Game localization is a key issue in the industry. Developers and publishers strive to expand their audience to increase sales, and users get the opportunity to get acquainted with interesting projects in their native language. If we talk about Russia, statistics unambiguously show that the fact of localization is of great importance – the new products presented exclusively in English are sold much worse in our country and are usually focused on a narrow layer of enthusiasts.
The number of localizations for Russia is increasing every year. And if the average user is always happy with the very fact of translating the game into Russian, the most enthusiastic part of the community often argues about localized names and finds inaccuracies in the texts. Sometimes insignificant and sometimes extremely controversial and challenging questions.
How are games translated on consoles? Where do mistakes and non-existent words come from? These and other questions on request GameMAG.ru commented Taimas Timezhanov, Deputy Head of the Quality Control Department “TransLink“- one of the largest linguistic companies in Russia, which has long and successfully worked with game manufacturers.
Taimas, good afternoon! Let’s go from afar: where does it all start?
Good afternoon. It starts with the fact that customers send the project team an archive with all the materials. This package is called “lockit” in our slang. It contains both localization files and reference materials to help translators understand the intricacies of the game.
It is advisable to provide localizers with access to the game itself and several profiles so that they can play and see what they are localizing. The literacy of the translation largely depends on how much the translator’s hands and eyes are untied. The first depends on the terms of reference. The second – from the ability to go through individual fragments of the games ourselves and see the necessary words and phrases.
Are the developers following the progress of the project or do they rely entirely on linguists?
Usually, as part of the localization of a project, a team of translators, editors, proofreaders and representatives of developers is assembled. Every week a team meeting is held to discuss the progress of work.
Ideally, developers are given access to the linguistic team’s work environment. These are CAT programs (Computer-Assisted Translation), which allow you to quickly and efficiently translate more volumes of information. In fact, SAT is an interface with a wide range of tools.
By working with translators on the same platform, game creators can quickly respond to problems along the way, comment on individual pieces of translation, and monitor quality and deadlines.
Obviously technology allows you to do everything at its best. But then why are there often mistakes and inaccuracies in Russian versions?
In fact, the time of frankly sloppy translations, fortunately, is over, and quite a long time ago. I think everyone remembers the terrifying localization of the popular “adventure games” of the 2000s. However, over the past few years, I personally have not seen anything like it.
In general, only gamers participate in game projects. For example, for people not from our database, which is already quite impressive, given the more than 15-year history of the company, the first stage of screening is specialization in the resume.
If, in addition to gaming projects, the translator has heaps of other directions separated by commas, this is immediately in the trash can. As well as the lack of a large number of localization projects in general.
In general, game manufacturers usually cooperate with linguistic companies for a long time and fruitfully, therefore, if a Russian-language release turns out to be raw, the problems usually lie much deeper and not so obvious.
Can you tell us more about this?
Sure. These can be purely organizational issues. For example, the development team has changed.
It happens that for a long time everything was good, connections were built. But with the arrival of new people, work can go downhill, there is no synergy. As a result, many mutual claims arise that cannot but affect the product.
Or they involve several contractors. It happens that the developer does not meet the deadline, and the contractor company is not ready to complete the work on time. Then several contractors are involved. Effective synchronization of glossaries – these are mainly the names of characters, “gear”, locations and other elements – is unlikely, so in the end the finalization falls on the shoulders of the developers. Considering the urgent time frame, the result will not be long in coming.
There are also too tight deadlines and the contractor’s unwillingness to admit the impossibility of high-quality execution on time or fear of losing the order. Then the project is thwarted at the last stages. For example, when a contractor promises to increase the volume over time, by the middle of the project, the failure of the promise becomes clear, and the transfer of the project to another contractor is no longer possible. Then the release of the game turns out to be super-raw, and users get room for creativity in the field of memes.
The project may not contain at all or poor LQA. This is the stage of localization, when the translated elements fall into place, and you need to “click” the whole game to make sure that you understand the context of each individual episode correctly. If the LQA is bad, the buttons in the first releases of localized games may look much more unsightly than the original ones. The length of words in the same Russian is longer, therefore, in addition to replacing the text itself, you need to change the size and shape of a button or even a whole panel, or play with the laconicism of the proposed replacement so that everything fits in size as needed.
That is, in essence, absurdities arise not because of translators as such? And we are used to blaming everything on your brother.
In fact, linguists can play a role too. Some translators are unable to accurately convey a beautiful name in another language, despite experience and regalia. In an attempt to do this somehow, they tighten the noose around the neck of both their own and the project even tighter. This is partly why we sometimes see unfortunate movie titles, when the original message is completely lost in the pursuit of the attractiveness of the title. As a recent example, albeit not from games: “My Creator” – Archive. It would be difficult to come up with a more inappropriate interpretation, in my opinion.
But I will make an amendment, in some cases the distortion of the name may be “tricks” of marketers. In games, this is not as pronounced as in the same film industry. For example, World War Z. Well, who will be interested in some kind of “World War Z” when you can call the work “War of the Worlds”, evoking the feeling of the beginning of a certain franchise on a cult history? After all, few people will investigate and double-check the compatibility of storylines.
How are decisions about styling localized text made? For example, how do the translators try to act if the character may have Shakespearean theatricality or some other form of non-standard saying in the original material?
Translators try to repeat the style of the source. And in order for the correct performer to work on the project, at the very beginning the whole group, at the request of the customer, makes a test translation. Usually this is some kind of medium-length dialogue and a list of “gear” or locations. According to the style, the customer selects the ones he likes.
Sometimes there are poems or songs in games. For example, in Dragon Age: Inquisition or The Witcher series. How is the translation of such literary things done?
It all depends on the technical specifications and the wishes of the customer. Collecting a poem anew is a much more creative task, “subtle matters” interfere in the matter. Time for a quatrain can take more than one day. The cost of such a transcreation, accordingly, will be much higher than a good translation without preserving rhythm and rhymes. If the customer is ready to change the time and financial framework, we, without a doubt, do the job. In this case, of course, only the general mood and general meaning remain of the original text, and often not line by line.
How are things with Anglicisms? How often are they used in localization? Are there any guidelines not to use Englishism and replace it with Russian synonyms?
If there are no clear instructions from customers, translators choose the most used words and phrases. However, in any case, during the project, the customer sees all the terminology and can intervene and point out the correct options. In Russia, the idea of protecting the native language is not yet widespread, and even less so, it has not taken on such proportions as, for example, in France, where any media publications are monitored by a special “linguistic” body and control the use of native French synonyms. Probably, it is right to observe the purity of the native language. However, the lexicon of the average gamer is far from literary and pure Russian. We are consumer-oriented.
In what cases do translators understand that it is better to come up with their own text that is appropriate in meaning than to translate literally?
This is one of the methods of translation, it is called transcreation. A good translator must have this skill.
Usually their translation is offered when in the original there is a large proportion of pun or ambiguity in the names or phrases that representatives of the culture of the language can understand this way and that.
Moreover, it is transcreation in most cases that is much more adequate than an attempt to translate literally, especially in the case of insufficient understanding of the context and / or jargon. A striking example is the title of the cult action movie and game Blade Runner. The correct descriptive translation is one who wields a knife. Translation taking into account the jargon used in the original – murderer, thug, liquidator, butcher in the end. Considering the style of the film, probably the best option would be “liquidator”. But Blade Runner ?! The creators of the game turned out to be more competent: they did not translate its name at all, despite the cult status of the film and the unconditional guessability of the Russian name in the CIS.
How are made-up words translated? For example, the names of mythical animals or weapons that have no analogues.
Here transcreation is turned on again. In some cases, we transcribe and adapt a foreign word for Russian grammar, in others, we ourselves come up with an equally intricate analogue. The first is preferable, but there are many factors here: how the original word sounds for a Russian person, how easy / difficult it is to pronounce it, how the sound changes when adapting to our pronunciation, are there any unwanted associations with similar sounding words. After all, certain problems may arise. For example, I immediately remember the name of the famous team in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Etherial. I sympathize with everyone: both those who speak English well and who are sincerely misunderstood when pronouncing the name, and those who hear this set of strange sounds and cannot form a word out of it. When used in the English-speaking environment, there are no questions, this is a quite common term that can be translated as “ethereal”, “unearthly”. But for the Russian ear it sounds wild. To prevent this from happening, we often resort to transcreation.
Obviously, you yourself are an avid gamer. Can you tell us about your favorite genres, games, what you are playing now and what releases are you expecting from the developers in the near future?
The entire series of The Elder Scrolls, although I started getting to know it quite late, from Oblivion. No matter how fashionable it is to scold the same “Skyrim” in the midst of true gamers for pop or obsolescence already at the time of release, I’m looking forward to the next part.
Taimas, thank you for the informative conversation! We will be glad to see you again in our editorial office!
Thanks for the invitation. See you in the vastness of the Motherland and the Internet! Hopefully new releases with our team will be a success with the community.
At the end of 2019, TransLink is among the five largest translation companies in Russia and the top 100 in the world ranking. Over the past decade, the localization division of TransLink has been a permanent participant in large-scale gaming projects. His portfolio includes Mafia III, Bless, Icarus, Impact Winter, Burning Blood and many others. Today, the company’s division is among the most actively developing in its direction and takes part in projects 101xp, PlayMe8, Blizzard and other game producers.
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