Translation is a challenging and tricky process. Getting it right according to the niche and subject is crucial and often gets difficult for the people involved. Gaming translation is one such aspect of translation. Taking the right people on board is important. Or else it can ruin all efforts. Moreover, the translation of the games needs to be accurate and of good quality. Many game developers are reluctant to work on gaming content and collaborate for gaming translation because of the complexities this process involves and the relatively higher price.
It is important to hire gaming translation services after doing proper research, homework, and recce. A lot of things only get clear when you start digging out the relevant details beforehand rather than getting stuck in complexities during the translation process. A thorough financial plan for the process is also important to consider a good language service provider. Also, you should make sure that the quality is maintained.
A few of the strategies that can help you achieve this balance of cost and quality are mentioned below.
Prioritize core languages
First of all, make sure that you are sorted about the selection of your core languages. Not many developers and gaming companies understand that the price and quality may vary with the language pair. The results of accuracy and precision may vary with different languages. A lot of language pairs demand highly paid translators. Therefore, you must prioritize your core languages before the final selection. You may focus on the translation of the languages that represent your target markets with the highest potential user base. You can expand gradually and add more language as you manage your resources. However, initially, to strike the balance between quality and price, it is important to define preferences.
Identify your needs
Once you are clear with the language selection, you need to sort out your needs. Working on your expectations from your LSP will help you have a better gaming translation package for relatively less money. However, if you keep adding things during the translation process, it can exhaust the translation team and can make them change the overall content frequently. It not only makes the team confused but naturally increases your expenses too. So make sure that you convey your gaming translation needs in advance and transparently to have a quality result at a reasonable price.
Strategic use of machine tools
Game translation comprises a lot of repetitive content which may include frequent use of phrases and idioms. For such content, it is recommended to use the machine translation smartly. Using the CAT tools strategically can help you to save some money while maintaining the quality. The content such as user interface elements as well as initial drafts and the content required for disclaimers and pop-ups can be translated initially from the machine. Moreover, it is important to be mindful of the human post-editing factors to ensure that there is the right amount of accuracy, fluency as well as cultural appropriateness in the content according to targeted audiences and languages.
Opt for Open-source and community translation
To save money and take care of the quality you can also opt for open source and community translation. You should explore the open source translation platforms. You can also collaborate with online translators and the places that they have made to work on quality while spending minimal expenses. Going for open-source and community translation often turns out to be a cost-effective option for content that is less critical in a game. However, you have to keep the quality control in any case as that is something that can not be ignored. Opting for a professional translation company can also do the job. Many translation agencies offer customized and exclusive packages for game developers to help them expand their operations without thinking a lot about their expenses.
Work on glossary management
The gaming translation is a complex job and contains a lot of technical industry jargon and words that are often difficult to maintain. Make sure that you develop a comprehensive glossary of the technical terms related to the games and software. Managing your terminology ensures accuracy and precision. It helps reduce the overall cost of translation across all projects. Glossary management can help in multiple ways. It not only cuts down the expenses but also makes the translation process swift for the whole team by providing the standard and uniform translation solution of complex gaming terminology such as AFK, aggro, aimbot, 360 no scope, zoning, etc.
Focus on long-term investment
Gaming translation is indeed a draining process financially as well as technically. However, acing it professionally can bring you many positive outcomes with better revenue generation. Hence as a game developer, you should focus on long-term investment. The initial costs can make you stumble once however looking at the multilingual translation as a long-term investment can keep you motivated in the long run and help you enjoy global success. It helps with a greater potential return on investment in terms of user acquisition. The marketing share can also be substantial. Moreover, considering the gaming arena a billion-dollar industry now, it has become inevitable to opt for gaming translation services, or else you can miss a huge potential user base.
Conclusion
Gaming translation has become important for gaming companies and distributors. However, many game developers have to step back due to relatively higher expenses. It is important to consider a few smart strategies for cost-effective gaming translation rather than stepping back. These include prioritizing core languages, identifying needs, strategic use of machine tools with managing glossary, and focusing on long-term investment.
