🎮 The Final Boss of localization: 8 video games that pushed translators to their limits
Welcome back to Borderless! This edition is worth reading for 2 reasons:
We've also got the latest from the Lokalise blog, 8 of the all-time greatest video game localization examples, and an upcoming webinar with a challenging twist for the host (because normal webinars aren't stressful enough, right?). Let's go. 🏃
From the Lokalise blog
💡 Product localization: How to truly make it work
Good products deliver on their value prop, but great products do it while making every user feel at home no matter where they are.
Companies looking to become a global household name adapt their products locally, changing the language, UI elements, date and time formats — maybe even the entire in-product experience — to stand out to their users and create that virtual space that feels so comfortable you never want to leave.
This latest Lokalise blog post miraculously covers the ins and outs of product localization, a framework for success, common challenges, and some of the greatest examples from companies like Airbnb and Netflix — all within a 7-minute read. 🔥
8 video games that went down in localization history
With countless hours of dialogue, intricate storylines, and die-hard fans, video games are arguably the 'final boss' of localization.
A botched job might summon a thorough lambasting from the fandom for tarnishing the game's qualities that initially drew them in. But done right, that fanbase will have a richer in-game experience, recognize the studio's commitment to quality, and rapidly multiply.
In a rare (but very warranted) double dose of the Lokalise blog, today we're zooming in on some of the greatest video game localization examples from all time.
👾 Dragon Quest XI: Beyond the signature tongue-in-cheek humor, writers gave each town a distinctive accent or speech style in all five target languages. For instance, English speakers hear Italian accents from characters in Gondolia. For the Haiku-speaking Hotto residents and rhyming mermaids, they painstakingly transcreated all of that dialogue too.
🕹️ Thank Goodness You're Here: This 2024 game is already a bonafide indie classic on account of its surreal, absurd, and hyper-British humor. The dialogue is puns, word-play, and plain old silly-talk start to finish. So, how does one translate "peans" (peas and beans) or "slappy bum-bum" into 8 languages? You need translators with an equally unhinged sense of humor and insane word-smithing skills for one.
⚔️ The Witcher 3: Scores of actors and singers were hired to cover a range of regional accents in each language. Moreover, since one of the unique aspects of the story is the way it draws from traditional Polish folklore, they swapped the original allusions for local ones to ensure they'd still click, maintaining the archaic and culturally significant undertones internationally.
Dive into the rest of the examples here, and enjoy your newfound appreciation for masterworks like these and the translators who make them available to us.
🔥 New updates putting age-old localization battles to an end
Any of these day-to-day battles sound familiar?
Whoever designed the universe's ruthless system of checks and balances that forces us to make all these tradeoffs, I'd like a word. We want all the nice things, at the same time!
We can't solve all of life's dilemmas, but there's one key area we can help with (hint: it rhymes with schmocalization).
Lokalise is rolling out new features that aren't just growing businesses, but are stepping in like metaphorical peacekeepers, breaking up fights between:
Beyond functionality, a good tech solution should eliminate tough tradeoffs, helping you get more out of work and life. We're proud to say that we think ours does just that.
🌍 Global in 60 minutes. Can it be done?
Ever wish webinars had the speed, pressure, and potential for victory (or public failure) that your favorite gameshows have?
Next week, we're throwing our senior solutions engineer Eric Silberstein in the hot seat: he'll have to localize an entire app into 4 languages in less than 60 minutes. ⏰
Will the trusty Lokalise TMS and Eric's indomitable spirit be enough to rise to the challenge, or will his global endeavor go down like a lead balloon?
No matter the outcome we'll still love Eric, and salute him for being a good sport as our marketing team keeps finding new ways to torment him, but this is your chance to see if Lokalise truly can get you to your new markets as quickly as we claim, or if we're all talk. 🗣️
What Lokalisers are reading
🐕 Wearable health tech for pets is finally here: track your dogs' every sniff, snooze, and other... functions with Fi's new AI dog collar.
🧘 Tiktok attempts to counter-balance the brainrot epidemic with new guided meditation feature. A step towards accountability, or PR fluff?
🤖 Google unveils SignGemma, the AI model for ASL translation. Though still testing for now, this could be a game-changer for the deaf community.
That's all for now, hopefully you found that informative, entertaining, groundbreaking... I'll accept any positive adjective that comes to mind.
Remember to get Borderless in your inbox by subscribing here!
Until next time,