Mastering the Art of Game Localization: Janus Worldwide’s Approach

Any new product intended for a wider audience than just local users should be translated into certain languages of regional markets. PC games are no exception, and their localization must adhere to a range of rules. Along with accuracy, their translation also requires end-to-end adaptation and fluency as perceived by native speakers of the target language. Additionally, hard character limits may be imposed on individual text segments to ensure that their translation fits within assigned margins, is correctly broken into lines, and more. It is also essential to check the entire translated text directly in the game to ensure it is appropriately placed in the context of specific situations and gameplay elements. This is the multifaceted work that Janus Worldwide’s Game Localization Department handles.

The department structures its activities in a way that covers as many language testing tasks as possible and minimizes customer participation. In the end, the client receives a finished product with minimal time spent on its localization. The first phase, order acceptance, and the last one, product delivery, are managed by project managers, who are responsible for overseeing the rest of the employees – resource managers, test leads, and testers. Speaking of testers, they are often highly vetted freelancers that often include both native speakers of the target language and non-native speakers. Native speakers test the linguistic content (correct translation, semantic “load,” etc.), while non-native speakers may be engaged, as required by the client, to test the graphic component of localization on platforms where no recheck is needed for the linguistic aspect.

As a result, during the testing process, the game is not only checked for translation mistakes and context relevance but also for broken windows and errors in displaying quests, dialogues, items, and other game events. This is done to ensure an immersive gaming experience throughout.

The testing process begins as soon as the customer sends in their request. After that, the project manager proceeds to build a testing team from both in-house and part-time employees.

However, the full-fledged work starts only after receiving a task from the client: the project manager, in collaboration with the test lead, prepares a test kit comprised of all the materials needed by testers, while the test lead checks the test plan for any moments that may be unclear to testers or for any possible errors that might hinder the testing process. As they progress, testers maintain close contact with the project manager to resolve organizational issues and with the test lead to deal with technical aspects and problems with navigating the content. The project manager, in turn, communicates with the client.

Errors identified by testers are checked by the test lead to ensure they are properly recorded, and any necessary changes to the text are sent to translators for validation.

The finished project is not delivered to the customer until testing is completed for the entire content, all localization bugs are flagged and validated, and any necessary modifications are implemented.

It is worth noting that when testing the content, our team can use either bug trackers like Jira or Redmine, or spreadsheets, depending on the client’s preference.

Our team also uses an ERP system in all cases to issue work orders to vendors and monitor task acceptance and delivery. This enables us to control work in real-time, deliver jobs without delays, and analyze efforts and labor costs per employee.

Overall, Janus Worldwide’s Game Localization Department is committed to providing top-notch localization services to our clients. We have a proven track record of success and are always looking for ways to improve and innovate in the field of game localization.