作者：George Osborn

在一周内，开发者如何让自己的游戏在某个国家的应用市场上下载量猛增128%，付费玩家猛增26%？

听起来很明显，把你的游戏翻译成某国的语言，如果翻译得好，可以立即让这个国家的玩家接纳你的游戏。尽管如此，很多开发者仍然忽略了翻译版，而只向国际市场推出英语版。

2012年10月，Distimo报告指出，把应用翻译成另一种语言非常重要，尤其是在亚洲市场，因为在亚洲市场，玩家更倾向于选择翻译成本国语言的游戏版本而不是英文版。

但是，翻译一款游戏真的那么简单吗？考虑到开发英文版的游戏已经占据开发者那么多资源了，还要开发其他语言版本，不能不让人心生畏惧。

所以接下来，我将针对游戏翻译提出5个简单的建议，希望开发者们能借此更轻松地带着自己的翻译版游戏进军国际市场。

1、谨慎选择市场

在开始翻译进程以前，你必须确定你的目标市场。

开发者当然都把自己的目标放在三大市场上——欧洲、美国和亚洲，但一味地把游戏放在一个与它的内容、类型或设计格格不入的市场上，可能会让你的努力打水漂。

以亚洲市场为例，日本应用市场的专家Serkan Toto博士非常了解欧美开发者在日本市场会面临的挑战。他认为，要征服日本市场，除了翻译，开发者要做的准备还很多。

“我强烈建议开发者在本土化和翻译游戏前，先考虑一下自己的游戏在日本的适应性。并非所有游戏，甚至是那些在其他市场上大获成功的游戏，都能受到日本玩家的喜爱。”

“如果有疑问，那就先别行动。市场营销是昂贵的，必须有针对日本市场的客户服务，而且日本市场的竞争很激烈。这些都是应该提前考虑到的因素，都可能成为你的游戏在日本水土不服的原因。”

不过，你也不能因此而放弃除了英语国家以外的市场。例如，有些类型在美国和英国流行，也能在海外市场受欢迎——比如RPG和卡牌战斗游戏就非常适合日本市场，这类游戏的日语版是非常可能成功的。

如果这种关系还不够明显，那么还有其他简单的方式可以确定出你的目标市场是否渴望你的游戏。

使用如App Annie这样的工具来寻找与你的游戏类似的游戏，查看下载量，看看你的游戏是否在某些出乎意料的地区获得玩家青睐，然后好好研究一下那个市场以及它的语言，最后根据你的研究结果翻译你的游戏。

如果这听起来工作量太大，那么你就锁定几种通用语言吧。

英语应用可以优先翻译成法语和西班牙语，前者针对加拿大，后者针对南美洲。

德语也是一个不错的选择，因为德国市场上有不少大额玩家。

2、谨慎选择翻译人员

选择对的人来翻译你的游戏，是最大化本土化价值的关键。

你可能会随便找一个说目标语言的人，花比较少的钱跟对方签约。但这么做是非常危险的——哪怕是最微小的误译也可能导致大部分玩家排斥你的游戏或误解你的游戏，甚至更糟，让玩家觉得你的游戏冒犯了他们。

翻译游戏不只是把一种文字换成另一种文字，更要意识到文化敏感性。

所以，为了不浪费钱，你应该雇用合格的翻译人员。他们必须有专业的头脑和技术，能把你的游戏翻译到另一种文化语境中。

他们还应该善于接受你的详尽要求——为了保留你的游戏元素、双关语而牺牲翻译。专业级的翻译人员必须遵循的原则。

另外，值得一提的是，雇用翻译人员不一定像你所想象得那么贵。

在英国，翻译费用通常是1000字约60-70英镑，相当于95-100美元。如果你的游戏的文本并不多，那么可能只要100多美元就能把包括应用商店的描述在内的所有东西都翻译了。

3、正确传达你的应用基调

无论你是莎士比亚还是普通的程序员，关于翻译有一条普遍的真理：你所翻译的每个字词都不可能百分百等同于原文。

比如，英语单词不存在于其他语言中；相同的句子放在不同的语言中，结构就显得奇怪；出了地界，方言就让人听不懂了——这意味着改变语言不仅是可能的，而且是完全必要的。

因此，你要关注的是，保证不会出现照搬字词的直译，保证翻译人员理解你想表达的基调和主题。

无论你的游戏是古怪的超现实主义还是严格的现实主义，一定要让你的翻译人员非常明确你的角度。

回到第一点，你的游戏基调必须符合你的目标市场。例如，如果你正在做一款有关犯罪的惊险游戏，你必须先研究一下目标市场对类似内容的电视节目或电影有什么反应。

比如，你的游戏的灵感来源于一部美国电视剧，那么那部剧是否在目标市场播出过？是否受欢迎？如果不受欢迎，为什么？是不是因为翻译版没有体现原作主题？

在这个阶段，任何你能收集到的目标市场的信息都能帮助你。有时候，翻译上的小小变动也能让原本水土不服的游戏在新市场上起死回生。

因此，你要确保翻译人员理解你想表达的基调。Crocstar Media总监Christine Cawthorne曾说过：

“基调的重要性在于，可以上人们识别出你的品牌。”

“如果基调引起受众的情感共鸣，那么受众就更可能成为回头客。你希望用户享受你的应用，那么你就需要与众不同的、有趣的或令人舒服的语言。”

“至于给翻译人员建议，向他们提供目标受众的描述资料是不错的开始。有时候，罗列一个“允许”和“不允许”的表格也是有用的，提供一个关于玩家偏好的风格指导也有用，无论你是自己写一份还是从BBC或《卫报》上抄下来的。”

4、提供大量资料

你有没有试过在没有地图的情况下，在街上给某人指路？如果有，你应该很清楚在不给翻译人员尽量多的信息的情况下，要求他们翻译你的游戏是件多么困难的事吧。

即使翻译人员已经明确你的游戏基调是什么，如果他们手头上能有一份游戏，那么他们的翻译成果一定会更好。

当然，如果你的游戏已经在其他国家发布了，再做翻译版会容易得多，但如果是英语版和翻译版同时进行，那就棘手了。

尽管如此，让翻译人员尽可能了解你的游戏的方方面面仍然很重要。当你说某行字应该简短时，如果能让翻译人员看到实际的文字摆放空间，那么他们就能更好地理解你的意思了。

当你说某个角色说话具有某种语气时，如果翻译人员能亲自体验一下游戏，那么他们就更可能理解你的要求。

所以，你要做的是，尽可能让翻译人员接触到尽可能多的资源。

这分成两个层次。第一个我们称之为“结构层”，也就是翻译人员需要翻译的所有文件和资源。

做一个容易使用的表格或网页，上面整齐地罗列了文件名称，并在可能引起困惑的地方添加解释，注明截止日期。这么做可以保证翻译人员不会耽误你的日期，特别是当你的游戏临近发布时。

第二层是游戏的最新版，也就是保证翻译人员手头上有你们正在制作的游戏版本。哪怕游戏还是测试版或半成品，让翻译人员得到副本也有助于他们理解语境，避免误译或少译。

这一条也适用于其他资源的翻译，如截图说明和应用商店的描述等。

最重要的是，你必须保证你的翻译人员知道你的意图，这样他们才能帮你找到目标语言中的关键词。

5、审查成果

开发者往往把翻译版的审查排在日程表的最后，甚至满足于保证工作完成了。

如果你不检查成果，那么你就太纵容翻译人员了。你必须保证贴着你的名字的游戏经过你的审查。

这也是手机应用翻译服务工作室App Lingua的主管Robert Lo Bue的意见。他认为，开发者有责任保证翻译版达到目标。

（没有对翻译内容进行把关，《Boyfriend Maker》遇上不少麻烦。）

“翻译完文本只完成了一半的任务。”

“游戏通常严重依赖指令或剧情：如果翻译错了，那么玩家看到的文本可能与屏幕上显示的完全不同。”

所以，怎么解决这些问题？这时候，刚才我建议你不要贪图省钱省事而求助的说目标语言的亲戚朋友就派上用场了。事实上，任何说目标语言的人都可以帮助你审查翻译版——无论是面对面还是通过Twitter。

他们可能没有专业的技巧帮你从头到尾翻译游戏，但他们能够很快看出语调是否合适、拼写是否正确等。更重要的是，他们可以告诉你，你花在翻译上的钱值不值得。

牢记以上五点，你开辟新市场的过程会更顺利——最重要的是，更容易让新消费者接纳你的游戏。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

5 simple steps to translating your game into new languages

by George Osborn

What can a developer do to trigger a 128 percent increase in downloads and a 26 percent jump in paid customers in one country in one single week?

It might sound obvious, but translating your game into a country’s native language can, if done well, open it up to large audiences almost immediately. Nevertheless, it’s an element many developers choose to overlook, simply pushing out English versions internationally.

A report by Distimo in October 2012, however, emphasised the importance of translating apps into other languages, particularly in Asian markets, where English language games very much play second fiddle to native language releases.

But, is translating a game accurately all that easy? Considering how readily a developer’s resources can become stretched merely working on an English version of game, the idea of working on additional international editions can seem daunting.

So, as the next part of our 5 simple step series, we thought we’d put together this guide on how to painlessly translate your title and kick yourself along the path to world domination quicker than you can say “parlez-vous francais?”

Choose your markets carefully

When kicking off the translation process, you need to pin down just which markets you’re looking to target.

The temptation, of course, is to aim your game at the biggest markets across Europe, the Americas and Asia, but opting to pitch your game in a territory at odds with its content, design or genre can be a particularly fruitless ordeal.

A good example of this is the Asian market. Dr Serkan Toto, an apps consultant specialising in the Japanese market, knows all about the unique challenges faced by western developers looking to make a move on Japan, and claims that – beyond mere translation – developers need to be prepared to go the extra mile to succeed.

“I would strongly recommend developers to think about the suitability of the game in question for the Japanese market before thinking about localisation and translation,” says Toto. “Not all games, even those that are phenomenally successful in other markets, have chances to make it in Japan.

“If in doubt, don’t come. Marketing is expensive, customer support has to be in Japanese only, and the competitive landscape is fierce. These are all factors that should be considered early and may mean it isn’t suitable for you to push your app there.”

Japan is still recovering from ‘PuzDra Shock’. Could your game take it on?

Such advice shouldn’t put you off expanding beyond English-speaking nations altogether, however. Some genres popular in

North America and the UK, for example, are a perfect for overseas markets – an RPG or card battler, for instance, would be idea for Japan and would have every chance of success, making translating it into Japanese a rather logical move.

If such a link isn’t so obvious, however, there are some simple ways to find out whether your target market has a hunger for the type of game you’re offering.

Use tools like App Annie to scan the charts in search of titles similar to yours, check your download figures to see if you’ve got any users somewhere unexpected and then work out which countries – and therefore languages – to translate into on the basis of your research.

If even that sounds like too much work, there are some staple languages that will aid your expansion overseas regardless of your chosen genre.

It’s well worth translating English apps into both French and Spanish as a first step – the former opening up parts of Canada, the later South America, which is in the process of switching from feature phones to smartphones as we speak.

German is also a good candidate, with Germany playing host to what is typically a high spending gamer driven market.

Hire carefully

Choosing the right person to translate your work is crucial to getting the most out of your localisation efforts.

The temptation may be to go and find the first person who can speak the language in question and sign them up for a cheap and cheerful feel, but such routes are fraught with danger – even the slightest mistranslation risks alienating large portions of players, leaving your userbase utterly confused or, in a worst case scenario, saying something offensive.

Translating a game isn’t just about switching words, but also being aware of cultural sensitivities.

As such, hiring a decent translator represents value for money. They’re going to have the professional mind set and skills to properly interpret your work into the context of another culture.

They should also be receptive to your detailed instructions – your moves to protect the elements of your game that, excuse the pun, risk getting lost in translation – which, on a professional level, they’ll be bound to follow.

Also, it’s worth noting here that hiring a translator isn’t necessarily as expensive as you think it is.

In the UK, rates often come in at around 10p (around 15c) or ￡60-70 per 1,000 words, equal to around $95-100. If you game is especially text light, that means you could round all costs off – including translating your App Store description page, amongst other things – for little over ￡100, or $160.

Communicate your app’s tone properly

Whether you’re William Shakespeare or just a coder in a bedroom, there’s one universal truth about translation that everyone has to put with: the words you’ve slaved over will never be translated 100 percent accurately.

A combination of factors – English words not existing in other languages, sentence structures that are slightly askew and the odd colloquialism that simply doesn’t make sense beyond a country’s borders – mean changes to your copy are not only likely, but entirely necessary.

What you need to focus on, therefore, is ensuring not a direct word-for-word translation, but rather making sure whoever is translating your game understands the tone or theme you’re trying to communicate.

Whether you’re going for a zany surrealism or a gritty realism, letting your translator know in detail what your angle and influences are is going to aid the translation process.

Jumping back to point 1, it may also highlight whether your game’s tone is appropriate for your target market. If you’re working on a gritty crime thriller, for instance, it may be worth finding out whether TV shows or films with similar content have made an impression in the region.

Was the US drama that so inspired your game ever broadcast in your target market? If so, was it popular? And, if not, why not? Did it touch on themes that just don’t translate well in the region?

At this stage, any information you can gather about the likes or dislikes of a particular country will help you. It may even be possible to subtly edit the script in translation, making a previously unsuitable game far more palatable to the tastes of its new audience without going back to the drawing board entirely.

The main thing, therefore, is to make sure that you can communicate your app’s tone properly and effectively to your translator. Christine Cawthorne, director of Crocstar Media, offers more insight:

“It’s important to do this so that people recognise and identify with your brand,” says Cawthorne.

“If the tone creates an emotional connection with a person they are more like to come back. You want them to enjoy spending time in your app and distinctive, funny or comfortable language can help with this.

“As for giving your translators advice, providing them with a description of your target audience and how you usually talk to them is a great way to start. Sometimes a list of ‘allowed’ and ‘not allowed’ words is useful and you providing a style guide for people to refer to is always useful, whether you create your own or borrow one from somewhere like the BBC or The Guardian.”

Provide resources – lots of them

Ever tried to give someone directions on the street without the aid of a map? Then you’ll be aware of the baffled bemusement that lies in wait if you try to get a translator to work on your project without giving them as much information as possible to do their job properly.

Even with the best guide to your game’s tone to hand, translators will always deliver a better final product if they have the game to hand – or, at least, as much of it that exists.

This, of course, is much easier if you’re looking to translate your game after it’s already been released in other territories, but could prove tricky if you’re working on a foreign version at the same time as the English release.

Nevertheless, the ability for a translator to visualise as much of your game as possible is crucial. When you say a string needs to be short, it makes more sense for the translator to see the piddly amount of screen real estate in order to understand what you’re getting at.

When you say a character has a certain tone of voice, they’re more likely to understand why if they’ve played from his or her perspective. And so forth.

What you need to do, therefore, is try your best to load up translators with as many resources as possible.

There are two levels to this. The first is what we could call the ‘structural layer,’ which covers all the documents and resources they’ll translate into.

Creating easy to use spread sheets or web pages with coherent document names, adding notes to any potentially confusing strings and setting clear achievable deadlines will help them work and make sure you don’t miss any deadlines: essential for when you’re getting near to the launch.

The second thing to do is to make sure they’ve got hold of the game you’re working on. Even if it is in beta or half finished, getting a copy of the app into the hands of the people working on it will help them understand the context of what they’re translating as well as helping them avoid the dreaded “…” of a truncated strings.

The same thing applies for the translation of other assets such as screenshots and the game’s App Store description.

Especially important are those all-important keywords: you need to make sure your translator knows what you’re aiming for so they can come up with the right keywords to guide organic search traffic to your app in their language.

Get the work checked

It’s easy to see the translated work roll back into your spread sheets, inboxes and word documents and to assume the work is done – but hold your horses.

If you don’t get things checked, then you’re taking the translator at their word. You need to be sure that games with your name on them have had your vetting and approval.

That’s also the view of Robert Lo Bue, head of mobile app translation service App Lingua, who believes it’s the developer’s responsibility to ensure the translation is fit for purpose.

Failing to take charge of its translated content landed Boyfriend Maker in a lot of trouble

“Getting the text in your app translated is only half the battle,” says Lo Bue.

“Games often rely heavily on instructions or narrative: if the translation is wrong and the text a player sees may be totally different from what’s on screen.”

So how can you get past such problems? This is when those friends and family who speak another language you originally shunned for the translation itself can come in handy. In fact, anyone you can get who speaks the language in question to check your work – whether face to face or via Twitter – can do the job.

They may not have the professional skills to translate the game from beginning to end, but they’ll be able to quickly check if the tone sounds right, if there are any outrageous spelling mistakes or truncation within your release. And, more to the point, they can make sure that if you’ve spent any money on translating that it has been well spent.

Bring the above point together with the previous four, and you’ll be well on your way to breaking into a new market and – most crucially – getting your game into the hands of a fresh batch of consumers.(source:pocketgamer)