Do you know that the culture of Arab is entirely different from the West? You can witness this difference in daily life and also in games. If you are a game developer and want to release your game in Arab countries, then apart from video game translation, you must localize your game so that it can resonate with the Arab culture. Therefore, many gaming companies are taking the assistance of professional translation company for video game translation and localization services.
Arab Countries Give More Importance to Religion
When we talk about the Arab world, the region that can come to our mind is the Middle East. In the Middle East, people give great preference to their religion. As alcohol is banned in their religion, video games containing alcohol and violence are banned in Arab countries. Western gaming companies that want to release their games in Arab countries often go for localization services to resonate the game with the target audience.
Cultural Nuances
Campbell revealed that many video game companies do not pay attention to this cultural difference. Many companies launch the English version of game content with violence and alcohol. These games do not resonate with Muslim and Arabic cultures. To release the game successfully in the Muslim world, gaming companies should avoid content that goes against the Arab people’s beliefs.
Campbell further narrated that Arabic consumers liked to play games in the English language. However, many gaming companies are also focusing on developing games in the Arabic language.
If they are unable to develop the game in the Arabic language, then no worries. They can easily go for video game translation services. In the FIFA world cup, many teams have taken the assistance of translation companies to mitigate the communication barriers. You will be surprised to know that the worth of the gaming market in Arab countries is 1 billion US dollars.
Games need to be Localized and Culturized For the Arabic Market
Arabic consumers look at the games differently from their Western counterparts. This shows that games need not be localized only. However, they also have to be culturalized. Do you know that people that read Arabic read from right to left? Therefore they use the navigation buttons from right to left too.
Creating a mirror image of the game is not enough. Surprisingly, many Arabic avid gamers are used to reading games from left to right. This is because they are used to playing games in the English language for a long period. Thus one school of thought believes that if games are not translated, then they can sell games well. On the contrary, Arabic might be more suitable for certain games, such as children’s games. The Smurfs game, when translated into Arabic version has higher sales than the game in the Arabic language.
People Love to Play in their Native Language
The market of people that want to play games in their native language is very large and saturated. The important thing to note about the Arabic market is that this market is further segregated into small markets. This is because Arabic is spoken in different dialects in each region.
Therefore localizing the game from the Arabic market into formal Arabic can ruin the theme of the original game. The game developers should take the Arabic culture into account before going for localization and Arabic translation services. The content related to alcohol and characters with inappropriate outfits needs to be omitted. If the game contains too inappropriate characters and content, then they should not be released in the Arabic World.
Availability of Games Differs According to the Arab Country
The games available in each Arab country are different. For instance, Egypt has less strict rules than Saudi Arabia. However, the truth is that games opt for black markets to go for illegal games such as God of War and Grand Theft Auto. The people of Arab are of the view that the Middle East has a flourishing import culture. Many game stores sell games that are imported from Japan and the United States without looking at their content. When the government comes across such games, the game stores give bribes to the officials and then sell the game.
The Middle Eastern and Western gaming markets look entirely different, but when you have experience living with both cultures, then you will find out that these cultures have more similarities than differences. Teenagers and adults both love to play games in both cultures. Do you know that half of the Middle East population is under the age of 25? Therefore, it is a lucrative market for game developers
Localizing Games for Arabic-speaking Markets
There are many reasons for localizing the game for Arabic-speaking markets. The first reason is it is growing at an exponential speed. The statistics reveal that several Arab players will grow from $4.8 billion to $6.8 billion by 2025. The market growth is driven by the spending habits of millennials and the proliferation of online and mobile channels. Arab gamers like to spend more on video games. In addition to it, Arabic-speaking gamers follow a language game in different dialects of the Arabic language according to their region.
Wrapping Up
A game is developed after the hard work of developers and their teams. What is the use of the game if it is unable to entertain the people in the language that they understand? This video game localization is very important to hit the Arab markets. To release the game in the Arabic market, you must take the assistance of professional translation agencies. The translation company can mitigate the barriers to entry into the Arab world.