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Explorations: A Journal of Language and Literature Vol. 1 (2013), pp. 3-25 3
Dawid Czech
University of Wrocław, Poland
Challenges in video game localization: An integrated perspective
Abstract. Video games are currently one of the fastest evolving media that have risen from
obscurity and conquered mainstream culture in less than fifty years. In 2012, its revenue was
estimated at about 78 billion US dollars globally, which places digital games at the forefront
of popular entertainment
1
. This turning point in the history of the video game industry can be
attributed to two primary factors: firstly, to the overall development of the video game
concept and secondly to the increase in the cultural value of interactive entertainment. None
of this would, however, come to fruition if not for the development of the specific translation
techniques that allowed the industry to reach out to a global audience (Bernal-Merino 2007).
This paper examines some of the characteristics of video game localization from a linguistic
and cultural standpoint, focusing on the relevance of context (Newmark 1991) and
lexicalization patterns in translation (Talmy 2001). It also explores the role of transcreation in
interactive entertainment software and analyses how the strictly technical limitations of the
medium impact the overall result of the translation process (Mangiron and O‟Hagan 2006;
Chandler 2005; Bernal-Merino 2007). Using as a case study the highly successful yet
notorious for its flawed translation series, Call of Duty, examples are given to illustrate the
challenges translators face in video game localization.
Key words. Video games, software localization, transcreation, interactive entertainment in
Poland, cultural approach
1. Introduction – video games in mainstream culture
The last two decades have witnessed a widespread popularization of video games that gave
rise to a new, highly productive industry. Gradual changes in business policies and cultural
patterns, i.e. the rise of casual gaming popularized by Nintendo and by social networking sites
1
Source:http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/01/us-videogameshow-e3-show-factbox-
idUSBRE8501IN20120601 Accessed October 15, 2013.
4
such as Facebook (by offering access to online games, e.g. FarmVille), have altered the face
of interactive entertainment
2
. The gaming community ceased to be a hermetic environment,
opening to a wider and more demographically diverse public. In fact, recent market research
indicates that games are bought mostly by adults (the average age of a gamer being 30 years
of age in the US) and are almost equally popular with both sexes
3
. Greater public interest
allowed video games to enter popular culture and gradually lifted the stigma of infantilism
associated with gaming enthusiasts (Newman 2004).
This change in cultural consciousness can be observed in the increasing convergence
between video games and other media: bookshops offer a wide range of novels expanding the
digital worlds or developing on the exploits of their characters and the Internet is rampant
with fan art. Even the film industry seems to make cautious attempts at adapting video games
into movies, for instance with the upcoming high-budget productions based on two popular
video game series, namely World of Warcraft and Mass Effect
4
(video game inspired movies
are still considered a high-risk investment probably due to Uwe Boll‟s infamous movie
adaptations of numerous video games, such as BloodRayne, Postal or In the Name of the
King: A Dungeon Siege Tale, which estranged both the movie critics and the gamers from the
genre).
2. Interactive entertainment and translation studies
As the growth of the interactive entertainment software started to gain momentum, it was only
natural for the industry to maximize its profits by entering foreign markets. Initially, this
2
For the purpose of this paper, the terms „interactive entertainment software‟ digital games‟ and „video games‟
are considered synonymous.
3
Source: 2012 Sales, Demographic and Usage Data: Essential Facts about the Computer and Video Game
Industry. Entertainment Software Association, 2012. Accessed July 20, 2012.
http://www.theesa.com/facts/pdfs/ESA_EF_2012.pdf
4
Source: Warcraft Movie to Start Filming in January 2014. Accessed September 24, 2013.
http://uk.ign.com/articles/2013/08/29/world-of-warcraft-movie-to-start-filming-in-january-2014 and Mass Effect
Movie five or six years away, says producer. Accessed September 24, 2013.
http://www.gamespot.com/news/mass-effect-movie-five-or-six-years-away-says-producer-6413871
5
could be done without any major changes to the product, as the early digital games such as
Space Invaders or Pong, were based on very simple, intuitive gameplay mechanics and rarely
used language at any point beyond the starting menus; however, with the increasing
sophistication of the video game concept, it became apparent that seamless transfer from
source culture to target culture is no longer an option – video games have evolved into
complex narratives that rely heavily on language and other cultural cues. Most of the new
game releases (especially the AAA, high-budget productions) are heavily story-driven, thus
presenting plenty of material for translation in various forms and modalities, e.g. strings of
text, dialogues (either spoken or written) or in-game cinematics (Bernal-Merino 2007).
Moreover, breaking with the stereotypical image of video games has considerably expanded
the casual gaming community, which now poses a profit-promising gap in the markets of
many countries, attracting video game developers. To reach the majority of the potential
buyers the products had to be easily accessible, even for people who had little or no previous
experience with gaming. Therefore, to provide an equal experience for all game users,
regardless of their linguistic or cultural background, translation had to be incorporated into the
game development process. With a new type of translator coming „into play‟, one equipped
with language tools and the knowledge of the video game conventions, a new area of
specialization emerged (Bernal-Merino 2007).
But what makes video game translation so unique that it has given rise to a sub-field in
translation studies? As noted by Bernal-Merino (2007), video game translation does not differ
fundamentally from other types of audio-visual translation. It seems to be comprised of issues
from other areas that have already been studied quite extensively: translation of subtitles,
dubbing and software localization. However, video game translation proves to be more than
simply the sum of its parts, as the conjunction of the aforementioned modalities can create an
array of obstacles and challenges not found in any other genre. Furthermore, video games
6
allow the recipient to actively interact with its various elements, thus their localization focuses
on recreating the original feel of the gameplay more than in any other comparable audio-
visual medium (Bernal-Merino 2006). Therefore, the body of this paper is devoted to
analyzing the characteristics of video game translation, highlighting some of the linguistic and
technical problems that are most prominent in this medium. However, to provide a
comprehensive view of all the challenges, this paper will also approach video game
localization from a new angle, embedding it in the broader cultural context and attempting to
demonstrate how the expectations of the gaming community can impact translation. All of the
issues discussed herein are based on personal observations (made while actually playing the
games mentioned in the paper) and on the official statements of Licomp Empik Multimedia
(LEM), the Polish distributor of Call of Duty: Black Ops, issued in response to the negative
public reception of the localized version of the game.
5
3. Defining video games from a historical and cultural perspective
The translation issues in video games cannot be properly addressed until the medium itself is
defined. Recalling Ludwig Wittgenstein‟s Philosophical Investigations, we may conclude that
enclosing the essence of the category GAME within the frames of a traditional definition is not
feasible, as there is no single set of features that holds true for all games (Wittgenstein 1953).
In this respect, the concept of video game, which de facto constitutes a member of the broader
category GAME, is even more complex. As Mark Wolf (2007) points out, contrary to other
sub-types of games, e.g. card games or board games, the relation between the two major parts
of the concept, that is „game‟, understood in Wittgenstein‟s terms, and „video‟, signifying the
reliance on visual media, is not inherently transparent (Wolf 2007, 3). For instance, can
interactive audio books or text-based games (such as Midkemia Online, a text-interface role-
5
Source LEM odpowiada na nasz tekst o błędach w tłumaczeniu CoD: Black Ops. Accessed September 24, 2013
http://gamezilla.komputerswiat.pl/newsy/2010/45/lem-odpowiada-na-nasz-tekst-o-bledach-w-tlumaczeniu-cod-
black-ops .
7
playing game) be still considered video games even though there is no apparent visual
component to them?
James Newman (quoting from Howland 1998) lists five basic attributes that characterize
video games: graphics, sound, interface, gameplay and story. However, a simple set of
technical parameters does not accurately capture the core idea of all the products that can be
intuitively labeled as video games, not to mention all the different genres within the category
itself (Newman 2004, 11). Interactive entertainment software displays diversity uncommon to
any other type of audio-visual material, as video games incorporate a wide range of
overlapping conventions. A number of typical game genres can be distinguished, such as
shooting games, which involve fast-paced action and are focused on the immediate
consequences of the player‟s actions; strategy games, which require considerably more
planning on the part of the player; racing games; or role-playing games, which concentrate on
developing the virtual characters and progressing through the story. Nonetheless, this
distinction is purely arbitrary, as modern games are highly eclectic, combining elements from
various genres. A great example of such intermingling of radically different styles is
Borderlands, a game that altered the conventional image of a rather stable genre of shooting
games by adding to it gameplay elements typical of role-playing games. Furthermore,
although the evolution of video games spans over a relatively short period of time (compared
to other media), it seems virtually impossible to mark a specific point in history that can be
identified as its point of origin. Traditionally, the beginnings of video games are traced back
to the creation of Spacewar! in 1962 by Steve Russel, Martin Graetz and Wayne Wiitan.
However, because Spacewar! was not available to the general public, the era of video games
in different accounts the did not duly begin until the so called golden age of arcade video
games that took off in the late 1970s.
8
Newman (2004), most certainly aware of the inherent difficulties in integrating the
technical, cultural and historical factors into a coherent definition, suggests avoiding this
confounding issue, as it is not essential for further research. Newman‟s (2004) solution to the
ontological problem of video games may perhaps suffice for the study of the medium itself;
however, in game localization a working definition is required to identify the particular
translation challenges of the analyzed medium. Therefore, to account for the vast variety in
video games, this paper adopts a more culturally oriented definition that runs close to Wolf‟s
understanding of the matter: “the idea of a video game has become something more
conceptual and less tied to a specific imaging technology, at least in its popular usage”
(2007:5). Moreover, by applying the logic of Wittgenstein‟s (1953) argument to the concept
of VIDEO GAME, the problem of providing a number of attributes shared by all its members
is eliminated. Instead of treating the five elements of video games mentioned by Newman
(2004) as necessary and sufficient, we may envision them as parts of a conceptual chain or, as
Wittgenstein puts it, a family resemblance model, which presupposes that all video games are
interconnected by crisscrossing networks of the said properties. Hence, this paper examines
video games as cultural artifacts in the broadest sense, encompassing all of the fringe genres,
as they still can be related to the general concept.
4. The status of the interactive entertainment industry in Poland
In Poland, the game industry is less developed as compared with the USA. It is still making
its first steps on the market, thus providing an excellent opportunity to study the development
of video games and the aspect crucial for this paper, namely the process of video game
localization. Many foreign developers are somewhat reluctant to invest money in publishing
and advertising their products in the eastern part of Europe, mainly due to a high level of
online piracy, as they tend to claim. However, the problem goes much deeper, taking its roots
9
in the cultural perspective predominant in Poland: video games are still considered an inferior
medium and a form of entertainment suitable only for children. Beyond that, video games are
perceived as a wasteful activity, which may lead to adult gaming enthusiasts being socially
ostracized. Additionally, the industry copes with a problem of fear mongering. Video games
involving virtual violence are frequently assumed to be the cause of increased real-life
aggression in children and teenagers, an argument that has already been refuted, but simply
refuses to fade away, clinging to anecdotal evidence and correlation rather than causation (cf.
Radford 2005; Jones 2002).
The element of video game development that suffers the most due to this hostile cultural
environment is translation, as the growth of casual gaming community has been stifled.
Furthermore, digital games used to be addressed to a very narrow but devoted group of
recipients who, for lack of other choice, had to become accustomed to games being released
in the original, not translated version. In fact, this had a powerful transformative influence on
the culture of gaming in Poland. Even now, there seems to be major tendency within the
gaming community to prefer no localization to poor localization, and voices of dissent appear
at the slightest sign of inadequate translation, a phenomenon that seems to be typical
exclusively to the game industry. Hence, when video games took off in Poland, the
localization practice was basically non-existent and distribution with no in-game translation
discouraged the casual game users. Therefore, a need for new translation strategies has arisen,
or to be precise – for the act of localization, that is, adaptation of the game to the linguistic
and cultural reality of the target consumer (Chandler 2005, 3).
5. Localization vs. translation
Although the terms localization and translation are used in this paper interchangeably, it is
imperative to note that the relation between theses processes is, in fact, much more complex
10
(Pym 2008). According to the Localization Industry Standard Association, localization is “the
process of modifying products or services to account for differences in distinct markets” (Fry
2003, 13). From this perspective, translation seems to fall into the scope of localization, which
itself constitutes a substantially broader endeavor. Thus, localizing a video game may involve
making technically or culturally motivated changes that go beyond its textual structure, such
as modifying the game code to accommodate the graphical discrepancies between source
language and target languages (e.g. font types) or even adjusting the game‟s marketing
strategies. In this understanding, however, localization stresses only the end product, without
taking any standpoint on the source text or the relation between the source text and the target
text. Furthermore, it does not objectively model how the video game industry operates,
disregarding the fact that due to simultaneous shipment the localization process frequently has
to run parallel to game development and that the localizers rarely have access to the game
itself. Therefore, despite the broader scope of localization, the entire process is usually limited
to translation of the linguistic material, and even then it may, as observed by Frank Dietz
(2007, 4), “come as an afterthought”. This becomes particularly prominent in countries such
as Poland, where the standard localization practice is basically non-existent. To single out
only the challenges relevant from the perspective of this study, localization will be identified
with translation and understood in most general terms as the adaptation of the game to the
linguistic and cultural reality of the target consumer (Chandler 2005, 3). For the sake of
clarity, the analyzed challenges are divided into three major categories: linguistic challenges,
technical challenges and culture-specific challenges.
6. Linguistic and technical challenges in video game localization
The complex cultural environment, along with the industry-specific technical issues, has
brought several translational problems into being. Their solution has a major impact on the
11
overall reception of the translation, as in the case of the infamous localizations of the Call of
Duty series, especially Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Call of Duty: Black Ops, which
plainly fail to address the problematic issues, thus serving as an excellent material for a case
study. Call of Duty is a long-standing series of first-person shooting games, first published in
2003 by Activision. The player is placed in control of a soldier who, depending on the
particular part of the series, is flung into the heat of battle of the Second World War or more
modern battlefields, e.g. in the Middle-East or in the Brazilian favela.
Contrary to Carmen Mangiron and Minako O'Hagan‟s (2006) claim, not only role-playing
games can constitute an adequate material for translation studies. Modern video games have
changed dramatically over the last two decades, growing in complexity and aspiring to a fully
fledged medium. The main aspect of the transformation of the video game concept is
narrativizaiton: all games, regardless of the conventions they follow, are based on a narrative
frame, the purpose of which is to immerse the player in the virtual world and provide a richer
experience. In this respect, shooting games seem to have gone an especially long way, starting
with very simple productions concentrated solely on game mechanics, such as Wolfenstein 3D
or Doom. As a prime example of a shooting game, the Call of Duty series is still faithful to its
humble origins, focusing mainly on creating a realistic simulation of the battlefield
conditions; nonetheless, the game goes beyond the stereotypical conception of the genre and
strives to bond the player emotionally with its characters through narration.
6.1 Creativity in translation
According to Mangiron and O‟Hagan (2006), one of the greatest challenges in video game
localization, and paradoxically also one of its greatest merits, is creativity. Translators of
video games enjoy a level of liberty uncommon to any other medium, as interactive software
is strongly oriented on re-creating a similar game experience for all players, allowing for other
12
levels of equivalence to be downplayed solely for this purpose. Thus, the game localizer is
given creative license to: “includ[e] new cultural references, jokes, or any other element they
deem necessary to preserve the game experience and to produce a fresh and engaging
translation” (Mangiron and O‟Hagan 2006, 15).
Dialects constitute a classic example of translation material that cannot be addressed using
the traditional idea of equivalence. In many cases, the target language version has to be
created basically from scratch, shifting the balance between translation, which concentrates on
conveying the same information, and transcreation, which adapts the material to evoke a
similar response in the target language. For instance, in Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II,
a tribal race of green skinned humanoids called „Orks‟ communicate using a dialect stylized
to be a more brutish sounding variant of English, in some respects also resembling Cockney.
In the Polish localization, radically different linguistic measures have been employed, with
some of the subtle reference being lost in the process, yet preserving the distinctive feel of the
dialect that complements the original idea of the game designer:
(1a) We found dem powah stations, boss. Should give us da juice weez need to finish „em
up.
(1b) Znaleźli my tom stacje zasilania, szefie. Bendziem mieli dość prondu by to skończyć.
Other source text elements that frequently call for transcreation are slang and profanity. In
Bulletstorm, a shooting game with a somewhat crude sense of humor, the characters‟ dialogue
lines are riddled with curse words and slang expressions, often used in a very creative way, as
presented in example 2a. The target language version in 2b, although straying from the
13
meaning of the source text, certainly managed to capture its mood and its emotional load, and
thus was positively received by the community
6
.
(2a) Now, you festering assholes, either make with one sweet and sloppy apology or I will
fuck up your lives.
(2b) Dlatego teraz, czopy doodbytnicze, grzecznie i z języczkiem mnie przeprosicie albo wam
łby upierdolę.
However, single lexical items that cannot be omitted or compensated in other parts of the text,
such as neologisms or pseudo-technical terms seem to be the most problematic instances of
transcreation. For example, in Deus Ex: Human Revolution, an action role-playing game set in
the near future, individuals that alter their bodies with biotic prosthetics and upgrade their
brains with computer chips are called „augs‟ (a clipped form of „augmented humans‟). To deal
with this problem the translator decided to focus on a different aspect of the social
phenomenon portrayed in the game, rendering the term as druciarze. Nonetheless, it fitted
well into the overall vision of the world presented in the game, and was well-accepted by the
critics and the gamers alike.
7
Failure to recognize elements requiring transcreation may lead to renderings which do not
properly convey the original meaning or even hinder the understanding of the entire item, for
instance, „vertical gameplay‟ found in the description of one of the maps in Call of Duty:
Black Ops was literally translated as rozgrywka pionowa. In the target language, the provided
equivalent strongly suggests that no other dimensions than the vertical one will be involved in
6
Source: Jak wypada polskie tłumaczenie Bulletstorma? Accessem September 25, 2013.
http://gamezilla.komputerswiat.pl/newsy/2011/8/jak-wypada-polskie-tlumaczenie-bulletstorma
7
Source: Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Deus Ex: Bunt Ludzkości) – recenzja. Accessed September 25, 2013
http://polygamia.pl/Polygamia/1,97394,10153498,Deus_Ex__Human_Revolution__Deus_Ex__Bunt_Ludzkosci
_.html?order=najfajniejsze_odwrotnie
14
the gameplay, which is not what was originally intended. Similar misunderstanding arises
with the term „objective gameplay‟, which was translated as rozgrywka celowa. Although in
this case the intended meaning is reluctantly peering from behind the target language
equivalent, it is completely dwarfed by another, more humorous interpretation. In this context,
celowa might also mean „purposeful‟, creating the impression that other types of gameplay
might lack any purpose whatsoever.
Translating an item requiring transcreation with standard procedures may also lead to a
semantically and culturally impoverished equivalent by, for instance removing some
extratextual references. One such example can be found in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2,
in which one of the missions the player undertakes is titled „Joint Ops‟. The caption is framed
in a picture of cannabis leaves, which clearly points to the slang meaning of joint, i.e. a rolled
marijuana cigarette, and the entire phrase becomes a meaningful play on words; unfortunately
this reference is lost in the translated version (Wspólne Operacje), leaving the player
somewhat confused as to the relation between the presented text and the image. This
particular example also points to another burning issue in video game localization, namely the
significance of contextual information.
6.2 Context-related issues
The most glaring mistakes in localization are a result of misinterpretation caused by
insufficient contextual information. The relevance of context in translation cannot be
underestimated – every meaningful utterance is construed in relation to a linguistic, social and
cultural context. Without the necessary background knowledge, the translator is prone to
lexical or grammatical ambiguity, basically working in the dark when dealing with, for
instance, homonymy or deixis. To solve this problem, the translator assigned to a particular
project is provided with a localization kit, which in theory should contain all the contextual
15
data, assets or tools he or she might require to dispel any context-related doubts (Chandler
2005, 277). Usually however, the localization kit is nothing more than the bare text-to-be-
translated, due to financial limitations and the simultaneous shipment deadlines, as the game
development process is always highly time-constrained. Hence, receiving a copy of the game
as reference for translation is more of a notable exception, rather than a standard practice. A
more detailed description of the technical aspects of the localization process is provided by
O‟Hagan and Mangiron (2004). As a consequence, many discrepancies between the
translation and the actual game experience may appear, just to consider a set of simple
examples:
(3) The tank will explode if you place a C4 detonator on it.
(4) He saw the bow on the table.
Without any additional information it is virtually impossible to successfully deal with lexical
items presented above in italics, as several meanings fit into the context (In 3, a container or a
vehicle? In example 4, a weapon or musical equipment?). Lack of situational context can lead
also to a number of complications in other sociolinguistic aspects: translation of humor (as
briefly mentioned in the previous section with the „Joint-Ops‟ example), choosing a specific
register or level of politeness and finally assigning proper gender markings. English seems to
be a fairly neutral language, as it rarely distinguishes morphologically between gender and the
English pronouns are not overtly marked for politeness. On the other hand, nouns in Polish
are explicit in their grammatical gender. Moreover, the choice of the case inflection pattern is
also dependant on the gender of the noun; therefore, not knowing the gender of the game
character or its relations with other characters may lead to “wooden”, unisex expressions that
sound rather awkward when used abundantly (such as the use of passive voice in Polish). A
16
most vivid example demonstrating this issue appears in Mass Effect 2, a role-playing game in
which the main character could be either male or female, depending on the player‟s choice at
the beginning of the game. While in English this did not require any alterations to the in-game
texts, the Polish localization often uses passive constructions and has lost the morphological
case on the character‟s name, causing somewhat unnatural sounding expressions:
(5a) Shepard wasn‟t here then.
(5b) ?Shepard nie było wtedy tutaj.
If the character is female, then the presented version seems correct, but with male characters,
the genitive inflected Sheparda („Shepard-GEN‟) would sound much more natural. Gender
may also become a problem in translation of verbs into Polish. In the most extreme case,
when the game does not specify the character‟s gender but employs a first-person narrative
style (for example for the purpose of suspense), the translator is forced to make an arbitrary
decision, as verbs in Polish are overtly marked for gender (kupiłem vs. kupiłam / „I bought-
MASC‟ vs. „I bought-FEM‟), immediately revealing the identity of the speaker.
Context awareness is also crucial, when determining what register should be used in the
specific sections of the game. Confusion between formal and informal (or neutral) language
may provide the recipient with the wrong information about the social context of the
utterance. For instance, the term notification, used in Modern Warfare 2 in-game messages,
was rendered in the Polish localization as powiadomienie, while the less formal komunikat
could have appeared instead, a term commonly used in software localization and certainly
familiar to game users, who frequently use other computer interfaces. Powiadomienie was
clearly introduced as novel in this context, hence brining along its typical, legal connotations
and creating an unintended humorous effect. This example demonstrates the violation of yet
17
another fundamental rule in the translation practice, namely: if an item has already been
translated and has become conventionalized, adhere to that equivalent.
6.3 Hard-coding and string automatization
Apart from the bona fide linguistic issues, the video game translators also have to adjust their
translation strategies to the technical aspect of the medium, that is, to how the text is arranged
within the game‟s programming code. The translation material in video games is not
continuous, but rather fragmented, as the events on screen depend on the player‟s actions.
Many of these segments are hard-coded, meaning that there is a limited number of characters
that can be typed into a particular space (Bernal-Merino 2007; Mangiron and O‟Hagan 2006).
This poses a fundamental problem when translating, as other languages are characterized by
different structural features. Even though, according to the Leonard Talmy‟s (2001) notion of
lexicalized patterns, both English and Polish are classified as satellite-framed languages, there
are certain discrepancies in the way they represent motion. Consider the following example:
(6a) He hobbled out of the room.
(6b) Wyszedł z pokoju kuśtykając.
In 6a, the English verb conflates manner with motion, while in the target translation this has
to be rendered by means of an adverbial. Additionally, in language typology English falls
into the spectrum of isolating rather than synthetic languages. Therefore, it seems to be more
concise and more rigidly structured than Polish. This notion is most visible in such linguistic
phenomena as zero derivation:
(7a) He knifed that guy!
18
(7b) Dźgnął go nożem!
Due to the inherent differences in word length and grammatical structures, the translator in
Call of Duty: Black Ops was forced to make uneasy compromises between the possible
equivalents and frequently had to clip word endings and use abbreviations (original
punctuation):
(8a) TEAM DEATHMATCH
(8b) DM DRUŻYNOWY
The programmers also tend to exploit the scarce inflectional morphology and the fixed word
order in English by automatizing certain pieces of texts appearing in video games with
automatic punctuation or variable structures:
X Y grenade.
X= {take, throw, drop}
Y= {a, the, Ø}
Every word in such an automatized string is drawn from a pre-specified list, therefore leaving
hardly any leeway for the translator to interact with the syntactic structure of the source text.
In most cases, these technical obstacles cannot be easily surmounted, as it would require some
sections of the game to be reprogrammed. Successful translation is dependant purely on the
flexibility and efficiency of the code, thus being frequently reduced to finding the most
graphically and syntactically similar, not necessarily the most natural, ways of expressing the
same idea in the target language and the source language. In the localization of Call of Duty:
19
Black Ops, the elements automated and hard-coded for English required the dropping of case
markings, resulting in such ungrammatical translations as:
(9a) Get 10 frag grenade kills.
(9b) *Zdobądź 10 granat odłamkowy zabić.
Some translations initially seem acceptable, yet in fact evoke a radically different, at times
even absurd, image. In the following example the error occurred most probably because the
translator had to conform to the number of characters / words of the original, resulting in an
awkward rendition of the phrase „crouched position‟:
(10a) Kill 15 enemies from a crouched position.
(10b) ?Zabij 15 wrogów z pozycji przysiadu.
More recent examples can also be found in Halo 4, a shooting game released in 2012, which
clearly demonstrates that hard-coding still constitutes a problematic issue. For instance, when
referring to the team division in multiplayer mode, the Polish localization disrupts the player‟s
experience using poor grammar:
(11a) You are in blue.
(11b) *Jesteś w niebieska.
7. Culture-specific challenges in video game localization
To fully account for all intricacies of context relevance in localization, it is imperative to
recognize video games as cultural artifacts. Even though the publishers may encourage
20
internationalization in the development process (i.e. a design that allows adaptation of the
software to different languages and regions without any engineering changes
8
) video games
still bear a certain level of culture specificity, due to the use of language. As stated by Peter
Newmark, cultural knowledge contributes significantly to the understanding of a text, as
ultimately “[l]anguage is a substantial but partial reflection of a culture” (Newmark 1991, 73).
Therefore, the translator‟s role is not limited to the transfer of information structure; to
provide an accurate and comprehensive understanding of the source text in the target culture,
the translator is obliged to mediate between different cultural elements using shared human
experience (Newmark 1991, 74). Due to the great variety of video game genres and their
highly eclectic nature, the cultural context in localization may extend to the existing body of
other translated texts in different modalities, such as books, graphic novels or movies.
Disregarding the cultural context may impact the reception of the product, undermining the
primary aim to create a similar experience for all players and estranging the established fan-
base (Mangiron and O‟Hagan 2006).
Interestingly enough, it seems that one of the most significant problems associated with
video game translation lies not in the games themselves, but rather in the mindset of their
recipients. Throughout the years, Polish game users were accustomed to very scarce
localizing or no localizing at all, absorbing and familiarizing the English game terminology
they were exposed to, especially the one connected with multiplayer modes, as
communication is crucial for team play. Hence, many foreign lexical items have been
incorporated into the gamer slang and popularized by internet communities. Gradually, they
started taking a life of their own in the target language, following its linguistic conventions
and becoming recognized terms among people playing video games. Examples of game users
8
Source: http://www.w3.org/International/questions/qa-i18n.en Accessed October 20, 2013.
21
choosing original versions over localizations can also be found in other cultures, which may
suggest that this is a more widespread tendency (Chandler 2005, 3).
Thus, as the video game translation market expands, the translator faces a seemingly
irresolvable problem of dealing with such lexical items. The general practice so far was to
leave them unchanged in the source language, thus meeting the expectations of a significant
part of the gaming community. Currently, however, many developers insist that the
borrowings be properly translated, as this strategy is perceived as releasing a deficient product
that is not fully adapted to the target culture. The other reason behind this kind of translational
pressure is the change taking place within the gaming community. The divide between the
hardcore game users, who have been a part of the industry since its very beginnings and the
casual game users, who perceive games as a form of rather occasional entertainment, is being
slowly bridged. The casual game users are constantly growing in numbers and becoming a
more and more influential group of potential buyers, which is not acquainted with the specific
game nomenclature though. Therefore, if the developers want to maximize their profits, they
have to address this issue by releasing games that are not only professionally translated, but
also adapted in such a way that they are easily accessible to the broadest possible audience.
7.1 Familiarized lexical items – killing spree and kill
Despite the translator‟s efforts, familiarized lexical items almost always sound grotesque to
the ears of the players accustomed to the original terminology, mainly because coining an
entirely new term may often introduce ambiguity and unwanted connotations in the target
language. One such phrase is, for instance, killing spree, which is used to describe a player
who scores several points for defeating players of the opposing team, usually three or five, in
an unbroken chain. In the translation of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 it is rendered as ciąg
eliminacji („a chain of elimination‟), which did not incite much enthusiasm in the game users
22
and was simply ignored in favor of the familiarized term. However, another attempt to
translate the same term in Call of Duty: Black Ops as seria ofiar („a series of victims‟ or „a
series of donations‟) was widely ridiculed in the gaming community because of its
awkwardness and apparent ambiguity, especially when it appeared in the description of the so
called player perks, where it approached the borders of the macabre (zrzut losowej seri ofiar,
i.e. literally a „drop of a random series of victims‟). Even the most basic terms in the
multiplayer mode of the Call of Duty series, and most shooting games for that matter, often
prove to be a source of controversy. For instance, the term to kill, which in the context of the
game mechanics refers to scoring a point for the team by defeating a player of the opposing
team, in translation to Polish receives some rather disturbing, unintended connotations. The
target language equivalent (in nominal form zabójstwo) highlights the more sinister elements
of the killing frame that are more visible in such English words as assassination or murder. In
fact, the use of the English verb to kill in multiplayer shooting games seems to have evolved
and is currently devoid of the typical „put to death‟ sense (which is listed as top-most in the
Oxford English Dictionary, 1989). This is also apparent in the morphology of the word, which
has undergone a functional shift and currently can also take a nominal form, for example in
compounds double kill, kill streak or in phrases such as to get a kill. Further evidence for this
assumption come from the Polish gaming slang itself, as in the familiarized terms the
unwanted semantic components are absent (or downplayed)
9
. The motivation for this
semantic shift seems to be quite obvious: certainly, killing an enemy in an equal fight on the
battlefield would rather not be deemed as murder per se, not to mention the fact that the link
between actual killing and video game violence is somewhat arbitrary. The notion of
9
This effect seems to be closely linked to the emotional aspect of some words and lack of thereof in their L2
equivalents, as reported by language learners. Although the effect is more pronounced in the case of using
profanity in a foreign language (L2 course words seem to not have the same impact as the native ones, e.g. see
Dewaele 2010) it may be applied also to other, highly emotionally marked words, such as zabijać. Polish gamers
may opt for the familiarized terms due to a conflict between a neutral context and a highly emotionally marked
word. Nonetheless, further empirical investigation of this hypothesis is required.
23
familiarized terms and their role in the localization process certainly call for further research;
this however, goes beyond the scope of this paper.
8. Conclusions
The aim of this paper was to present video games as a valid material for academic study,
stressing the role of localization in the interactive entertainment industry. With the expansion
of video games to foreign markets, translation has become an integral part of the game
development process. However, in many countries such as Poland, where video games have
not yet entered mainstream culture, the localization practice is still to be established.
By analyzing the shortcomings of the Call of Duty series, along with a host of other
examples, I attempted to highlight some of the most burning issues in video game localization
that clearly demonstrate a need for a new area of specialization with its unique translation
strategies. Nonetheless, the challenges discussed herein constitute merely the tip of an
iceberg, and they extend far beyond the scope of this preliminary study. Contrary to the
disparaging view of the industry, video game localization is not a simplistic form of audio-
visual translation. It is an immensely complex endeavor that integrates linguistic, technical
and cultural issues, each of which would require an in-depth analysis on its own. Due to the
limitations of space, however, the problems signaled in this paper require further research.
Video game sources
Anfossi, David (producer). 2011. Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Eidos Montreal (developer),
Square Enix (publisher). Xbox 360 version.
Bunting, Dan (producer). 2010. Call of Duty: Black Ops. Treyarch (developer), Activision
(publisher). Xbox 360 version.
Chmielarz, Adrian., Bleszinski Cliff and Jessen, Tanya (producers). 2011. Bulletstorm.
People Can Fly and Epic Games (developers), Electronic Arts (publisher). Xbox 360
version.
Hudson, Casey (executive producer). 2010. Mass Effect 2. BioWare (developer), Electronic
Arts (publisher). Xbox 360 version.
Lydell, Jeff (producer). 2009. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II. Relic Entertainment
(developer), THQ (publisher).
24
Rubin, Mark (producer). 2009. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Infinity Ward (developer),
Activision (publisher). Xbox 360 version.
Rubin, Mark and Ades, Jason (producers). 2011. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Infinity
Ward (developer), Activision (publisher). Xbox 360 version.
Wolfkill, Kiki (executive producer). 2012. Halo 4. 343 Industries (developer), Microsoft
Studios (publisher).
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Dawid Czech is a student at the Institute of English Studies, University of Wrocław, where
he works on his MA thesis: Metaphorical Structure in Translation of Popular Business
Discourse, a Comparative Analysis of Polish and English Business Corpora. His research
interests include: cognitive linguistics (conceptual metaphor theory, embodied cognition,
blending theory), neurolinguistics, and theory and practice of video game translation.
E-mail address: dawid.czech89@gmail.com
