S05E04: Video Game Localization

Intro

Hello and welcome to the Translation Company Talk, a weekly podcast show focusing on translation services and the language industry. The Translation Company Talk covers topics of interest for professionals engaged in the business of translation, localization, transcription, interpreting, and language technology. The Translation Company Talk is sponsored by Hybrid Lynx. Your host is Sultan Ghaznawi with today’s episode.

 

Sultan Ghaznawi

Hello and welcome to this episode of the Translation Company Talk podcast. Today I am excited to be speaking with Marina Ilari about video games localization, something that she has an in-depth knowledge of, and her company specializes in working with video game developers. This is a very large segment of our digital economy within localization.

 

Marina Ilari is the CEO of Terra Translations, a global Localization and LQA company specialized in the video game industry. Marina has 20 years of experience in the localization industry and a lifetime experience as a gamer.

 

In 2017, she received the Women-Owned Business Enterprise Rising Star Award presented by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation to a young business with great promise. And in 2020, she received the Enterprising Woman of the Year Award. In 2023, Terra Localization was listed by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest-growing private companies in America.

 

Welcome to the Translation Company Talk podcast, Marina.

 

Marina Ilari

Thank you very much. Thank you for having me.

 

Sultan Ghaznawi

Please introduce yourself and give us background about your role in the localization industry.

 

Marina Ilari

Sure. Well, I’ve been part of the localization industry for almost 20 years. I trained as a translator. I am certified by the American Translators Association as a translator of Spanish and, I have a postgraduate degree as an expert in video game localization. I started as a linguist at my mother’s company, and I worked as a translator, editor, project manager, and vendor manager. I really did wear many hats for many years. Seven years ago, I took over the role of CEO of the company. So that’s where I am now. And that’s sort of the short version of the story.

 

Sultan Ghaznawi

Let’s hear about that, Marina. How did you decide to enter this industry? Was it a choice or an accident? You said that you kind of helped at the very beginning. Can you give us some more details in terms of how decided to seriously take this industry on and become a player in it?

 

Marina Ilari

Sure. It’s always interesting to hear the stories of people who work in localization because they are so diverse, right? I never thought I would be doing what I’m doing now. I always thought the translation profession was what my mother did. It was her thing. So, I wanted to forge a different path for myself. I ended up working in theater for four years before becoming a translator and eventually joining my mother’s business. You could say that I had a rather unconventional journey to localization. Also, for people who think theater and localization have nothing in common, I would challenge that because my work in theater has helped me a lot in my career now, surprisingly.

 

Sultan Ghaznawi

What has changed since you joined the localization industry, Marina? What are some of the key and significant things that have shaped your own experience within this industry?

 

Marina Ilari

Well, when I first started out, I was using Tritos 2006. Alot has changed since then. I remember translators panicked at the time, that CAT tools were going to replace us and steal our job, when in reality, they have helped so much with our productivity and with our overall quality. I have always been interested in technology and incorporating it to make things more efficient. I really do think technology should be our ally in the work that we do. But I would say maybe the main significant thing that changed my experience in the work that I do or what I was doing, was finding a niche in video game localization, where I finally felt at home. I finally felt that that’s where I should be and what I should be doing. It felt right.

 

Sultan Ghaznawi

Speaking of the video game localization field, it’s a subject that’s very dear and near to you. I’ve invited you to speak about that today with me and with the rest of the industry, whoever’s listening. You’ve been heavily engaged in this field. Please give us an overview of this part of the industry. What does it look like today?

 

Marina Ilari

So, video game localization is very interesting because it’s a complex specialization. You’re dealing with multimedia content. So subtitling, dubbing, those are things that might be similar in nature. And because it’s multimedia content, the image, the sound, the text that you localize have to be always taken into account. So, it’s a specialization that requires extreme attention to detail. And a lot of reference material to get the content right. Also, a lot of creativity as well, because we do a lot of transcreation type of work in that specialization. But yes, I’m very passionate about it, so I could talk about it for hours.

 

Sultan Ghaznawi

Before we dive deeper, Marina, let’s take a look at the prominent and major players in this field and video game localization. Can you talk about who the buyers are and the suppliers in this field?

 

Marina Ilari

Yes. So, to simplify it, there are basically two types of buyers, I would say, in this industry. The Indie game developers and the publishers. The Indie game developers might have budget constraints, but they are also deeply invested in the quality of the game. So even though they might not be the bigger players, you never know which game is going to be successful and if it’s going to take off. Working directly with the developers can be very satisfying, also artistically very satisfying.

 

And then on the other hand, you have the publisher. Those are the companies that finance, market, distribute and they also fund game development. They are involved in marketing and distribution. And many times, they’re also involved in monetization, or the localization efforts. So, they really play a crucial role in bringing games to a global audience and maximizing their success there.

 

You also asked about a supplier. So, for localization, there are localization companies and also, testing companies that offer services to these buyers. And there are not that many localization companies that are truly specialized in this domain, mainly because it does require a high level of expertise and experience and also, familiarization with the processes and technologies in gaming. But there are a couple of very big players and a handful of medium sized players that specialize in gaming specifically.

 

Sultan Ghaznawi

Marina, walk us through the process of localizing a video game today in the context of online, you have multiplayer with a variety of delivery media, right? You can acquire the video game and play it on different types of hardware or devices and there is a changing appetite from consumers. If you could just tie that to localization and how we deliver value.

 

Marina Ilari

Talking about the steps, the steps are usually taken even before you localize a game. So, it starts with globalization, where you study the different markets, based on the characteristics of the game, the publisher or the developer decides which market they want to pursue. There’s usually also an internationalization step where the content is prepared for localization, and then the game is localized.

 

After localization, there’s usually also linguistic quality control testing of the game. There are many different complex processes involved. But something important to note is that in gaming, you’re not just translating the in-game content itself, you’re also dealing with a lot of other types of content, such as technical manuals, legal agreements and marketing content. So actually, a large portion of the localization efforts will be put there in localizing, to marketing content to promote the game internationally.

 

Also, something very particular is that in this industry, you’re dealing with a lot of very passionate, very vocal fans. So, it’s very important to handle it with a lot of care. Using the right terminology, the right systems, the right communication system, with everyone involved so that the quality is beyond excellent, because the success of a game in any given market can really depend on it. I would say in that regard, the localization is very particular.

 

Sultan Ghaznawi

Marina, how about how this market looks like in terms of capital. Can you talk about the size of this market and the language suppliers, what type of opportunities are there?

 

Marina Ilari

The video game market is actually a really, really big market. It’s estimated at more than 200 billion. It’s bigger than the music industry and the film industry combined. So, it’s a very big market. If you are an LSP interested in this industry, there are verticals that can certainly help you gain experience that can then be easily transferred to gaming. So, for example, in the entertainment industry, if you work with movies, subtitling, and dubbing, are relevant experiences.

 

The same if you work in transcreation or more creative type of projects that can also be applied to gaming, creative writing, copywriting. All those things can actually be really complementary.

 

Sultan Ghaznawi

Besides North America and Europe, as well as Asia and Japan, where video games are basically dominating in terms of sales. What other markets and demographics are generating demand where localization can fill the gap?

 

Marina Ilari

I love that question because, yes, the biggest market nowadays is North America, followed by China and Japan. But there are many emerging markets that are really growing rapidly, namely India, Latin America and Africa. So those are markets that are just really interesting for developers, especially for certain types of games. Say mobile gaming for example. It’s growing really rapidly in those areas. So, it’s something definitely to keep in mind, depending on what type of game you have and what your strategy is.

 

Sultan Ghaznawi

What type of specific skill sets do translators need in order to effectively translate a video game? Because in a video game, the concept is not in your regular text, as you mentioned earlier.

 

Marina Ilari

I think it’s very useful to have an interest or an affinity for games. Perhaps they’re not active gamers right now, but they were in the past, because it is important to understand the games, to play them, to see the game from the gamer’s perspective.

 

Video game localization is all about the “gamer comes first”. So, you have to bear in mind that the purpose of your translation is entertainment and resonating with the players of the game. So, if you are a gamer, you can put yourself in the player’s shoes and see the game from their perspective.

 

Another thing, of course, is getting along with technology, with CAD tools, feeling comfortable translating a variety of different tech. Because you might be dealing with a game manual one day or a dialogue or something more creative in nature. It really varies a lot depending on the type of game. So, creativity is great in this field.

 

Copywriting, literary translation, subtitling, those are specializations that can be similar in nature to games. And also, I would say being very resourceful can help because you do have to do a lot of research and ask a lot of questions. So, a lot of different things.

 

Sultan Ghaznawi

What are the different components of video game localization output? I know you talked about the process earlier, but obviously you have text, as you mentioned, voice, even video that needs to be subtitled at times. How deep do today’s modern video games go, in order to culturally satisfy the end user in a specific market?

 

Marina Ilari

So, in games, it’s very important to be relevant to gamers in the different markets. And this means you might have to go beyond translation and really adapt certain aspects of the game to cater to different audiences. Culturalization, for example, is something that I see more and more companies embrace, where they will include in the game some cultural aspects to resonate with a particular market.

 

You also have to take into account that markets have different regulations. In some countries, you cannot show skeletons, or you cannot show war content, or you cannot show blood. So, it’s very important to take these things into account, even when developing the game, to make sure that local regulations are met.

 

Sultan Ghaznawi

Marina, how are the video game localization teams inside the larger studios structured? I’m sure they have in-house teams there that, you know, deal with their most common markets. What do you know about them and what can you tell us?

 

Marina Ilari

It varies quite a bit. Actually, the more mature localization departments do have good sized in-house teams, including project managers. Sometimes they have in-house translators or in-house reviewers, or they do the linguistic quality control in-house. And other companies outsource everything. They might have one person sort of in charge of overseeing the localization efforts, but they outsource everything. So, it varies from company to company.

 

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Sultan Ghaznawi

How effective are these game studios in presenting a native level localized experience through their in-house teams for their users versus if they were to get this outsourced? Would there be a difference in terms of user experience?

 

Marina Ilari

There could be. I would say, first of all, the more mature studios understand the importance of localization. They see it as an investment really, as a market enabler. So, they put a lot of focus on getting it done right. Whether you do it internally or externally, high quality is paramount. They choose vendors very carefully; they measure quality with different metrics to make sure it is where it needs to be.

 

Less mature studios might struggle a bit, actually. They would, see localization more as an afterthought. Indie game studios have also tried to do things like crowdsourcing or like, fan supported translations with very mixed results. But yeah, as I said, fans are very vocal in this industry and they’re very vocal about quality and they will express their gratitude for a job well done, but also their rage for poor quality.

 

Sultan Ghaznawi

But it’s important to get that type of user interaction and interest because that feedback will drive your product development, right? And you get to know what works and what doesn’t work. We have all witnessed, in the context of the recent economy, we’ve witnessed a slowdown in the tech sector with many companies laying off staff in many areas, including localization. Marina, how is that impacting the localization activity? Are gaming companies, for example, relying more on their localization partners? Have you noticed if they have reduced localization spend? What does the trajectory look like?

 

Marina Ilari

First of all, it’s very unfortunate because, yes, the gaming industry actually experienced a lot of layoffs, hundreds and hundreds of layoffs across many companies this year. So, it is the aftermath of a very big surge in video games during the pandemic. So, the sector grew exponentially during the pandemic because so many people were inside their house playing video games. But this year, it appears that the industry has sort of regularized itself.

 

Even though it keeps growing, it’s not growing at the pace that it was growing during the pandemic. So, it might be early to tell what will happen with localization because most of these layoffs happened very recently, really, in the past two, three months. So, I think there could be budget reductions and localization could be affected. But only time will tell, and I do hope it regularizes itself quickly.

 

Sultan Ghaznawi

Just as a follow up to that question, if there were layoffs from the localization, from those teams that were working in the video gaming sector, those people have a lot of expertise and knowledge and background that they could bring into the localization industry, such as LSPs. So, we can retool ourselves. Do you see any interest in that?

 

Marina Ilari

That’s very interesting because technology and localization go hand in hand. It really does. So if you work in this area, you have to be at the forefront of technology and something that might be relevant today, might change or evolve tomorrow. So, it’s an industry that moves very fast. I sometimes like to think how far we’ve come when studios originally didn’t even hire professional translators for doing localization of their games.

 

They would do it internally with people who more or less spoke the language. In fact, there are so many funny mistakes from the 80s, the 90s, even from the 2000s of translators that went completely wrong. But the situation has changed dramatically. Now we have so much technology to help us do our work efficiently and take care of quality. I do think those two industries go hand in hand and they can complement, and they do complement each other completely.

 

Sultan Ghaznawi

Are there parts of game localization processes that can be automated today from your experience?

 

Marina Ilari

Absolutely. I mean, it’s very important to find automation whenever possible because usually you get very short deadlines, they’re tied to launch dates. Many times, they’re racing against the clock. So, creating automation whenever possible is very important. There are lots of ways to automate, part of project management, part of the QA process and the like. So, savvy companies should definitely be doing that.

 

Sultan Ghaznawi

Let’s talk about the changing landscape and technology. You talked about how it has complemented. what translators and localizers have been doing, but have new innovations such as generative AI impacted game localization? And if so, how?

 

Marina Ilari

Very relevant questions. So, some companies have embraced machine translation, neural machine translation, post-editing for content that is not high visibility in gaming. But because game localization relies so much on adaptation and is nuanced, is full of very specific terminology and lore, and it has so much culture-sensitive content, it’s usually not suited for using AI by itself.

 

I do see that we are incorporating the use of large language models in the daily work that we do, not to translate, but mostly as a tool to help brainstorm ideas, to gather information more efficiently. AI can be applied to things like extracting terminology or determining the quality of a translation memory to summarize, to look up information. But it should always be a highly specialized human at the core of handling this technology. It’s a very powerful technology, but it needs to be handled correctly.

 

Sultan Ghaznawi

To add to that, as an industry as a whole, basically, we are undergoing a technological evolution. Where do you see the gaming industry with regards to global reach in the next 10 years?

 

Marina Ilari

Yeah, I think definitely emerging markets are going to be a lot more prominent in the next 10 years. More people have access to technology, more people have access to reliable internet services. So more users will engage with gaming worldwide. I only see localization growing in the future.

 

Sultan Ghaznawi

Marina, recently we saw the concept of things such as the Metaverse, which is now a relic of recent history. What other innovations can drive the demand for localization in the gaming and e-sports space?

 

Marina Ilari

Well, first of all, I love this topic because I actually do think that the Metaverse will have a place in our society in the future. We’re not there yet, but I do think we will be in the future. There is technology nowadays that sort of resembles a Metaverse. I mean, my son plays Metaverse-like technology by playing games like Roblox, for example. I feel like I’m a user of Metaverse also by playing Fortnite. I actually would highly recommend the book. I have it here on my desk. It’s called The Metaverse and How It Will Revolutionize Everything. The author is Matthew Ball. But yeah, I do see a future there. And, I think in the future, XR technology will be more in demand as more people have access to that type of equipment. So, I see an opportunity there for the localization of VR technology too. I think it will continue to grow.

 

Sultan Ghaznawi

If you were to send a message to the gaming industry at this moment, what would you tell the executives in that vertical in terms of localization, globalization, and reaching out to new markets?

 

Marina Ilari

I would say focus on inclusivity and accessibility. There is a huge market out there that is still not being catered for and who wants to be part of the gaming world. So, it would be really nice to give them a space.

 

Sultan Ghaznawi

Absolutely. In closing, Marina, what is your message and advice for our industry in general and for game localization players such as LSPs and translators in particular?

 

Marina Ilari

Well, I think we have a great opportunity now in our industry with the introduction of generative AI and large language models. I think it’s important to use it as a tool to make our work better. We have always been very adaptable as an industry. So, I think we are in the right place at the right time for that. And then the other thing that comes to mind is that we need to get our linguists involved in these conversations.

 

I sometimes see company owners or leaders talking about AI in a certain way. And then I turn to talk to people actually doing the localization work, giving a completely different perspective. So, I think it’s important that all players of the translation industry are respected and are included in these experiments and these conversations. That would be my two cents.

 

Sultan Ghaznawi

Absolutely. That was a very deep and interesting conversation. I’m so happy you could join me today and cover this fascinating part of our industry, which brings entertainment and fun to billions of people around the world. There’s so much more to learn about the video game localization field. Your personal story was so interesting to hear. Thanks for sharing that. I’m sure there’s a lot more that the industry can learn from you. I personally look forward to learning more from you. And with that, thank you for sharing your experience and your thoughts with us, Marina.

 

Marina Ilari

Oh, thank you so much, Sultan. It’s been an honor really, and so fun to talk to you. Thank you for having me.

 

Sultan Ghaznawi

Okay, it’s time for my roundup of the interview and my analysis as to what has been discussed. Video games have now become an accepted part of our culture, whether we are in the West or in the East. And it seems like it is taking up a big chunk of our collective time as a form of entertainment, education, and sport. Given the universal interest in this technology, accessibility and language medium are critical aspects that will define the success of a particular game beyond its traditional market.

 

With video games, there are so many dimensions of localization, such as text translation, voiceover localization, subtitle translation, video localization, on-screen text localization, signage and scenario localization, marketing and collateral, as well as trailers and much more. Tying all of these together into consistent localized experience is a tricky but rewarding experience.

 

The challenge is wide open to LSPs, and this is a growing market where our skills and abilities can make a big difference. LSPs in this domain must possess a certain degree of technical competence as well as an interest in gaming in general. The work is also not straightforward because the concept and content of the game will define the type of localization that will be required.

 

What a fascinating and interesting conversation with Marina about video game localization. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I hope you did too. Please share your thoughts and comments and let me know if you would like to hear from a specific guest or about a particular topic related to translation and localization.

 

That brings us to the end of this episode. Don’t forget to subscribe to the Translation Company Talk Podcast on Apple Podcasts, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Audible or your platform of choice and give this episode a good rating.

 

Until next time!

Outro

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