It’s difficult for anyone to forget what African game developers did two years ago!
In December 2018, they met in Cape Town to discuss how to make sure anyone can make games, no matter who they are!
They were right. Let’s take South Africa as an example. The country’s gaming industry has been increasingly rising over the years, with South Africa’s video games market currently on a strong growth trajectory.
Significantly, during the Cape Town event and beyond, analysts have consistently been discussing the vital importance of a specific service ─ GAME LOCALIZATION. So, what on earth is it?
What is Video Game Localization?
Game localization is the adaptation of your game for global markets. So, why should you do it?
Simply because the majority of gamers in Africa and across the globe won’t download your game unless it has been translated and localized in their mother tongue.
And what else?
What Are the Benefits of Game Localization?
Today, the entire video game localization industry is different.
In a world that presently looks like a small village, Game Developers have to remember that their prospective customers ─ across South Africa’s multiple languages and cultures ─ are now out there capable of accessing their wonderful video games on their mobile phones, PCs, online and across social media platforms.
So here it is. Gamers are everywhere around you – waiting for you to reach out to them. And remember that video game localization is the thrilling password that will open everything to you!
So, what are the benefits of this magic service? Let’s dive deeper.
First – An Awesome Way to Boost Sales
Let’s talk frankly. As a business-minded programmer, you need to smartly calculate things. You’ll be launching your game product in English, targeting English-speaking gamers? Wow! This is great. Yet, don’t forget that facts on the ground are defying your shortsighted plan!
Take South Africa. English is the sixth most common language spoken inside of South African households at 8.1%, while as of 2018 the languages that are most commonly spoken by people inside of the country’s households were isiZulu at 25.3%, isiXhosa at 14.8 %, and Afrikaans at 12.2% So, Mr. Game Developer in South Africa, do you wish to miss out on about 92% of your potential market if you insist on launching your game in English only?!
Fact is, your prospective customers are out there waiting for your game product to be translated and localized into IsiZulu, isiXhosa, Sesotho sa Leboa, Setswana, Sesotho, Xitsonga, siSwati, Tshivenda, isiNdebele, and other languages.
Since those gamers are eager to have your product adapted in their multiple mother tongues and matching their multiple cultures while you, at the same time, feel a longing for their Rands, you’ve got to admit it. You will increase your sales by increasing your market base via Game localization!
Second – A Guaranteed Method for Increasing Downloads
So, you wish to increase your game sales? Okay. The only way is to increase downloads, and to do this you have a single pathway ─ to localize your product. In other words, you’ve got to make it possible for gamers who speak more than 11 languages in South Africa to download your game, love it, and recommend it to others.
This is in South Africa, and if you want to expand your game into the market of Kenya, it’s a must that you localize into Swahili, Gikuyu, Oluluyia, Dholuo, Kalenjin, and other languages that are spoken in the 50-million-person country. And so on and so forth.
Third – It Gives Your Customers Satisfaction!
As your customers are the most important part of the whole thing, let me stress that game localization is something that will certainly make them happy and satisfied. Put yourself in their shoes and see things from their perspective!
What happens when you, as a gamer in a remote town in South Africa, find the gaming interface localized in isiZulu and also find your traditions and customs respected in the course of playing the game? What if the game designer and developer has put YOUR GAMING EXPERIENCE at the forefront? What if you find that they have customized the entire user experience to match your tastes, likings, and even your flights of fancy?
This is what game localization is doing. It makes your customers feel important, and it pays off!
Fourth – You’ll Outsmart the Competition!
Whether you adopt a proactive approach or a reactive one, you’ll do it! You may take things into your hands by choosing the geographic markets you’ll be targeting, the languages you’ll localize into. Or, you might wait until you get hints from this or that market that gamers out there want to download your game and would love it. In both cases, proactive or reactive, you’ll stay competitive.
With this said, we still need to ask what your provider of video game localization services can do. Or, to put it differently, what can we do at AfroLingo?
How Can AfroLingo Help?
At AfroLingo Translation Agency, our job is clear. We understand how exciting your game is, and we join hands with you to provide the most thrilling gaming experience for your game users.
In other words, you just focus on perfectly developing the game and leave the entire localization job to us ─ from Content Translation to Script Localization, UI Localization, and other aspects that will turn your product into the game of choice for all users everywhere.
Contact us NOW for your free quote
