As your game experiences some momentum, you may feel it’s time to begin localising it for other markets. Localising your game into the key languages that will be most profitable takes some consideration. Here’s how you can choose the right language to localise your game for international players.

Why Do You Need Game Localisation?

You’ll find that through the localisation of your game, more users will be able to experience it to its full capacity. It will increase the user experience and prevent gamers in other countries from feeling left out. The ability to localise to a particular part of the world may influence your customers’ decision to purchase your game over your English competitors.

With English being the primary spoken language, there is a large portion of English-speaking gamers that play all their games without the need for localisation. You need to determine if localising your game makes sense for all markets that you are looking to hit or if you can continue to reach gamers with an English-only version.

What Should Game Localisation Include?

The cost to localise your game varies by service, and you need to ensure you are getting additional add-ons such as SEO and translations for advertising, apps, and social media. Without the localisation of these texts, your game will have little impact on the gamers you intend to reach. If your customers demand localisation of a game, they will also require it to be informed about its existence through these media sources.

Top Languages To Consider For Your Game Localisation

There are seven primary languages that game developers need to consider for their game localisation.

  • Russian: Russian provides a huge opportunity with plenty of potential in a country with a large population of gamers. Russian players prefer PC games and localising for this market is a must if you think your game will be successful with its players.
  • Chinese: China is another strong market that definitely needs game localisation. This heavily populated country has little access to localised games, and your offering could be exactly what this niche market is looking for when you add Chinese localisation to the experience.
  • German: With Germany at the top of the revenue chain for games, localising for this market is necessary to penetrate its You reap the rewards of your game localisation here and see a growth in sales as a result.
  • Portuguese: Brazil is another growing market with a low number of English-speaking residents. If you want to target this potential market segment, you need to think in Portuguese and have localisation of your game to reach these players.
  • French: You’ll get plenty of reach by choosing French as a game localisation language. With France, Quebec, Belgium, and parts of West and North Africa all speaking French, you’ll reach a diverse and populous fan base with a localised game platform.
  • Spanish: Lastly, you’ll want to take a hard look at using Spanish in your localisation strategy. While there are several Spanish-speaking countries including Spain, Chile, Peru, Mexico, Argentina, and Columbia to target, you will need a specific localisation for each as there are variances in the language. Even still, this is one of the fastest growing gaming segments.

Choosing the right language for the localisation of your game comes down to the regions of the world where it will be successful. You need to think about the preferences of each country you intend to target and localise your game according to potential revenue gains.