Why Localize Video Games for China
The Chinese game market is enormous. The sales generated from this market are one-fourth of the global game market. Do you want to release your games in this lucrative market?
People tend to download games that are in their native language. But translation is not beneficial if not provided according to the tone that customers understand.
To tap into China’s market and release your game, you must go for translation and professional video game localization services. This can make your video games resonate with the target market and people will prefer to download and play your games.
For this, you have to research so that you can develop and launch games successfully according to China’s market dynamics.
The Chinese Market
For tapping into the Chinese market, you must understand the dynamics of the Chinese market. The Chinese gaming market will continue to grow, and it is expected that it will reach up to 469.77 billion by 2023.
Smartphone proliferation in China is very high. Did you know that smartphone penetration in China accounts for 25% of the entire world? Chinese people spent half an hour or more a day playing games.
Due to the proliferation of smartphones and the infrastructure that is supporting them, the demand for smartphones and tablets is high.
Even people love to play games on mobile apps like WeChat. So if you want to release any app in China, then you must go for android app localization services, so that your app can support the games.
In this way, you can cater to 900 million Chinese smartphone users that are increasing more with time. Localizing the android apps and video games should be a part of your marketing strategy if you want success in China.
Famous Games and Publishers in China
Do you know that Tencent is the most popular game in China? Dated back to 2015, Tencent developed 29 of the top 100 grossing android games and 59 iOS games.
The second-largest mobile publisher is NetEase. Moreover, PerfectWorld is also the top game publisher in China. Many Western game publishers are also gaining success in China.
Mojang, Supercell, and Blizzard are using Android app stores, and they are also key players in China.
As a game developer, you must be wondering what type of games are liked by Chinese people.
The answer is that they enjoy shooting games. Moreover, they also have a taste of puzzles, racing, and venture games. The important thing to note is that they enjoy creativity.
Therefore, to inculcate creativity in games, the game developers should go for game localization services. They should localize the game in such a way that it resonates with the target market.
People of China love playing games like puzzles, casual, adventurous, and games full of action on PCs and consoles.
You must develop such types of games and hire a professional translation agency that can provide you with expert Chinese translation services.
These services will make the playing experience enjoyable for the gamers. They will understand what to do next in the game and develop an interest in it.
Diversified Games
People of China like to play games on their mobile devices, but to get success in the China market, you should bring diversification in games.
For this reason, the game giant Tencent has started diversification in its games. For instance, Tencent provides both mobile gaming and browsing gaming.
If you want to hit the target market of China, then you must coordinate with local players.
They will make you understand how to fulfill the legal requirements before tapping into the China market.
Game Localization in Chinese Market
Foreign game developers, if they want to tap into the Chinese game market, not only have to translate their games but also go for game localization services.
The translation is about translating the game from one language to another, and localization is one step ahead. Game localization makes your games resonate with the cultural and regional nuances.
With these services, you cannot think of entering and getting success in such an enormous gaming market. Game localization for foreign game developers is a challenging task.
If you know the challenges before, then you can remove the barriers to entry in China.
Understanding the Different Variations and Dialects of Chinese Language
One of the main challenges is to understand different variants and forms of the Chinese language. It is spoken in a hundred dialects. These dialects are entirely different from the Western world.
For instance, English also has different dialects but the person who speaks any dialect of English can understand other dialects easily.
Contrary to this, Chinese language dialects are entirely different from each other. The person speaking one dialect cannot understand another Chinese dialect. To solve this issue, linguists have categorized these dialects into 10 major categories.
The major dialect is Mandarin, which is the official language in China. To your surprise, within Mandarin, different dialects are spoken which are not understood by the people from any other location.
Cantonese is also widely spoken, but with minor differences. Cantonese spoken in Hong Kong is different from Cantonese spoken in China. Therefore, for game localization services for the Chinese market, the game translator should consider the region for which they are translating their game.
Usually, voice-overs are done in Cantonese and Mandarin but to provide an impeccable gaming experience to the gamers, these languages should be altered for the region.
Simplified Chinese is mainly used in Mainland China. The interesting thing is that traditional Chinese is used to represent words that are pronounced in the same way but have distant meanings.
When we talk about traditional Chinese, then it is mainly used in Hong Kong and Taiwan. It is used with variations between the traditional Chinese in each region.
Culture
Game localization involves cultural sensitivity. Games that involve Chinese stories, poetry, and myths gain more great popularity in China.
One unique game which is successful in China is Dou Dizhu. It was translated as Fighting the Landlord. This game depicts the struggle of Chinese people during the Cultural Revolution.
To release your game in China, you must fulfill the legal requirements of the government. The important thing to note is that games related to fights and blood are banned in China.
You must be wondering, how to go for game localization in adventurous games. For this, the designer can include blood in the game with a different color.
Wrapping Up
While going for game localization services, game developers should use the correct written and spoken form of the Chinese language.
This is because Chinese variants used in different regions are not only different, but it depicts different intended messages. Whether you want Chinese translation services in only one dialect or more than one dialect, it all depends upon your expansion goals.
Many developers choose Simplified Chinese because they want to target the massive population of mainland China, and those developers that want to release games in Taiwan and Hong Kong go for traditional Chinese services. In which language do you want to localize your game?
