Article published In: Digital Translation
Vol. 13:2 (2026) ► pp.103–124

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Machine and AI translation for English-to-Korean game translation

A comparative analysis of Papago, Google Translate, DeepL, and ChatGPT

ORCiD logo with link | Sookmyung Women’s University
 | Sejong University
 | Daeshin University
Published online: 9 July 2026
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/dt.25012.kim
Abstract
This study examines the performance of various machine translation (MT) systems and a generative AI (GenAI) translation in the context of game text translation using data from the popular racing game Need for Speed: Unbound (Criterion Games. 2022. Need for Speed: Unbound. Electronic Arts.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). Focusing on factors such as ambiguity, contextual disambiguation, stylistic variations, domain specific knowledge, and technical entities (e.g. placeholders), the analysis compares human translations with outputs from Google Translate, DeepL, Papago, and ChatGPT. Three representative examples from a game script are examined, revealing that while MT and GenAI systems can preserve lexical content, they often fail to capture critical nuances and contextual meanings that are crucial for interactive gaming environments. The findings highlight the need for integrating additional contextual information and domain-specific post-editing to improve MT and GenAI translation quality for translated game texts, contributing to the broader discussion on enhancing interactive media translation.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Studies in game text machine translation
  • 3.Methodology
    • 3.1Data collection and analysis procedures
    • 3.2Categorizing machine translation challenges for game text
      • Ambiguity
      • Contextual disambiguation
      • Stylistic variation
      • Domain specific knowledge
      • Technical entities (placeholders)
  • 4.Findings
    • 4.1Ambiguity challenges
    • 4.2Contextual disambiguation challenges
    • 4.3Stylistic variation challenges
    • 4.4Domain specific knowledge challenges
    • 4.5Technical entities (placeholders) challenges
  • 5.Conclusion
    • 5.1Overview of findings
    • 5.2Implications and future research
    • 5.3Concluding remarks
  • Translation Tools
  • References
  • Games
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