Game localization guide: 8 essential steps for successful global launch

What’s covered:

• What is game localization?
• Why do you need to localize your game?
• 3 major challenges of game localization (and how to overcome them)
  • Challenge 1. Localization as an afterthought
  • Challenge 2. Fragmented data
  • Challenge 3. Lack of LQA
• How to prepare your game for the localization process
  • Step 1. Analyze target markets and prepare a launch plan
  • Step 2. Choose a suitable localization management tool
  • Step 3. Break down and extract the content for translation
  • Step 4. Create a localization kit
  • Step 5. Build a localization team
  • Step 6. Consider content adjustments to culturalize your game
  • Step 7. Set rules and prepare for localization testing
  • Step 8. Implement localization-friendly development practices
• Achieving game localization excellence

Let’s discover the best industry practices for preparing your game for localization and what steps to follow to make sure you’ll make the most out of the process and avoid common mistakes.

One of the pillars of successful video game localization is effective, well-managed preparation for the process. There are a lot of questions that surround this process, for example:

• What exactly do you need to know before hiring translators?
• What files do you need to have in place?
• What should you look for in a translation management tool?
• What specialists do you need and who will be responsible for what?
• How much should developers and designers be involved in translation processes?
• How can you avoid the most common mistakes in game localization?
• And so on…

If you find clear answers to all these questions, then the process of localization will go smoothly and your game will have higher chances of getting traction in all target markets.

In this post, we’ll cover the essential guidelines of video game localization that will help you get prepared for it and succeed with it. We’ll also highlight how Gridly, a powerful game localization platform, can streamline your localization workflow at each step. Before we dive in, let’s quickly overview what localization entails and what benefits it brings to game developers.

What is game localization?

Simply put, game localization means adapting a game to a certain market outside the one it was originally released.

The major part of it is linguistic translation, but localization isn’t limited to language. It also includes culturalization, which means adapting the context and environment of the game so that it better fits the preferences of each target audience.

It’s important to treat the localization of video games holistically, not as a process of translating everything from one language to another but as a process of making it relevant to the target region. This might include UI redesigns, character tweaks, or some other significant changes.

With that said, what’s included in game localization?

• Interface. UI/UX design localization in gaming will adapt the experience for each region and audience. For instance, it makes sense to rethink the position of menu items for left-to-right languages.

• In-game content. This is the biggest part of the localization work, which covers all the text that appears in the game: descriptions, inventories, tutorials, subtitles, etc.

• Dialogue. For narrative games that feature a lot of characters, dialogue translation will in many ways define the quality of localization.

• Cultural elements. This is a more subtle area of localization that sometimes requires you to rethink some events or objects depicted in the game. Different cultures have different attitudes toward symbols, depictions of historical events, topics related to religion, etc. The point of localization (or, in this context, culturalization) is to make sure that there are no offensive elements and that the game is culturally relevant to different locales.

• Game title. You can decide whether you want your game title to be translated or not. For instance, if the title is very short or features the protagonist’s name, it’s better to localize it to something more descriptive for the release on East Asian markets.

• Promotional materials. Even when the game itself is fully translated, the localization process isn’t over. It’s always a good idea to create ads and marketing campaigns for each market individually, collaborating with local stars and addressing the preferences of a particular audience.

While the types of content you need to translate a game will vary depending on the genre, style, and unique features, there are some universal rules that will help you manage your localization process.

Before we go to localization guidelines, let’s get a quick overview of the benefits game localization can bring.

Why do you need to localize your game?

Localization is a way for your game to reach a wider demographic and, essentially, increase your revenue. Here’s what you can gain:

• Access to more markets and players. With the power of localization, you can reach millions of gamers all over the world and find loyal players who enjoy the type of product you’re creating.

• Enhanced user experience across the globe. A lot of non-native speakers play games in English, but the experience of playing in their native language will be much richer. This way, players can feel more connected to the story and everything that is happening in the game.

• More streams of revenue. Entering new markets and getting more satisfied players means increasing your revenue.

• Understanding of different cultures (for further engagements). The process of game translation is a great way to learn about other countries and gaming communities there. The insights you learn will help you launch updates or new games with less friction and adjust your games to the preferences of target players.

• Strengthened brand image in the industry. Releases in different countries will create an additional buzz about your game, while reviews and comments generated by players will make your brand more recognizable on a global scale.

3 major challenges of game localization (and how to overcome them)

Before we move to practical guidelines for preparing your game for translation and culturalization, let’s take a look at some of the biggest challenges that game companies face. You can gracefully solve all of them if you prepare your game for localization, build a comprehensive localization team, and use the right game localization tool.

Challenge 1. Localization as an afterthought

Sometimes, game localization is approached as a process done completely after design and development. With this attitude, companies are risking wasting more time and money on localization because of not being properly prepared for it.

The solution here is to consider localization as soon as possible, ideally, at the start of development. You’ll need to understand what languages you’re going to translate the game to place these plans on a general timeline.

When you think about localization beforehand:

• You’ll have game strings and all related materials correctly prepared for the translation
• You’ll have time and flexibility to adjust the designs if needed (for instance, to tweak the UI for right-to-left languages or to replace violent imagery for compliance on strictly regulated markets)

Challenge 2. Fragmented data

Complex localization projects are prone to data fragmentation issues when a lot of different tools and manual actions are involved in the process. Say, if you’re creating multiple spreadsheets and sharing them with translators, then inputting finished translations into other files for developers to check them, you might face translation errors, data loss, or other issues. It’s just impractical.

The solution here is to find the right game localization software that will unify all the information for you and connect all the parties involved in the process.

For instance, in Gridly, localization management solution allows you to have a full translation and quality assurance pipeline in a single system that supports plenty of integrations and connectors to other data sources.

Challenge 3. Lack of LQA

Just like you need to think about localization from the earliest stages possible, you also need to have a continuous cycle of testing. Plus, localization QA should cover both linguistic aspects of translation and broader things like cultural sensitivities.

The solution here is to find a convenient translation management system that includes LQA capabilities and test your game localizations during development.

How to prepare your game for the localization process

Let’s explore the steps you should follow to maintain flexible processes and achieve desired outcomes in game localization.

Step 1. Analyze target markets and prepare a launch plan

The research comes first: knowing what markets you want your game to be published in and when, you’ll need to understand these markets. Here are some of the things to consider:

• It can be a single country or a whole region that speaks the same language (but with important differences).

In this regard, you have to decide if you’re making separate versions of the game for each locale or rather creating a version that would encompass several locales.

Generally speaking, it’s always better to localize for each country or region separately to appreciate the local context, sensitivities, regulations, and linguistic nuances. For instance, game publishers sometimes go for a so-called neutral Spanish when localizing their products to Latin America. It’s a cheaper and simpler option in production, but the fact is, there’s no such thing as neutral Spanish: it’s an artificial construct that leaves out local slang and other things that liven up translation.

• You can organize a simultaneous launch on multiple markets or release the game in the original language first and then proceed with the localization country by country.

Simultaneous launches are generally recommended for large companies and games franchises that are already globally known. For smaller game studios, it doesn’t make sense to account for the increased costs and more complicated logistics of simultaneous releases. Instead, you’ll have more time to focus on each locale.

• Some countries might have harsh regulations for game publication, which will require you to plan a longer timeline and potentially change or remove some parts of your game.

Countries like China or Saudi Arabia have strict rules that apply to topics covered in games and depiction of potentially triggering things. Even if your game doesn’t feature something explicitly prohibited (references to religious symbols, excessive violence, etc.), there might be something that can be considered offensive or not suitable for the target region.

To avoid prolonged reviews and unnecessary rounds of compliance checks, partner with a local company that will help you navigate through the regulations and understand if you need to change something in the game’s content.

• Note down the major things you’ve learned about target locales and prepare the localization plan.

Once you’ve done your research and have a list of target markets and desired timelines for each release, you can craft a launch plan that will help you monitor the process. A game localization plan can include all locales and languages you’re planning to have translations in, desired deadlines, allocated budgets, all specialists you need to hire for each locale, and all legal documents you might need to prepare.

Gridly can help you organize your launch plan efficiently. You can create different views within a Grid for multiple markets, timelines, and budgets, ensuring that all your planning information is centralized and easily accessible.

Step 2. Choose a suitable localization management tool

A proper translation management system will help you overview the progress, automate routine tasks, and facilitate collaboration between people involved in development, translation, and QA.

In a 2022 survey about game localization tools, the following features were named most often as essential:

• Dialogues seen in the right order. It’s essential for translators not to get confused when dealing with game dialogue. It should always be clear who is the speaker of each particular line of dialogue because the speaker defines the tone of voice, gendered grammar (in languages that feature it), appropriate slang, and so on.

• Terminology management. Your game will definitely have a lot of repetitive strings and some terms that are common for the genre or specific to the unique in-game universe. A glossary can automatically pre-fill repeated strings and help translators save time and eliminate errors. Plus, there might be ambiguities with words and concepts that have multiple meanings. In this regard, terminology management in a localization tool will allow you to provide helpful context for each term usage.

Here’s an example of how the seemingly simple word “money” can have different implications and translations based on context:

Example of a document that specifies how different meanings of money should be translated in a game. Source

• Access to visual and audio files. As with most things related to translation, context is key, and what can better provide gaming context than screenshots and videos? It’s crucial to have a localization management tool that supports file attachments and lets users leave contextual comments. Apart from pictures and videos, translators might need audio files if you’re planning localized voice-overs.

• Quality assurance tools. It’s a good idea to connect your localization and LQA environments to control everything from a single platform.

• Automated translations. Machine translations are not a nice addition but a must-have functionality in any localization tool now.

Apart from the mentioned features of a game localization platform, we recommend paying attention to the following features:

• Possibility to set character limitations. Drastic differences between the same phrases in English and other languages are among the major concerns in the translation process. Having a game localization tool that automatically detects translations that surpass the length limit will save you from additional rounds of reviews and adjustments.

• Possibility to create custom fields and views. Customizing game localization software can be game-changing, as it can adapt the functionality to your particular needs. Make sure you have the option to create additional fields in translation tables and custom views that are based on chosen parameters.

• Continuous translation. Doing and reviewing translations in a constant flow where each new change triggers a localization task can give you higher flexibility and efficiency. Make sure the tool supports continuous string translation and lets you seamlessly connect localization to your development tech stack.

• Simplified string ID management. String identifiers make it easy to find each phrase in the game code but they can get tricky to manage. Go for a tool that automatically creates game string IDs, doesn’t let you create duplicate IDs, and supports working with externally created ones.

• Auto-detection of tags. Tags that represent formatting need to be left untouched in every language (or changed to other appropriate tags to acknowledge region-specific formatting rules), and tags that are used for variables need special attention from translators and testers as they will be dynamically replaced by words (and therefore, need to remain grammatically correct in different sentence structures of different languages). It can be extremely helpful when a localization tool automatically detects tags.

• Flexible translation memory. A translation memory stores accepted translations to pre-fill repeating words and phrases. Make sure that your game localization platform allows you to create separate translation memories and easily maintain them.

For instance, Belka Games created separate translation memories for each project in Gridly to prevent legacy issues from impacting one another.

>> Learn more about best practices for mobile game localization from Belka Games.

Step 3. Break down and extract the content for translation

To prepare your game for localization, you’ll need to extract and categorize all the different types of content that exist in your game. This process encompasses the following:

• Content audit to identify all assets that need to be localized. Apart from the obvious textual content, see if your game has visual elements that might need translations or cultural adjustments. On top of that, identify which content that supports the game you want to be translated (legal texts, marketing campaigns, etc.).

• Import to the localization management tool. You’ll need a robust tool that supports file types convenient for you to import game content to it.

• Separating platform-specific localizations. Since many things will differ based on a platform, you should create separate projects for each.

• Categorization and prioritization of assets. In your game localization platform, you can create separate projects for different types of content (for example, one for in-game text and another one for voice-over translation) and create different views based on certain parameters (for example, you can mark strings with interface items, dialogues, in-game instructions, etc. differently to quickly distinguish them).

Gridly allows you to import and organize various file types, making asset management seamless and assure a well-organized workflow.

Step 4. Create a localization kit

A localization kit is a comprehensive document that includes all the essential information needed for translators and other specialists to understand the context of your game, its style and tone, its characters, and its target players.

What do you need to include in your game localization kit?

• Target audience. Describe who your game is meant for. Does it have age restrictions? Do players that you’re targeting have specific interests? And so on.

• Platforms the game is going to be released on. There will be platform-specific terms related to navigation and other aspects of playing, so you should indicate what platforms and operating systems (in the case of mobile games) you need.

• General description of the game. Add a short description to introduce everyone to your game and understand its aesthetics and major functionality.

• Characters of the game. Describe each of your game characters and provide visuals. Explain the relationships between characters so that translators understand how to approach the tone of game dialogue (formal, friendly, hostile, etc.). Indicate if it makes sense to localize character’s names and if they have a dialect or other linguistic peculiarities.

Example of a game character profile. Source

• Any contextual notes that make sense for your game. The more context you provide, the better for game translation. For instance, if the fictional world inside your game features a lot of specific locations, items, and symbols, you should explain all of these concepts and illustrate them with screenshots.

• Localization glossary. A glossary, or a termbase, is a collection of key terms used in a game that is filled out in the original and target languages. It can save time and reduce errors in localization projects as translators and reviewers will be able to quickly find references to terms they don’t know or are not sure about. A game localization glossary can include names of platform-specific interface components, game strings that don’t require translation, industry jargon, abbreviations, etc.

Gridly can serve as a central hub for your localization kit by helping you store and manage all the aspects above:

• Create a glossary in Gridly to maintain consistency and accuracy of translations.
• Set non-translatable terms to indicate what should be left as it is.
• Use custom fields to provide context for each string.
• Attach character profiles and visual references directly to relevant content.
• Use Gridly’s ticketing feature to provide additional context or instructions for specific items.

Step 5. Build a localization team

Whether you collaborate with a localization agency or hire localization specialists internally, you need to understand what roles do you need, how to distribute responsibilities, and how to manage communication between developers and designers on one side and translators and reviews on the other.

Typically, people involved in video game localization are:

• Translators
• Editors / reviewers
• Localization testers
• Project manager

We’d like to highlight some of the best industry practices in the realm of building and managing a game localization team:

• Hire translators who like games. People who are familiar with the gaming culture, especially in your genre, will more quickly and easily understand the context for translation.

• Give translators and reviewers the opportunity to play and explore your game. Allocate a certain number of hours for the localization team to get familiarized with your game. This way, they’ll likely eliminate mistakes with ambiguous words, dialogue attribution, etc.

• Provide tools for communication between development and localization teams. The game localization software you’re using should make it effortless and easy for all team members to communicate with each other in case translators want to clarify something from developers or some other issues arise.

• Adjust your game localization tool to your particular team structure and project needs. It’s crucial to have a platform that will allow you to set different roles, role-based permissions, and different types of views for tasks.

For instance, the game developer Fatshark benefits from separating regular and to-do views in Gridly. By creating a separate to-do view for each role, they can quickly visualize what tasks are yet to be done and spot potential bottlenecks.

Different localization project views in Gridly used by Fatshark

>> Learn more about six best practices for game localization from Fatshark, the studio behind Warhammer.

Additionally, Gridly also has other collaborative features that make team management more efficient, such as role-based permissions, commenting system, customizable workflows, etc.

Step 6. Consider content adjustments to culturalize your game

As we’ve mentioned before, translating a game from one language to another is only a part of localization. To make your game compliant with local regulations and culturally relevant to players in different regions, you need to research and respect some rules and sensitivities of those regions.

What aspects of your game should you analyze to know if you need to adjust something?

• Depiction of violence and gore. For releasing your game in some locales (for instance, in Japan, China, and Middle Eastern countries), you’ll need to tone down violent imagery to a certain extent. Sometimes, it requires significant design effort as you’ll need to, say, replace any bone depiction with something else (bones replaced by bread in the Chinese version of World of Warcraft have become a running joke in the gaming community).

• Nudity and sexual scenes. You might need to tone down sexual references or redesign nude characters for certain regions. For instance, Cyberpunk 2077 removed the option to customize genitals in the Japanese version, while nudity was covered up by pieces of clothing in The Witcher 3 for the Middle East.

• Historical events. If your game references some historical figures or real-life events, you’ll need to double-check how they are perceived in the target region.

• Religious symbols and references. You won’t have any problems with game releases in secular societies, but for predominantly religious countries, you’ll probably need to remove anything that can be considered blasphemy.

Step 7. Set rules and prepare for localization testing

Here’s what you can do to ensure consistent game translation quality testing:

• Unify QA with localization management. Making LQA part of your general localization pipeline is one of the key principles of effective LQA. It means that testers report issues in the same environment where translators and other people involved do their jobs, and it ensures a greater level of consistency and makes it easier to monitor all processes.

• Provide as much contextual and terminology information as possible. Testers should be able to quickly understand the context: what’s going on in the interface or in the narrative scene, who is speaking to whom in game dialogues, and so on.

Screenshots can be a real lifesaver here. For instance, thanks to the possibility to instantly check screenshots attached next to original and translated strings in Gridly, the game developer Rovio sped up their QA process by 4 times.

Text and screenshot comparison in Gridly used by Rovio

• Set up role-based permissions. For the integrity of your data and the accuracy of translations, it’s important to assign different roles in your localization management tool. It’s especially helpful if you have several types of game localization testers (for example, grammar reviewers who are responsible for linguistic aspects and narrative reviewers who are responsible for accurate character and storyline adaptations). Apart from that, different roles will help a localization manager control the process and spot problems on time.

• Give testers clear directions. LQA specialists should understand what exactly their area of responsibility is (linguistic perspective, culturalization, etc.), what your rules for formatting are, what should be left untranslated, and how to communicate with other team members if they want to clarify something.

• Ensure the tool you’re using enables easy categorization of issues. A smooth QA process requires you to have a flexible set of categories that can be assigned to identified issues. Since different types of issues can have different priorities and need a different area of expertise, make sure you create all categories and subcategories that work for your project.

Example of categories, subcategories, and severity types of issues in LQA management in Gridly

Step 8. Implement localization-friendly development practices

To make your game more localization-friendly from the start, consider implementing these practices:

• Use Unicode: Ensure your game engine and all text-handling systems support Unicode (UTF-8 or UTF-16). This is crucial for supporting a wide range of languages, especially those with non-Latin scripts.
• Design for text expansion: Different languages require different amounts of space to convey the same message. Design UI elements with flexibility to accommodate text of varying lengths, planning for up to 35% expansion in most cases.
• Externalize strings: Store all text in external resource files (e.g., JSON, XML) and use unique string identifiers for each piece of text. This separation of content from code is crucial for efficient localization.
• Implement careful string interpolation: When inserting variables into strings, use a system that allows for reordering of elements. Consider using numbered or named placeholders instead of position-based formatting.
• Handle plurals and grammatical cases: Implement a system to manage complex language rules for plurals and grammatical cases. Consider using localization libraries that handle these issues.
• Plan for right-to-left (RTL) languages: If targeting markets with RTL languages like Arabic or Hebrew, implement a system to mirror UI layouts and handle bidirectional text.
• Localize non-text assets: Remember that localization isn’t just about text. Design your asset pipeline to handle localized versions of images, audio, and video.
• Implement flexible date, time, and number formatting: Use libraries or built-in functions for locale-aware formatting of dates, times, and numbers.

By implementing these practices from the start of your development process, you’ll create a solid foundation for efficient game localization. This proactive approach can save significant time and resources during the localization phase.

Many modern game engines and development frameworks provide built-in support for several of these practices. Gridly offers Gridly offers integrations with popular game engines, including plugins for Unreal Engine localization or Unity localization, further streamlining the implementation of these practices.

Achieving game localization excellence

We hope this guide gives you an idea of what you should do to prepare your game for localization and what practices to adopt to ensure a smooth and efficient process.

To successfully launch your game in different markets, you’ll need to research target audiences and learn about their culture before anything else. Based on the insights, you’ll need to analyze the content of your game to see how it can be made more relevant for each particular locale.

Then, you’ll need to ensure that you have a convenient game localization tool that enables seamless collaboration, automates translation workflows, and gives you a unified view of everything that’s going on.

Gridly can serve as a universal localization platform for you that connects all necessary data points, lets you control all assigned tasks, and includes QA tools to keep everything in one place.

You can see Gridly in action or start a 14-day free trial to explore its features and see how you can customize them to fit your agenda.