The video game industry continues to make some great strides in both sales and market share. It may have been heavily slanted towards young males at one point, but that was then. It now includes all genders, families, and even fitness enthusiasts. So why is it that developers spend years developing a game, only then to rush through its video game localization?

According to Statista, the video game industry is on course to reach a value exceeding $200 billion by the year 2023. While English-speaking countries as the UK, U.S., and Canada are all in the top 10 countries for gaming revenues, there’s also a lot of business to be had in such non-English countries as Germany, South Korea, Japan, and China. Video game localization is the best way to reach those markets.

China leads the world in both gaming revenue and the number of gamers. It may have been late to the party when it comes to gaming, and the market was small at first, but according to Statista, there were 655 million gamers in China in 2020. The Asia Pacific region is a huge gaming market overall, with China, the Republic of Korea, and Japan all in the top five of 2020’s gaming markets. In fact, if you combine the revenue of these three countries, it surpasses that of the remaining countries put together. In terms of individual countries, the United States isn’t far behind in second place.

Overall, an estimated 2.7 billion people spent $159.3 billion on video games in 2020 alone. Global phenomenon such as Pokémon Go, in conjunction with holidays and new venues dedicated to gaming, will go on breaking down global barriers. This presents more opportunities for developers savvy enough to employ video game localization services.

Video game localization services benefit both gamers and developers, as more players from around the world can enjoy the games, while developers increase sales. Here are just a few of the ways that your business can improve your bottom line.

1. Reduced plagiarism

When your game is available in multiple major languages, you have more control of the game and can prevent ROM hacking. You also have control over the translation quality, enabling you to improve the user experience.

By using the video game localization services of a gaming translation company, you’ll save time and money. Then you can sit back and enjoy the extra feedback you’ll get from releasing your game in multiple languages.

2. Remaining competitive

There’s a lot of competition in the gaming industry. There’s also an increasing demand for quality content. One of the more obvious ways to meet this demand is to expand your potential audience. And video game localization is the best way to globalize your audience.

With more than two million gaming apps available in the App Store, there’s a huge market for you to stay ahead of, and video game localization will give you an edge over the vast majority of these apps. If you don’t, you’ll be falling behind competitors who are coming to recognize the benefits of it.

3. More downloads

If you really want your game to go places, you need to increase your download numbers.

More downloads and sales mean a higher return on the investment you made in the project, as well as more overall financial success. Many gaming markets like to play their favorite video games in their own language. While plenty of gamers from European countries have a high proficiency in English, gaming in their own language is understandably their preference. That’s why video game localization is so important. Regions with a lower English proficiency with large gaming markets include the South American and Asian markets.

4. Prioritizing your audience

Doing video game localization proves to your audience that you care about their needs. Developing a game that appeals to a particular audience’s culture allows users to get into the flow of the story and immerse themselves in its world.

Video games have enjoyed quite an evolution over the years. When players can personally relate to the dialogue, it makes it easier for them to choose their favorite characters and get into the game. Video game localization enables them to experience the game in this way.

5. Engaging communities

As we’ve already seen, localizing a game is essential in putting the game on the map of such a vast global audience. And using professionals to do it, can play a huge factor in improving user reviews.

A story-driven, single-player game is typically purchased once, but other models, like hyper-casual mobile titles and games-as-a-service, depend on new content streams and curated events and promotions to keep players active and engaged.

These events and promotions should target specific audiences. Players might only be active in a particular region to celebrate a local event, but to really engage with these audiences, you need to speak to them in their own language, which is where video game localization comes into play.

In fact, video game localization services are crucial in these circumstances, where you need to communicate to a particular culture so that they feel you truly understand them.

6. More sales

We’ve already mentioned this, but it deserves its own section. Yes, a large part of the world understands and speaks English. But an English game reaches only around 25-28 per cent of the gaming market. So, your game only reaches a part of this very global industry. To reach more gamers and increase your sales, you’ll need video game localization for the world’s major cultures.

The only way to make major sales is to have your game widely accepted across major languages.

Wrap up on why you need video game localization

You need to do everything you can to maximize the potential of your video game project. There are so many advantages to video game localization services. Still, it isn’t an easy thing to do. That’s why there are professional video game localization companies that are experts in the process and who can translate your game in record time.

If you’re looking for reliable content services crafted specifically for the iGaming industry you can leverage All-in Global’s unique set of expertise across language, content, and SEO to get found everywhere. Contact us: salesteam@all-in.global

A shoutout to Unsplash’s Nick Hamze, James Yarema, and Florian Olivo, for the amazing images on this blog post.