Issues and Strategies of Localising Sensitive Audiovisual Elements in Game Streaming: A Case Study on Overwatch League (OWL) Chinese Streaming

Abstract

This paper is a participant-observer case study of the Overwatch League (OWL) 2021 Chinese streaming. Within the contemporary dynamic and diversified mediascape of China, esports streaming has become increasingly popular (Taylor, 2018; Wohn & Freeman, 2020). Esports streaming allows spectators to watch esports players’ intense competitions in real time and interact through danmu (bullet comments), gift sending systems, or via streaming lotteries (Lee et al., 2019; Abarbanel & Johnson, 2020; Zhang & Cassany, 2020). The Chinese streaming of Overwatch League (OWL), a series of Overwatch (OW) esports tournaments owned by Activision Blizzard, on Bilibili can be considered a game streaming localisation practice which localises audiovisual content from the original English-language streaming source into Chinese and then innovates upon it in the form of a number of local streaming programmes. The OWL Chinese streaming has disclosed many issues and strategies taken toward sensitive elements like game slang, cultural differences, the presence of erotic or violent content, gambling, media accessibility and censorship laws. The analysis of the selected cases in this article extends the current theories dealing with game localisation (e.g. Zhang Xiaochun, 2012; O’Hagan & Mangiron, 2013; Mangiron et al., 2014) into a new layer, dealing with game streaming localisation. The findings suggest the complications of game streaming content, including the controversial impacts of localisation strategies on sensitive elements, cross-media marketing of streaming practices and the participation of various stakeholders (e.g. officials, sponsors, fans) in game streaming localisation.

Full text

British Journal of Chinese Studies, Vol. 12.2, July 2022
ISSN 2048-0601
© British Association for Chinese Studies
Issues and Strategies of Localising Sensitive Audiovisual Elements in Game Streaming:
A Case Study on Overwatch League (OWL) Chinese Streaming
Dody M.H. Chen
University of Bristol
Abstract
This paper is a participant-observer case study of the Overwatch League (OWL) 2021 Chinese
streaming. Within the contemporary dynamic and diversified mediascape of China, esports
streaming has become increasingly popular (Taylor, 2018; Wohn & Freeman, 2020). Esports
streaming allows spectators to watch esports players’ intense competitions in real time and
interact through danmu (bullet comments), gift sending systems, or via streaming lotteries (Lee
et al., 2019; Abarbanel & Johnson, 2020; Zhang & Cassany, 2020). The Chinese streaming of
Overwatch League (OWL), a series of Overwatch (OW) esports tournaments owned by
Activision Blizzard, on Bilibili can be considered a game streaming localisation practice which
localises audiovisual content from the original English-language streaming source into
Chinese and then innovates upon it in the form of a number of local streaming programmes.
The OWL Chinese streaming has disclosed many issues and strategies taken toward sensitive
elements like game slang, cultural differences, the presence of erotic or violent content,
gambling, media accessibility and censorship laws. The analysis of the selected cases in this
article extends the current theories dealing with game localisation (e.g. Zhang Xiaochun, 2012;
O’Hagan & Mangiron, 2013; Mangiron et al., 2014) into a new layer, dealing with game
streaming localisation. The findings suggest the complications of game streaming content,
including the controversial impacts of localisation strategies on sensitive elements, cross-
media marketing of streaming practices and the participation of various stakeholders (e.g.
officials, sponsors, fans) in game streaming localisation.
Keywords: Game streaming, game localisation, game streaming localisation, game streaming
interaction, cross-media marketing, and game slang.
Since the first commercial arcade video game (a game machine typically in public places like
malls, restaurants, or bars), Spacewar! (Steve Russell, 1962) was released in the early 1960s,
the world has witnessed the rapid development of video games (Donovan, 2010). Today, lots
of new practices on game genres and gameplay and diversification of programming talents and
gaming skills have emerged. Video games are celebrated by players of all ages, genders, and
social backgrounds, and are played on an assortment of platforms and devices (Donovan,
2010). Technologies used to play games in recent years include arcades, consoles, PC, mobile
phones and virtual reality (VR) gear. As an omnipresent form of global entertainment, video
games have exerted a significant impact on social-cultural development and technological
advancement (O’Hagan & Mangiron, 2013). The evolution of video games has elicited a strong
response within game studies concerning genres, playability, and audiovisual components. To
meet the research gap on the integration of video games into streaming practices, this paper
examines concepts and forms of sensitive audiovisual elements in game streaming and analyses
related strategies and issues of the English-Chinese localisation based on an exploration of
esport streaming in the case of the game Overwatch (2016). It aims to present a new academic

Dody M.H. Chen | 155
view of game streaming localisation, discussing variously definitions, content, features,
stakeholders, and potential impacts.
The release of video games exclusively in just one or even a couple of languages can
hardly meet the demands of global gamers, leading some scholars and gaming practitioners to
acknowledge the importance of game localisation (Jooyaeian & Khoshsaligheh, 2022). Game
localisation is not just a straightforward translation of game texts (Mangiron, 2018). However,
limited by non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), localisers, no matter whether they are in-house
or outsourced workers, usually have limited access to game files, lacking additional context.
Meanwhile, most game companies adopt a simship (short for ‘simultaneous shipment’) mode
that requires the simultaneous release of localised editions alongside domestic products,
emphasising the urgency of localisation work. Therefore, especially in the early stages of the
Chinese game localisation industry, there has been a degree of conceptual confusion between
‘game translation’ (youxi fanyi 󱐉󰟠󲗌󳆢) and ‘game localisation’ (youxi bendihua 󱐉󰟠󰳽
). As the industry has evolved, the importance of game localisation across areas such as
images, audio files, censorship law, advertising strategy and cross-media-marketing has
gradually been revealed (Zhang Xiaochun, 2012). For instance, the localisation of game
trailers, namely promotional videos to raise awareness, hype and ultimately sales for upcoming
video games, has produced many collaborations between video game makers and film works
(Švelch, 2017). Such new initiatives have, in turn, urged game localisation teams to subdivide
and normalise localisation jobs and tasks. As shown in its official news, Blizzard’s Chinese
localisation team have increased their numbers, adding positions such as outsourcing manager,
localisation engineer, audio specialist, and quality assurance analyst. With game localisation
becoming more extensive, both the issues covered, and strategies taken have evolved (Zhang
Xiaochun, 2012). In academia, localisation phenomena have not yet been fully researched, but
may serve as theoretical support to broader interdisciplinary fields such as translation studies,
communication studies, linguistics, lexicology, and advertising.
Game streaming can be most simply defined as an activity whereby people stream video
games via the internet (Hamari & Sjöblom, 2017; Johnson & Woodcock, 2019). Since the mid-
2000s, improvements to data speeds, decreases in broadband costs and the popularity of video
games have created an explosion of game streaming activities (Burroughs & Rama, 2015),
causing the commercialisation and standardisation of game streaming on global streaming
platforms (Twitch, Youtube Gaming and Facebook Gaming) and via agencies (Upfluence,
Viral Nation). Although in its early stages, ‘streaming’ referred primarily to TV streaming (e.g.
Rodriguez & Bressan, 2012) or online-based content sharing like Netflix (e.g. Burroughs,
2019), current ‘streaming’ in both industry and academia is used in particular to denote
streaming that provides real-time interaction as a form of tandem spectating between streamers
and audience (see Lee et al., 2019; Shen, 2021).
Notably, popular game streaming in China includes two types of production, live and
pre-recorded. Live game streaming allows streamers to play and stream a game in real time
with no post-editing of content, while pre-recorded game streaming, as a kind of ‘fake live
streaming’ in terms of the streaming authenticity, is usually embellished with pre-edited cuts,
effects, transitions, stock footage, well-rounded storyline, subtitles, and voice-over. Streaming
forms and interactions are closely connected to the purpose. For example, the streaming of
closed game tests like Blizzard’s PvP (player versus player; as opposed to player versus
environment, PvE) streaming of Overwatch 2 (2022) is a pre-recorded streaming of what is in
effect a commercial collaboration, with strict censorship of content to reduce the negative
impacts of game bugs and to attract potential customers (Kang et al., 2017). Machinima-style

156 | British Journal of Chinese Studies
game streaming pre-records real-time computer gameplay in service of fan creations (Jones,
2019).
As game streaming studies is not yet a truly mature field of research, huge gaps exist in
the literature, such as with regard to game streaming genres. Most game streaming platforms
allow spectators to select a game streaming room (the streaming webpage) by the video game
played, game genre, streamers’ genders, or via keywords, and thus these standards could be
considered to be practical indicators of genre. By contrast, game streaming genres in academia
are determined based primarily by game streaming features like content or performance.
Limited by the perception of researchers and the state of streaming development in its early
stages, the three major genres proposed by Smith et al. (2013) include speedrunning (a fast
game playthrough of a whole video game or a selected part), ‘Let’s Play’ (a normal playthrough
of a video game with no time goals) and esports (the streaming of competitive video games or
game competitions). However, there is an inconsistency on the terminology both in research
and practice about game streaming. Though digital games have been played competitively
since the 1980s, they were not fully accepted as professional sports at that time (Szablewicz,
2016). Esports were originally defined as a form of competition using competitive video games
across many genres of games, including sports games, racing games, action games and massive
multiplayer online roleplaying games (MMORPGs), where competitors could be either
individuals or teams (Burroughs & Rama, 2015). With practical expansion, the term ‘esports’
came to describe the official streaming of esports tournaments (see, for example, Smith et al.,
2013; Hamari & Sjöblom, 2017) and for a time, self-conducted game streaming based on
competitive video games in the first-person view was classified as a form of ‘Let’s Play’.
However, the world has witnessed the rise of many new streaming genres related to esports
gaming, such as post-analysis streaming hosted by fans or professionals on esports strategies
or prize-giving quizzes based on esports tournaments. New jobs in the esports streaming
industry are emerging, such as shoutcasters, observers or capture artists. 1 These changes
suggest that mixed usages of the term ‘esports’ in gaming and streaming may cause ambiguity.
Therefore, I retain the original definition of esports as a form of competition using competitive
video games and use ‘esports streaming’ to include a wide range of streaming activities related
to esports gaming.
Since the recognition of esports as sports by the General Administration of Sport of
China in 2003, China has witnessed a significant development in esports and esports streaming
(Lu Zhouxiang, 2016). In 2007, FIFA 07 (2006), NBA Live 07 (2006) and Need for Speed: Most
Wanted (2005) were listed for the first time as official esports competitions at the 2nd Asian
Indoor Games in Macau, China. For the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China will officially
debut eight esports games as medal sports. The government’s emphasis and the public attention
on esports in China have led to a boom in development, wherein not only business streaming
platforms such as Huya Live
󲰟󱠪󱳅󰩾, Bilibili , DouYu 󰭨󴉍 and NetEase CC
󲔢
󰯤CC but also national franchises are broadcasting esports streaming. For instance, the final
of King Pro League (KPL) Spring of 2020, an esports tournament of Honor of Kings (2015),
was broadcast by China Global Television Network. This was the first tournament to be
broadcast via a Chinese government-operated platform at a national level since 2003. In
addition to this, the finals of League of Legends Pro League (LPL) 2018 Spring, an esports
tournament of League of Legends (2009) held in Chengdu were live-streamed on both online
1Shoutcasters provide running commentaries in live matches, observers control the in-game camera, and capture
artists work after the game as directors and cinematographers to produce graphic artworks like posters or
trailers.

Dody M.H. Chen | 157
game streaming platforms and the sports channel of Guangdong Radio and Television. Even
amid the coronavirus pandemic around 2020, China’s digital economy has proven resilient,
experiencing an upsurge in game streaming upsurge via mobile streaming apps such as Douyin
󰡧󳷄 and TikTok (Li et al., 2021). Key Opinion Leader (KOL) streaming, a streaming mode
led by influencers who influence others’ ideas, aesthetics and buying decisions, has been
widely spread among game streamers (see Lu & Siegfried, 2021).
As much esports streaming was not initially conducted by Chinese organisations or
streamed through Chinese platforms, Chinese spectators have been yearning for localisation.
As might be expected, such practices, defined in this paper as ‘game streaming localisation’
are emerging. Game streaming localisation challenges the original concept of game localisation
mainly at the level of game-content and brings it to an interdisciplinary area that involves media
studies and marketing. Similar to cases of game localisation (e.g. Zhang Xiaochun, 2012;
Mangiron, 2018), examination of game streaming localisation reveals significant audiovisual
localisation phenomena displayed in the text, audio or image. Meanwhile, stakeholders such as
streamers, spectators, streaming platforms, and game companies also shape the localisation
from their stances by means of business collaborations, for instance, proposing localisation
requirements for ads that appear in streaming (Pun, 2020). However, the lack of localisation
foresight in game streaming causes many issues. To answer what potential sensitive
audiovisual elements are in game streaming and what the underlying issues and strategies can
be, this paper takes the Chinese-language streaming of Overwatch League (OWL), an esports
tournament of the game Overwatch (Blizzard, 2016) as a case study for research. OWL has
been researched in terms of its broadcast structure and game presentation (Turtiainen et al.,
2016), fan impact (Välisalo & Ruotsalainen, 2019), the participation of female esports icons
like Geguri (Cullen, 2018; Choi et al., 2020) and toxicity towards esports players (Tomkinson
& Van Den Ende, 2021). Driven by practical phenomena, I use netnographical approaches such
as participatory observation, transcribing, screenshots and screencasts to collect localisation
samples of OWL-sensitive audiovisual elements. By using interdisciplinary approaches such
as corpus studies and content analysis, I provide my analyses, discussions, and findings to
extend relevant theory into new areas. The following sections introduce the case study and
provide examples including ads, game slang, streaming notes, and streaming programmes. The
findings shed light on the theoretical extension of game localisation on streaming practices by
arguing for the importance of localisation, innovation, and fans’ participation in game
streaming localisation, and emphasising the significance of game slang in game streaming and
online communication.
A Brief Introduction to the Localisation of Overwatch and Overwatch League in China
Overwatch (OW) is a team-based massively multiplayer online (MMO) first-person shooter
(FPS) game, developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment in May 2016. OW is now
available on various gaming platforms including Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
and Nintendo Switch. It has four servers, located in the Americas, Asia, Europe and China
respectively. The OW storyline is set on a fictionalised Earth 30 years after the resolution of
the Omnic Crisis, a calamity caused by the conflicts between humans and robots. Due to the
Omnic Crisis, the United Nations formed Overwatch, an international task force intended to
combat the threat, maintain peace and restore world order. There are thirty-two playable
characters to date, called as ‘heroes’ and identified as heroic fighters in the OW storytelling,
including eight heroes classed as tanks, seventeen heroes classed as damage and seven heroes
classed as support. Tank heroes lead the charge by soaking up damage, creating space, and
breaking apart fortified positions. Damage heroes seek out, engage, and defeat the enemies.

158 | British Journal of Chinese Studies
Support heroes empower the allies by healing them, boosting the damage, and providing vital
utility. Each hero has different abilities that diversify their responsibilities in team missions
(e.g. 1v1, 3v3, 6v6). Gamers can select missions from the main menu.
The Overwatch League (OWL), owned by Blizzard Entertainment, is a series of
professional esports OW tournaments. The OWL tournament was originally announced in
2016, while its inaugural season started in 2018. OWL is comprised of twenty international
independent city-based teams to date, differentiated by their cultural identities (e.g. colour,
logo), ownership and most importantly, their team players. In OWL 2020, OWL teams were
divided on based on their city bases into Atlantic teams (ten teams) and Pacific teams (ten
teams). In OWL 2021, due to city base changes and an updated schedule, OWL teams are re-
classified into the East (seven teams) and the West (thirteen teams).
Blizzard has developed unique China-based localisation and advertising strategies in
response to the fast-growing Chinese gamer community, taking on board many Chinese
investors for OW (Chang, 2020). First, there is a separate OW China server operated by
NetEase (Wangyi 󲔢󰯤) while the other three servers including the Americas, Asia and Europe
are operated by Blizzard. Gamers on the China server are thus technically unable to team up
with players on others. In addition,, there are two localised versions for the Chinese market
(e.g. websites, subtitles and dubbing). The one distributed in Mainland China in simplified
Chinese is commonly described as ‘the Mainland server’ (guofu 󰳞), with the name of the
game Overwatch translated as “Shouwang xianfeng” 󰅙󰳬󳫜(lit. The Watching Vanguard).
The version in traditional Chinese is called ‘the Taiwan server’ (taifu 󰳞), with Overwatch
translated as “Douzhen tegong” 󴃶󳰴󱡊󰬌 (lit. Special Attack of the Fighting Battalion).
Gamers can switch between the two versions via the language setting on Battle.net, the Blizzard
desktop app. There are two versions in existence as simplified and traditional Chinese
characters have a profound influence on the target users’ written or spoken language and
language habits (Yang & Wang, 2018). Simplified Chinese is officially used in Mainland
China, Malaysia, and Singapore, while traditional Chinese is commonly used in Taiwan, Hong
Kong, and Macau. Additionally, the game markets of Mainland China and Taiwan are separate.
As clarified in “The Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the
Mainland Area” (Dalu weiyuanhui, 1992), profit-seeking enterprises based in Mainland China
are not allowed to conduct business activities in Taiwan until they have obtained official
permission and established branches or offices in Taiwan.
Although OWL is a global esports competition, Blizzard has set English as the default
language for the gameplay interface, in-game text, and in-game speech in global OWL
streaming. Internal factors relate to the fact that over half of OWL teams are USA-based to
date, featuring large numbers of English native speakers. External factors may involve
difficulties in localisation faced by English-speaking broadcasting teams. In contrast, in
cooperation with local streaming platforms, local OWL streaming teams including teams from
China, Korea, Europe, and Australia, differentiated by region or language, broadcast streaming
sourced from OWL (English) officials and replaced the English content (e.g. English
commentaries) with localised versions. Once local OWL teams initiate region-based OW
tournaments such as Overwatch Contenders,2 a high-level regional tournament series for pro
players who dream of ascending to OWL, other OWL streaming teams similarly broadcast
streaming sourced from the regional tournaments and replace any content that requires
2 Overwatch Contenders 2021 has five regional tournaments including Contenders North America, Contenders
Europe, Contenders Korea, Contenders Australia, and Contenders China, live-streamed to global spectators.

Dody M.H. Chen | 159
localisation. Currently, the official English streaming is available on the OWL YouTube
English channnel, 3 and the Blizzard OWL official webpage. 4 Before OWL 2021, Chinese
platforms including Bilibili, Huya Live, NetEase CC and Zhanqi TV co-hosted an OWL
Chinese streaming room. Following OWL 2021, exclusive broadcast rights have been given to
Bilibili. The other Chinese streaming platforms thus cancelled all OWL streaming schedules
but collegiate, fan-organised tournaments or OW gameplays are still available.
Bilibili has connected many interesting platform-based interactions to OWL’s
localisation, such as danmu (󰔊󰐦) commenting, gift-sending systems, streaming lotteries and
cross-media collaborations to attract spectators and activate interactions. Danmu, or ‘bullet-
curtain’ style comments, also known as danmaku after the Japanese term, are one of the most
common forms of interaction on most Chinese and Japanese video streaming platforms (Zhang
& Cassany, 2020). It allows real-time comments sent by registered spectators to zoom across
the screen like bullets. It was first adopted by Niconico, a Japanese animation, comics, and
games (ACG) content-sharing platform, and then gradually spread across Chinese media
platforms such as AcFun and Bilibili in the 2010s (Yang Yuhong, 2020). Spectators are
allowed to turn off danmu, block keywords or report toxic danmu. Significantly, on most
Chinese media platforms, streaming and video sharing are two separate sections. Danmu in
streaming are in effect a visualisation of comments made on the stream (see Figure 1), while
comments and danmu are separate objects as displayed in video sharing.
Figure 1: Display of danmu in OWL Chinese streaming on Bilibili, screenshot
taken by the author, 24.05.2020
Case Study: Localising Sensitive Audiovisual Elements in Overwatch League Chinese
Streaming
A video game is a manifestation of multiple semiotic modes (e.g. text, speech, gesture, image,
moving image, sound effect, music, haptics, layout, olfaction, gustation, interactivity and
immersion) and their coordination styles (Hawreliak, 2018). Sensitive elements in video games
3 For more information, please see: https://www.youtube.com/c/overwatchleague
4 For more information, please see: https://overwatchleague.com/en-us/

160 | British Journal of Chinese Studies
broadly refer to audiovisual content that can easily cause discomfort, misunderstanding, upset,
embarrassment, anger, and fear (Metallinou et al., 2012). Potential sources for such sensitivities
include controversial cultural orientations, any extreme political inclinations, changeable
censorship laws, copyright issues and any elements that may incite pornography, gambling,
violence or instigate crime (Zhang Xiaochun, 2012; Jooyaeian & Khoshsaligheh, 2022). To
decrease the negative impacts of such content through game localisation, strict censorship over
imported video games has been established in China (Liao, 2016). Notably, since 15 April
2022, unapproved video games have been prohibited from being shown in online movies and
TV series, variety shows, game streaming and short video platforms (Guojia guangbo dianshi
zongju, 2022). The removal reflects a huge gap between game streaming localisation practices
and the relevant laws in China. The following sections introduce typical examples of sensitive
content in OWL Chinese streaming, analyse localisation issues and strategies, and explore the
attitudes of potential stakeholders. They provide an overview of game streaming localisation
and extend the conventional game localisation theories surrounding in-game content to new
aspects such as fan localisation and online communication.
Case Group A: Ads
Game streaming is inseparable from digital promotion and business collaboration (Lakomy,
2019). OWL business partners are shown on its official webpage, with ads in pop-up windows
that dynamically appear and disappear in game streaming. There are both English and Chinese
ads in OWL Chinese streaming, with typical localised cases shown in Table 1. Following a July
2021 lawsuit in which Activision Blizzard was sued by California’s Department of Fair
Employment and Housing for harassment and discrimination against female employees,
business giants such as Coca-Cola, Kellogg, State Farm and T-Mobile temporarily reassessed
partnerships with OWL and proactively removed their ads from global OWL streaming. It
should thus be noted that the following examples were recorded before the lawsuit.
Table 1: Examples of Ads in OWL Chinese Streaming
Source Tex t
Targ et Te xt
Back Tra ns lation
Name of the
Company
Product
Your Team Your Chair
󱱕󳯰
󱱕󰻖󳴱
Your Tea m, Your
Chair, Your
Companion
Zipchair
Gaming
Gaming chairs
(The Logo of) HyperX
󰄩
The OWL Partner
for Internal Storage
Hyperx
Game headsets,
keyboards and more
Tas te the Feeling

󱠎
Coca-Cola, the
Moment to Refresh
The Coca-Cola
Company
Drinks
Subscribe to
youtube.com/overwatchleague
to get the latest and greatest
OWL videos!
Non-localised
Non-localised
OWL (English)
The OWL English
Streaming on
YouTube
Transcreation is a translation technique that paints the original intent, style, tone, and
context of source text (ST) in translated text (TT) (Pedersen, 2014). Transcreation in ads
localisation keeps the essence of ST, explains the utility of the product, and appeals to the target
consumers (Benetello, 2017). In Table 1, a slogan for Zipchair Gaming is localised as “your
team, your chair, your companion” (nide duiwu, nide yikao 󱱕󳯰, 󱱕󰻖󳴱). 󰻖
y
refers
to “the chair”, similar in homophonic pronunciation to  , a component character within the
word yikao 󳴱, meaning companion, or to rely on. It creatively delivers a similar-tone

Dody M.H. Chen | 161
association between different pronunciations of yi in Chinese, linking ‘a gaming chair’ to ‘a
good companion’. Furthermore, Hyperx are localised as “the OWL partner for internal storage”
(neicun hezuo huoban 󰄩). Neicun (internal storage) implies the market
positioning and product features, while huoban (partner) indicates the partnership between
OWL and Hyperx, and the potential relation between the product and the users. Lastly, the
slogan “taste the feeling” is localised as “the moment to refresh” (jin shuang yi ke 󱠎),
thereby avoiding a literal translation of “taste the feeling”, which might be rendered as
pinchang ziwei 󰇮󱒜 (lit. “experience the flavour”). The localisation imitates the physical
and mental enjoyment of sipping Coca-Cola.
Notably, the ads of the OWL English YouTube channel, broadcast by the OWL Chinese
streaming team from the English source are non-localised due to the lack of a realistic market.
Although YouTube has an exclusive streaming deal for Activision esports, China has enforced
standing national bans against YouTube since 2009 (Zhang Xiaochun, 2013). On the one hand,
China’s concerns over political and ideological influence from abroad may lead to the banning
or rewriting of imported audiovisual products (Moskowitz, 2019). On the other hand, since no
age-rating system for audiovisual products has yet been established in China to date, any
potential illegal and immoral content may still be beyond the government’s supervision.
Case Group B: Game Slang
Game slang, known as gamer-speak, gamer idiolect or ludolect, are context-dependent
neologisms derived from the game environment (Strong, 2019). Game slang can be a word, a
sentence, a number, a symbol, or even gibberish, following certain syntactic patterns
(Olejniczak, 2015), produced through processes that can including compounding, blending,
affixation, giving old words new meaning, creation of acronyms, conversion, and clipping (Liu
& Liu, 2014), or no rules at all. Slang terms are initially attached to a game environment, and
gamers may have similar or distinct recognitions of the slang terms, influenced by their gaming
experiences, educational backgrounds, and cultural acceptance (Laato et al., 2021; Laato &
Rauti, 2021). Slang terms have been observed in streaming titles, subtitles, danmu, in virtual
gift-giving, the players’ in-game chats or in shoutcasters’ live commentaries. Those spectators
who watch game streaming in effect immerse themselves in an interactive learning
environment (Dizon, 2022) and potentially can thus take game slang as the default lexical
choice (Strong, 2019). Through use of netnographical methods such as participatory
observation, taking screenshots and screencasting, I record widely-used OW game slang terms
in OWL Chinese streaming (see Table 2), as classified by language pattern.
Table 2: Selected Game Slang Examples in OWL Chinese Game Streaming
Category
Example
Connotation
Arabic Numeral
1
1 is to express “a positive answer”,
which indicates the eagerness to join a
team, or agreement with someone’s
idea.
Symbol
+and =
If a gamer invites you to a team, your
responses can be +, = or “sorry, next
time”. + means “please invite me” as
it is similar to the player-invite button
in OW. = means “wait for me”,
because the equals sign in Chinese is
called the dengyuhao 󲄚, and
deng
󲄚
can also mean “to wait”.

162 | British Journal of Chinese Studies
Emoticon

A bear’s smiling face. In addition to
this, diversified emoticons are sent in
danmu.
English
Cloud 9, or C9
Cloud 9 is an OW esports team,
famous for its dramatic performance
in an OW tournament. All Cloud 9
players devoted themselves to killing
the enemy but forgot the game
mission of protecting the payload and
they lost the game. Cloud 9 is thus to
describe situations in which OW
gamers forget their mission and are
defeated.
Gency
Gency is a compound word of Genji
(a male character) and Mercy (a
female character), a couple who have
great popularity in OW fandom.
Chinese
󱈉󳖭󱱕󱼯
,
󱈉󳖭󱓅󱼯
, or
YYDS (the pinyin initials for
yong yuan de shen 󱈉󳖭󱱕󱼯
or yong yuan di shen 󱈉󳖭󱓅
󱼯)
These word variations all mean
“forever god”, with yongyuan de 󱈉󳖭
󱱕 or yongyuan di 󱈉󳖭󱓅 as
“forever” and shen 󱼯 as “god”. They
are employed to compliment a
player’s talented gameplay. Although
yongyuan de 󱈉󳖭󱱕 and yongyuan di
󱈉󳖭󱓅 have the same connotations,
the latter is more playful, using a
non-standard character and the
colloquial pronunciation di.
󰯟󰯰󱧔
The back translation of mingxing qiu
󰯟󰯰󱧔 is “superstar’s ball”. This term
is uncommon in non-OW contexts. To
describe a nice shot in ball games,
Chinese people may say hao qiu 
(nice) 󱧔 (shot). In this case, hao 
is replaced with mingxing 󰯟󰯰
(superstar), and is used to congratulate
a player for a super-star-style nice kill
or a nice kill from super-star player in
OWL.
Chinese phrases or Pinyin
(initials) with the same or similar
pronunciation of borrowed words
󲽐󰏅
, or Xi Ba
Xi ba
󲽐󰏅
or Xi Ba is close to the
pronunciation of the Korean
swearword ssi bal   (what the
hell).
󱍷
The pinyin of the character
󱍷
with is
“run”. 󱍷 is thus equivalent to
“runaway” in gaming slang. By using
run 󱍷, the gamer may express either
“step back” or “I am getting offline”.
As fanatical Chinese OW gamers or OWL fans are not satisfied by only taking part in
Sinophone cross-media activities, they actively watch Anglophone streaming or news and surf
Anglophone fandoms like Discord, Twitter, or Reddit. English slang terms are likely to be
learned, used, or recreated, thereby spreading across Chinese media (Han & Reinhardt, 2022).
Due to their own distinct gaming experiences and recognitions, connotations of slang terms are
self-constructed by users (Laato & Rauti, 2021), echoing the definition of audiovisual sensitive
elements. To introduce correct connotations of popular slang terms in OWL Chinese streaming,

Dody M.H. Chen | 163
a series of Chinese video clips titled “Tuo nide fu” 󰠩󱱕󱽠 (“Thank you for blessing me”)
were released on social media platforms (Douyin, Weibo) and streamed in OWL Chinese
streaming as promotional videos in the interval since OWL 2021. Although the Weibo versions
(see Figure 2) were originally designed to be viewed on a smartphone, causing some digital
inconsistency and inconvenience for PC users, the videos imply potential ways to spread OW
slang from streaming to other social media. Notably, Chinese localisers seem to notice the
significance of slang localisation between English and Chinese contexts, because the title Tuo
nide fu imitates the format of tuofu 󰠩󱽠 (the Test of English as a Foreign Language). The
slogan of the series is “kan liansai xue danci” 󱳜󲘥󳌬󰄷󳆞, which could be translated as
“learn English vocabulary by watching OWL”.
Figure 2 OWL Tuo nide fu 󰠩󱱕󱽠: mobile view and webpage view on Sina Weibo ,
screenshot taken by the author, 30.08.2020.
Figure 3 shows an episode of Tuo nide fu, wherein “dive”, an English-language slang
term from OW is compared to a Chinese slang item, “fang gou” 󰬏󱢨 (free the dog). “Dive”
and “fang gou” co-exist in the Chinese OW context and OWL streaming. “Dive” is used to
refer to instances when highly mobile characters jump into an opponent’s front line as a dog
might do, echoing fang gou
which could be translated as “release the dogs”. In the Chinese
gaming context, apart from in assassin-like gamers, gou (dog) is used to describe a gamer who
is carefully watching for enemies and being very circumspect about potentially putting
themselves into a situation where they might be at a disadvantage. The term is popular in games
such as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (2012) and League of Legends (2009). The over-
circumspection that such players show in certain in-game actions such taking shelter, hitting
someone through the hole in a door or taking treatment packs can infuriate their fellow gamers.
Insulting expressions such as “ni zhege ren zhen gou” 󳖪󱳰󱢨 (You are really such as
dog) have thus emerged, targeting such players. This could be glossed as “you are a very

164 | British Journal of Chinese Studies
insidious person who interrupts my gameplay enjoyment, shame on you”. Therefore, a direct
comparison between “dive” and “fang gou” may break the neutrality that the strategy described
by the slang term “dive” has, and hence distort the connotations of both slang items. It further
extends the lexical borrowing of concepts between different language contexts (e.g. Daulton,
2012) into the context of gaming.
Figure 3 Game Slang: “dive”. Screenshot from Sina Weibo
(https://weibo.com/6399645614/JDUV29H05), taken by the author, 19.01.2021.
Figure 4, below, shows the special danmu triggering system, which activates to allow
spectators to send an uneditable danmu to Team Paris Eternal 󰏅󴒟󱈉󱫰󳯰,after they had
become the champions of the Summer Showdown tournament in OWL 2020. Although danmu
are usually flexibly editable, in this case, a window pops up showing the message to be sent,
reading “Congratulations to Team Paris! Dong dong dong!” (gongxi bali yongsheng!!! dong
dong dong! 󰘾󰏅󴒟󱈉󱫰), which will close automatically after the danmu
message is sent. “Gongxi Bali yongsheng” means “congratulations to Paris Eternal”, while
“dong dong dong” is an onomatopoetic phrase used in Chinese to imitate the beat of a drum in
the festival or a victory banquet. The mimetic use of “dong dong dong” indicates a Chinese-
rooted creative strategy to increase the sense of belonging of Chinese spectators. Though this
particular danmu was a compliment to a specific OWL team, which itself may attract same-
interest groups and provide a differentiation in the identities of spectators (Strong, 2019), for
spectators, playfully deactivating the ads provides a combination of notifying the audience of
the winner of the tournament (the victory of Team Paris Eternal) and of the reward given for
sending the danmu (100 OWL tokens), reinforcing the OWL brand and psychological
satisfaction of fans (see Altmeyer et al., 2019).

Dody M.H. Chen | 165
Figure 4: the danmu triggering system, screenshot taken by the author, 06.07.2020
Game slang is often adopted by OWL players and shoutcasters in streaming. For OWL
players, due to time constraints and space limits, they tend to use game slang to talk to
teammates through voice chat or to communicate with opponents in text chat. The public text
messages are sometimes streamed by directors and the introduction of the live text
communication may revive and enliven the streaming atmosphere. However, some Chinese
OWL shoutcasters avoid translating English text communications. Figure 5 explains the
reasons for non-localisation of chat messages in streaming. First, the text is too small to capture
under the quick shot transition through the monitor for shoutcasters. Second, the lack of
translation skills on the part of shoutcasters, their distracted attention and the pressure they are
under to perform may influence the results of translation (Dwyer, 2017). Remarkably, the lack
of localisation of the OWL players’ text chat in streaming stimulates fans to participate in fan
translation, an activity inspired by fans’ affinity for creation of fan-made products to feed the
audience (Vazquez-Calvo, 2022). Fans not only translate OWL in-game chat messages but also
translate other audiovisual products that might be of interest to the fandom, such as social media
posts (e.g. Tweet, Insta Story) and news reports. In Figure 6, the Tweets of Eternal players are
localised into Chinese in the format of “Player: Content” on Eternal’s Weibo fan page. Most
game slang terms that originated in English are not localised in the Chinese context. OMG is
an acronym for “oh my god”; “duo” describes a pair of fixed players who always play together;
“GGs” means “good games”; “WTF” is an acronym for “what the fuck”. They suggest lexical
borrowing and English acronyms are frequently used in the Chinese context, and further
indicates fans’ participation in spreading slang terms.

166 | British Journal of Chinese Studies
Figure 5: Game slang in OW text chat in OWL Chinese streaming; screenshot taken by the
author, 20.07.2020.
Figure 6: Fan translation into Chinese of Twe ets sent by Team Paris Eternal players;
screenshots from Sina Weibo (left https://weibo.com/6562805286/J9TRQaT8M; right
https://weibo.com/6562805286/J9VuR3V4U), taken by the author, 06.07.2020.

Dody M.H. Chen | 167
Case Group C: OWL Notes
“OWL notes” refers to the pop-up windows showing OWL statistics in OWL Chinese
streaming. The main source for the statistics is OWL Stats Lab the Blizzard official online
database. 5 Evidence from streaming suggests that Chinese shoutcasters have real-time access
to English-language OWL notes in streaming through their monitors, no earlier than online
spectators.
Both English and Chinese notes appeared in OWL 2021 Chinese streaming. Limited by
the real-time broadcasting of the English streaming source, the English version is normally
replaced with the Chinese translation in a few seconds, but mistranslation and omission remain
prominent issues. In Figure 7, the note above was replaced by the bottom one after
approximately 2 seconds. Although both notes are to commend the Chinese Mercy (a support
hero) player, Li “Yveltal” Xianyao 󰴟󰲭 for his commendable performance, the content of
the Chinese note does not match the English one. Notably, the title of the English note indicates
a famously quotable meme among game communities such as Pokémon GO (2016), and it is
also a Pokémon game line, taking the form “A used B ability! It is super effective!”. Although
no clear clue has been shown linking the source of Li Xianyao’s BattleTag (a player-chosen
nickname for Blizzard games) to the Pokémon mascot “Yveltal”, the English note reflects that
people who recognise “Yveltal” as the name of Li and the name of a Pokémon mascot may
comprehend the in-joke provided by the game line. It also indicates a transmission of the
humorous messages within game communities. Similarly, in Chinese online communities, the
slang term “geng” 󰹨is used to describe widely-accepted jokes that represent a particular
phenomenon or theme, and “wan geng” 󱥺󰹨 (“play geng”) refers to the spread of such jokes
through imitation, association, and quotation. Unfortunately, because of the lack of awareness
of this joke and skills, the Chinese localisation team has not clearly distinguished and localised
the joke made in the original note about Yveltal. The failure to localise the humour here
indicates the potential difficulties in instant localisation of English-language OWL notes.
Figure 7: Chinese and English OWL Notes referencing Yveltal. showing the mismatch
between English original and Chinese translation. Screenshot taken by the author,
21.08.2021.
5 For more information, please see https://overwatchleague.com/en-us/statslab

168 | British Journal of Chinese Studies
The difficulties of localising English notes in turn create a space for innovative Chinese
notes in OWL Chinese streaming. Figure 8 shows two Chinese notes in the battle between
Team Hangzhou Spark and Team Shanghai Dragons in OWL 2021. Tu cao 󰿎, a fansubbing
and subtitling strategy used to embed translators’ humorous comments in subtitles or as
translators’ notes (Zhang, 2013) is adopted. Since Dragons, the champion of OWL Grand Finals
2021, normally perform better than Spark in the seasonal team rankings, the Chinese note in
Figure 8 below reads “The first time since 2019 that… Spark has taken points off the
Dragons …” (Zhe shi Hangzhou shandian dui zi 2019 saiji…diyici zai Shanghai long zhi dui
shou zhong nafen 󳖪󰰀󰴾󰎯󳮻󱬆󳯰󲞻 2019 󳌬󰄴…󲃽󱃲󱍈󴕪󳯰󰠜󰣐), with
the title as “We never expected that you would be seeing this note, so we hadn’t prepared a
title” (Xiangbudao nimen neng kandao zhe yi tiao, suoyi women meiqi biaoti 󰛄󲛎
󱳜󳖪󰴲󰠑󰟢󱉲󳍈󰷘󳹩). The bottom line states “There is not much time left for
the Dragons” (Liugei Shanghai long de shijian yijing buduo le 󱬪󲒪󱍈󴕪󱱕󰯇󳯅󰏃󲒠
) and emphasizes again the unexpected scores.
Figure 8: Chinese OWL Notes in tu cao style, screenshot taken by the author, 23.04.2021.
Case Group D: Game Streaming Programmes
To better attract spectators in the OWL match interval, many different streaming programmes
are offered as part of OWL Chinese streaming (see Table 3). Those with ‘localised’ tags have
been localised from English OWL streaming with pre-edited Chinese subtitles and (optional)
voiceovers, while the ‘innovative’ tag is applied to programmes that have been created by the
Chinese OWL team.
Table 3 OWL Chinese Streaming Programmes
Programme
(Chinese)
Back Tra ns lation
Pre-recorded or
Live
Localised or
Innovative
Description
󳌬󰯇󰴋
OWL Time
Machine
Pre-recorded
Innovative
To introduce famous
gameplay in OWL history

Dody M.H. Chen | 169
and replay game highlights.
Programmes follow certain
themes, such as teamwork,
unexpected kills, or
talented players.
󲘥󳌬󱲢󱌜󲂪
OWL Watch Point
Live
Innovative
To commentate on famous
rounds, give professional
analysis and introduce the
upcoming rounds.
󲘥󳌬󳵇
OWL Shooting
Range
Live
Innovative
This programme is a live
commentary on game
strategy hosted by
shoutcasters and analysts.
They commentate based on
screenshots or un-edited
playback of OWL
gameplay, broadcast
immediately after the round
finishes.
󰟩󰴀󰇠󰡕
OWL Strategy
Notes
Pre-recorded
Innovative
This programme is pre-
recorded and provides
analysis of game strategies,
with a voice-over and
advanced video editing
techniques.
󴂩󰯇
OWL Highlights
Pre-recorded
Localised
To introduce game
highlights on a weekly or
seasonal basis.
󰳽󰳑
OWL Best of the
Week
Pre-recorded
Localised
To introduce game
highlights on a weekly
basis.
󳌬󰙀󰯇󳯅
OWL Time for
Break
Live or pre-
recorded
Innovative
To show the live
performance of
shoutcasters or pre-
recorded promotional
videos in the interval.
󳯰󳆾󳷄
OWL Team Voice
Chat
Pre-recorded
Localised
To show pre-edited
interesting voice chats
between OWL players.
Almost all OWL gameplay and OWL Chinese programmes, localised or innovative, are
uploaded onto the Bilibili OWL programme channel,6 an independent content-sharing platform
that is separate from the Bilibili OWL Chinese streaming room7 and the Bilibili OWL match-
sharing channel.8 However, most innovative Chinese programmes are not uploaded onto OWL
English platforms like YouTube. Potential reasons include English spectators’ distinct language
preferences, cultural backgrounds, unfamiliarity with the OWL Chinese community compared
with the Chinese spectators, and most importantly, ideological factors and censorship laws
(Moskowitz, 2019). On the other hand, there are many localisation loopholes in the Chinese
programmes, which may cause miscomprehension for non-Chinese spectators. For instance,
the OWL Chinese team has not designed an English logo for Liansai jiancezhan 󲘥󳌬󱲢󱌜󲂪
(OWL Watch Point), but they provide an English logo for Saichang shiguangji 󳌬󰯇󰴋
6 For more information, please see https://space.bilibili.com/365902357?spm_id_from=333.337.0.0
7 For more information, please see
https://live.bilibili.com/76?broadcast_type=0&is_room_feed=1&spm_id_from=333.999.0.0
8 For more information, please see https://space.bilibili.com/50333369

170 | British Journal of Chinese Studies
(OWL Time Machine) which reads “OWL Machine Time” (see Figure 9), breaking the more
conventional top-to-bottom reading order. Meanwhile, the content of Saichang xiuxi shijian 󳌬
󰙀󰯇󳯅 (OWL Time for Break) is random, including pre-recorded programmes and live-
streamerd content. The director once streamed the Chinese female shoutcaster Li “Xiaoshuang”
Yongshuang 󰴟󳳭 in this programme while she dozed off at break time. Fan-made
screenshots and videos of Xiaoshuang’s sleepiness (see Figure 10) resulted in heated
discussions concerning her, including compliments, toxic comments, and spoof videos.
Figure 9: OWL Machine Time, otherwise known as OWL Time Machine, screenshot taken by
the author, 06.09.2021.

Dody M.H. Chen | 171
Figure 10: Fan-uploaded recorded streaming clip of Xiaoshuang on Bilibili. screenshot taken
by the author on 13.04.2022.
The lack of messages from Chinese communities in non-Chinese OWL streaming thus
motivates fans to utilise forms of online communication to offer a window by which parallel,
non-Western cultures can reach out to new audiences (Cruz et al., 2021). For instance, a Reddit
post (see Figure 11) introduces the proposal made by Chinese shoutcaster Liu “Roy” Yuanyi
󳖭 to his fiancée, “Xiaoxiao” 󲧸󲧸 in Hangzhou Spark Homestand, a series of games
played at the home field of Team Hangzhou Spark. The fan’s online introduction plays an
important role in conveying messages that are omitted from game streaming and offers a
comparatively neutral and accurate introduction to those involved. This said, it has been noted
in other scholarship that fan activities can sometimes convey the biases of subsections of the
fandom and mistranslations are also possible (Vazquez-Calvo, 2022; Zhang Xiaochun, 2013).

172 | British Journal of Chinese Studies
Figure 11: Fan

s Reddit post on the proposal made by Liu Yuanyi to his fiancée, Xiaoxiao,
screenshot from Reddit, taken by the author, 21.04.2022.
Findings and Discussion
As OWL localisation data is not fully open to the public, most instances are collected through
participatory observation using netnographical methods to examine the forms, content,
localisation strategies and issues surrounding sensitive audiovisual elements in OWL Chinese
streaming. I have no concrete data from which to argue whether these localisation strategies
are born from localisers’ reactions in the moment, or if they are the results of mature
consideration. However, many of the instances examined here echo localisation theories such
as transcreation (e.g. Benetello, 2017), omission (e.g. Zhang Xiaochun, 2012) and cross-media
strategies (e.g. Mangiron, 2018). Meanwhile, two layers of sensitive audiovisual elements of
game streaming can be determined, namely sensitive in-game content and a further layer of
sensitivity derived from video games’ integration into streaming media. The first category
includes erotic images, non-localised in-game speeches, or ideological differences (Zhang
Xiaochun, 2012). This first category of sensitivity rarely occurs in OWL Chinese streaming
due to the strict censorship and the adoption of considerate strategies for video games’
publication and localisation in China (Liao, 2016). Although the English OW interface used in
streaming is an exception to the general care taken over localisation in OWL Chinese streaming,
the details of play are normally introduced by Chinese shoutcasters. In contrast, the second-
type of sensitivity is reflected in a diverse range of examples, including ads, game slang,
streaming notes, and streaming programmes, leading to unique streaming localisation strategies
and issues as follows.
First, game streaming localisation cannot be considered a simple combination of video
game localisation and game streaming. What officials do regarding OWL Chinese streaming
is not exclusive to localising imported audiovisual elements but is instead related to producing
streaming content infused with creativity and innovation. For imported content, they adopt
strategies like literal translation, transcreation, and omission. Due to cultural differences,
personal interpretation and the quality of localisation quality, spectators may self-interpret
localised content. In terms of innovation, Chinese localisers not only create unique Chinese
programmes to deliver local news but also creatively connect popular OW slang and special
localisation techniques such as tu cao to streaming interactions (e.g. danmu, the gift sending
system) to help create a common identity for Chinese spectators. However, such early-stage
innovation, pursued with a lack of experience and foresight, can cause issues. For instance, in
an episode of the innovative streaming programme OWL Time for Break, a fan-created comic
painting depicting sexual intercourse between animals held up by a spectator in the streaming
studio was live-streamed to spectators of all ages. This painting led to a dispute between fans
of Team Chengdu Hunters, who have a panda logo, and Team Seoul Dynasty, whose logo is a
tiger. The incident further exposed the absence of code of conduct for the audience and
streaming workers, echoing the conclusionss of Szablewicz (2016): although China plays an
important role in technological production and digital game culture, the necessary regulations
or laws to regulate the streaming industry are not fully established. Specially, for this instance,
it highlights the lack of an age rating system for this kind of content and the absence of
censorship laws specifically related to streaming content. My findings should spur localisers to
study broadly in pursuit of cross-cultural insight and advanced localisation skills, and to work
towards creating industry norms to guide the establishment of a complete and professional
streaming system.

Dody M.H. Chen | 173
Second, this paper argues that fans contribute to game streaming localisation in diverse
ways. OWL spectators have various personas (Cheung & Huang, 2011). Those with
particularly strong interest can be considered fans, and such individuals will voluntarily post
danmu, take part in streaming lotteries, and conduct cross-media localisation practices like
fanrepost, fantranscript and fansubbing. Fans offer insights that work to remedy information
omitted from game streaming and create fan-based audiovisual products. Their motives vary
from a simple desire to share game news to an enthusiastic appreciation of certain teams or
players. Fan localisation practices co-create a collaborative streaming localisation alongside
the officials managing the formal game tournament environment, as in the live-streamed
proposal. This reflects the importance of fan participation in the game community and further
casts light on the inadequate resources provided for official localisation efforts. Meanwhile,
because fan localisation is usually uncensored and unproofread, their works may contain
mistranslations, omissions, non-translations, and self-interpretations. However, these same
features also disclose unique features in the form of localisation or its content. My findings
suggest that, as an indispensable part of game streaming localisation, fan localisers and their
works should be taken seriously to optimise the impacts of localisation.
Lastly, the unique features of game language, namely game slang, reflected in gamer
communications or shoutcaster commentaries, is observed throughout almost the entire process
of game streaming localisaton. Some slang terms may have previously existed in the video
game environment as a kind of default language, but they can evolve to become part of the
identities of specific players in streaming. Others may be created in streaming as in the case of
Cloud 9, a term now used to describe an unexpected loss. Mixed sources and forms of slang
terms are presented in OWL Chinese streaming in titles, descriptions, and commentaries, which
are then imitated by spectators in what can be considered an online immersive learning
environment through danmu, reposts, and comments. On the one hand, the imported slang
reflects a translingual slang environment in streaming, and the Chinese-rooted slang indicates
unique cultural identities and perceptions. On the other hand, the spread of slang terms via
streaming platforms or social media through official programmes or fan posts implies a new
state for game slang, in which it transcends the limits of specific video games (Strong, 2019).
My findings emphasise the significance of game slang in the online game community and game
streaming localisation, especially when internet communication is one of the dominant forms
of communication within Chinese society and between Chinese citizens and the international
community (Hu & Chen, 2022).
Overall, through the analysis of streaming localisation as in the case of OWL, I
underscore the interdisciplinary nature of game localisation studies, touching on linguistics,
lexicology, translation studies, communication studies and advertising. The results and
findings shed light on game streaming localisation, a nascent research area with great
commercial prospects and academic significance.
Acknowledgments
As the preliminary version of this article was written for my master dissertation, this article
was first drafted during the lockdown in the UK in 2020, accompanied by the hum of gameplay
and game streaming. My favourites so far, Overwatch and Overwatch League, thus have
dramatically born witness to the transformation of a real life game addict into a game
localisation researcher. I am grateful to my supervisors Xiaochun Zhang and Carol O’Sullivan
for their kind indulgence in me as a game streamer, game localiser, and a PhD student. I would
also like to thank Gerda Wielander, Heather Inwood, Hannah Theaker and other anonymous

174 | British Journal of Chinese Studies
peer reviewers for their keen academic suggestions and comprehensive foresight of video
games. I also wish to thank Wango Wang and Emil Lu from the Blizzard Chinese localisation
team for their friendly support. All remaining errors are my own.
Ludography
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (standard edition) (2012), Microsoft Windows [game],
Valve: Bellevue.
FIFA 07 (standard edition) (2006), Microsoft Windows [game], Electronic Arts: Redwood
City.
Honor of Kings (standard edition) (2015), iOS [game], Tencent Games: Shenzhen.
League of Legends (standard edition) (2009), Microsoft Windows [game], Riot Games: Los
Angeles.
NBA Live 07 (standard edition) (2006), Microsoft Windows [game], EA Sports: Redwood City.
Need for Speed: Most Wanted (standard edition) (2005), Microsoft Windows [game],
Electronic Arts: Redwood City.
Overwatch (standard edition) (2016), Microsoft Windows [game], Blizzard Entertainment:
Irvine.
Overwatch 2 (closed beta testing) (2022), Microsoft Windows [game], Blizzard Entertainment:
Irvine.
Pokémon GO (standard edition) (2016), iOS [game], Niantic: San Francisco.
Spacewar! (first edition) (1962), PDP-1 [game], Steve Russell: Cambridge.
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