Asia has a very strong gaming culture. It accounts for 30% of the revenue from video games around the world. People of all ages like to play games. The disposable income of people is increasing so they are spending more money on game entertainment. Because of internet proliferation, you can find people playing video games in different waiting areas. 

The gaming industry possesses great opportunities for game developers because there is a high demand for video games in the market. To release the games in the foreign market, your game must resonate with the culture of the target market. Here game translation management tools can be of great help. 

Why Go For Game Localization?

Do you know that 64% of households in North America have a video game console? America has a very diverse culture. People in America speak different languages other than English in personal settings. So avid gamers want to play games that are translated into their native language using machine translation software. This provides ample opportunities for game developers to release the games in the language that people understand. At present, releasing the games in English format for non-native English speakers has produced very devastating results. Therefore, find professional translator is very important. They can localize the game according to regional and cultural intricacies. Many games in the world have been banned because they contain such elements that are not accepted in other countries. 

Let’s have a look at examples of properly localized games

• The winemaking mini-game is changed to a Juicy party. 
• Alcohol is forbidden in many countries. Therefore, in the localization process, it is given the name of juice. 
• Gay relationships are changed with the word ‘friendship’ as such relationships are not legal in most countries. For example, Indonesia follows strict LGBT laws.  Many characters are also renamed. For example, Final Fantasy 9 by Square Enix. In its regional version, the name Zidane is changed in the French, Italian, and Spanish versions to Djidane, Gidan, and Yitan respectively. It was done to remove the confusion between the football superstar Zinedine and Zidane. 

Gaming Market In China 

China is the largest video game translation and localization market in the entire world. This country has a very diverse culture; therefore, you need to follow game localization preferences. China has been in the top 8th rank in the PC gaming market for consecutive 8 years. Let’s dive into the Statistics of China’s gaming industry.

• Revenue from the Video game is expected to reach US$93.20bn this year
• The profit in the gaming industry is growing at a rate of 9.62%. Therefore, it is predicted that the gaming market will increase its volume to US$134.50bn by 2027. 
• The number of video game users is expected to grow by 844.6m users by 2027. 
• The largest gaming segment in the gaming industry  is mobile games with a value of $41.37bn

Gaming Market in Japan 

Japan has the most influential gaming market in the world. With a population of  127 million, more than 103 million people are avid game players. According to the survey,  80 million play video games on consoles whereas 90% of players play games on smartphones. You will be amazed to know that mobile game downloads in Japan are 5 times higher than in the US. Therefore, if you want to release a game in Japan then you must go for game translation services to entice people to download games and play. 

Japanese game developers are dominating the mobile market and 90% of the market revenue belongs to Japanese companies. The top 10 mobile games are generating 50% of the entire mobile game revenue. The interesting thing to note about Japan is that it is the largest exporter of video game translation and localization in the Asian markets.

Gaming Market in Korea 

The gaming industry in Korea has become stronger with each passing year. South Korea is one of the top gaming countries in the world. Surprisingly, it is the 4th largest market for video games. 

In addition, it is also known as the Esports capital of the world. South Korean people are very tech-savvy, which makes people fond of playing video games on the high-speed internet. With the growth in  IT infrastructure, the gaming market is also growing. The Korean gaming industry’s worth will reach $25.86 trillion in 2024. 

Do you know that Korea is also one of the largest producers of mobile games? It spends around $1 million on game production. Although the size of Korean mobile gaming is smaller than the USA and China, per-person spending on mobile games is high. 

Wrapping Up 

Before penetrating any foreign market, you must know the market dynamics and then invest in game translation and localization services. For gigantic gaming markets like China, Japan, and Korea, you can get assistance from professional translation agencies that provide impeccable gaming translation and localization services. In this way, you can provide avid gamers with a pleasant and immersive gaming experience.  Are you ready to localize games for Asian markets?