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Article published In:
Game Localisation
Edited by Xiaochun Zhang and Samuel Strong
[The Journal of Internationalization and Localization 4:2] 2017
► pp. 120–140

On the sociolinguistics of video games localisation

Localising games into minority languages in Spain

| University of Oviedo

This paper addresses the localization of video games into minority languages by presenting a qualitative study which reports on interviews with professional game localizers and translation scholars from bilingual territories in Spain: the Balearic Islands, the Basque Country, Catalonia, Galicia, and the Valencian Community. The article argues that sociolinguistics has been largely ignored within the emerging field of video game translation, and the implications of and the need to adapt video games into minority languages deserves further investigation. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were held with 5 experts aiming to recall their perceptions and views of the current situation of game localisation in Spain. The analysis of the interviews suggests there is a mismatch between the current reality of video game localisation, which is clearly market-driven, and the scenario for language diversity developed in the European Union and in Spain in the last few decades.

Keywords: video game localization, translation studies, sociolinguistics, multilingualism, Fire language diversity
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Theoretical framework: The sociolinguistics of video games
    • 2.1Language diversity in Spain
    • 2.2Video games localisation in Spain
  • 3.Methodology
    • 3.1Participants
    • 3.2Method
  • 4.Case study: Game localisation into co-official languages in Spain
    • 4.1Situation of game localisation in Basque, Catalan, and Galician
    • 4.2Availability of resources and possibilities for localising games into co-official languages
    • 4.3Suitability of localising games in co-official languages
  • 5.Discussion: No demand, no supply
  • 6.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Bibliography
Published online: 26 January 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jial.00001.fer
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