A Guide to Adapting Your Video Game for Overseas Players [2023]

Gaming is emerging as a lucrative business, and there is a higher demand for video games for both adults and kids. Various mobile video games have already gained virality and global success. These success stories have inspired many companies to create a more resonating and appealing video game experience for global players.

It has become more significant for game companies than ever before to create a personalized game experience for their global audiences. Localization and translation of video games have played a vital role in helping companies achieve that goal. In this article, we’ve provided some guidelines to effectively adapt your game for international markets.

The Global Appeal of Video Games

According to 2021 statistics, there will be around 2.8 billion gamers worldwide. The number has continued to grow remarkably, and more companies are investing money in creating more compelling gaming experiences for their users. Gaming is a lucrative business, and the video game phenomenon is breaking all linguistic and cultural barriers.

Researching Your Overseas Audience

All gaming companies want to capture a global audience to enhance their reach among a large number of players. For this, they must first understand the market and culture.

Analyzing Cultural Differences

Firstly, you need to analyze the key cultural differences between your local market, where the original game was created and launched, and the target market in which you want to release your game. While doing game localization management for any market, you have to be very careful about the cultural nuances. For instance, if you are creating war-themed games that show violence, you need to be careful about launching them in communist countries like China. So, you may need to tone down the whole vibe of the game in those countries.

Market Research Tools and Strategies

You can use market research tools like Google Trends to gather data from the market. You can also use customer online survey tools to collect customer data in a particular marketplace. Many localization project management systems also contain such tools that can help you with market research and data collection.

Localization: Tailoring Your Game for Global Audiences

You have to adapt all aspects of your game to make it more resonant and appealing to the target audience. In this process, you have to modify different designs, text, and technical components of your game.

Language Localization

Language is the most potent component of your game because it deals with your players’ overall understanding of the game. Especially, for the Asian market, where not many people understand and read English, you must translate your game into the local language. From the textual content to the dialogue of game characters, everything should be translated. Using a professional video translation platform, you can easily add subtitles to your game or change the audio to local languages.

Cultural Localization

The appearance of your game plays a major role in optimizing the overall user experience. For that, your UX design should be culturally appropriate. From using the right colors to creating more familiar UI designs, you can help your players easily navigate through the game.

Navigating Legal and Regulatory Considerations

Foreign country regulations and legal constraints also fall under the category of localization. You can’t launch your game in a foreign market unless it goes well with the local regulatory system.

Intellectual Property and Copyright Issues

A game is an intellectual property, and you must secure it and get your copyrights in global markets. Different markets can follow different intellectual property rules, so you may need to recheck your legal proceedings for each market separately. Moreover, your game should comply with international laws and regulations. Otherwise, you may face legal penalties in a foreign market. It will not just spoil your reputation but also put you in huge trouble.

UX Design and Customer Support for Global Gamers

The design of your game is the first thing that a player notices, and it has a lasting impact on their game experience. So, you must be careful about your players’ overall journey with the game.

Ensuring Seamless Gameplay and User Interface

No element in your game should be confusing for your players because it’ll create ambiguity that affects their game experience. The navigation and overall formatting of the game should be redesigned to appease the target customers in a foreign marketplace. A seamless and user-friendly interface allows the user to smoothly navigate through the game and understand all game features and elements more quickly.

Providing Multilingual Customer Support

Your customer representative should be available all the time to assist players who are having issues with game installation, playing it, or understanding the instructions. It will be even better if your customer representative is multilingual. It’ll make him talk to your customers with more fluency and help them more effectively.

Final Words

Your video game can be a profitable business in a foreign market if you know how to adapt it to a global audience. From translations to re-designing the game elements, everything contributes to creating a more pleasant game experience for overseas players. So, gaming companies must get their localization strategy right to make good revenue in a foreign marketplace.