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Article published In: Digital Translation
Vol. 12:1 (2025) ► pp.62–84

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Explorative study on how indie developers approach game localization

ORCiD logo with link | LinguaVox SL
Published online: 3 July 2025
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https://doi.org/10.1075/dt.25006.zor
Abstract
Through the analysis of 26 semi-structured interviews with small indie developers attending the Bilbao International Games Conference (BIG Conference) 2024, this paper explores the languages in which games are developed, the languages into which they are localized, and whether the scriptwriters and translators are native speakers of those languages. It also collects indie developers’ insights on the process of video game localization. Thus, it offers a rarely studied perspective on the localization of interactive entertainment software. The results show that indie developers rely on their own knowledge of English as a second language to spread the game, create a community of followers, and find a publisher. Target languages are chosen based on the languages they speak and information gathered mainly through Steam’s wishlists. Localization is limited to text translation without any cultural adaptation.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Conceptualization
  • 3.Methodology
  • 4.Results, analysis and discussion
  • 5.Final thoughts
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
References (51)
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Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Hejduk, Krzysztof Wiesław & Mikołaj Deckert
2025. Deliberate game-making choices, on-screen language, and translation. Digital Translation DOI logo

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