can contact us through live chat or email to info@wordspath.com. Or simply request a free quote.
