Towards a deeper understanding of localization as a game development process: Game studio studies in Sweden and China
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: • Game localization is investigated from a developer perspective, as a game development process. • Game studio studies using participatory observation, giving insights in the day to day work of indie game development studios. • Two perspectives, where the study involves a Swedish and a Chinese indie game studio. • Results indicates that game localization is a challenge for developers with limited resources, and is a task which complexity is underestimated. • A visual structure of the many tasks an indie game developer needs to address is presented, where game localization is one task of many. This paper presents field studies conducted at two indie game development companies – one in Sweden and one in China. The study aims to provide a deeper understanding of the complex nature of indie game development and how indie game developers using a self-publishing business model work with game localization as a part of the development process. The research is guided by the research question “ How do indie game developers prioritize and work with game localization as a development process?” explored from three perspectives: the strategic perspective, where the decisions behind the localization are in focus; the development perspective, exploring the development processes; and the product perspective, using a participatory observation method. The results indicate that game localization is a task among several important tasks, and by omitting to plan for localization can impact the game developed severely. An organizational model of indie game development companies is presented, highlighting the many different development tasks needed to be handled either by using internal or external competences.
Source: Entertainment Computing
Author: Marcus Toftedahl
Institution: University of Skövde
Language: English
Topic: Digital Games and Media
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $2,840
OpenAlex ID: W4408742514