What games succeed in the Middle East?
Gamers’ preferences vary from country to country but in general, arcade, action, sports, racing, and casual games do pretty well. The competition isn’t severe, so, if the game is localized or contains cultural elements (like the player traveling around the Middle East) - it will most probably be successful.
Challenges in the Arabic markets
Of course, internet speed, online payment support, and an average income varies from country to country. The Persian Gulf states may be the smallest population-wise but are way more lucrative than populous North African Egypt and Morocco. For international game development companies, it means that each market should be evaluated independently, depending on the game genre, design, and monetization model.
A few years ago, piracy was pretty common for the games markets in MENA and the Middle East. But it’s not the case anymore. Access to Xbox, Steam, and app stores made foreign games more accessible and affordable. Even more: Arabic gamers are not content with low quality translated games, and demand professional localization.
MMO games were at the forefront of content localization from English into Arabic. Western developers like EA, Ubisoft and Sony localized some of their games into Arabic or at least provided Arabic subtitles. FIFA, The Division, Assassin’s Creed, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End/Uncharted: The Lost Legacyare just a few titles to name.
Besides the translation of FIFA, EA also featured local teams and leagues. Ubisoft localized The Division into Arabic and even opened a studio in Abu Dhabi.
Image source: Twitter @UbisoftAbuDhabi
Arabic game localization essentials
So, as a game developer, what should you keep in mind when localizing your game into Arabic? We’ve asked one of our Arabic translator Alaa Magdy Ibrahim and here are some of her recommendations.
#1 Right to left text orientation
Arabic, Hebrew, Urdu and a number of other languages are right-to-left (RTL) languages which means you should not force (or lock) the text direction in your game. The entire user interface should also read from right to left. If the game UI is not adjusted for the RTL languages, some game devs mirror their games to reach the necessary effect.
#2 Latin usage
Almost everything should be localized. However the Arabic markets will usually be fine with transliteration of proper names and having Latin numbers instead of Arabic ones.
# 3 Gender specifications
Arabic, like French, is a language that has a grammatical gender for almost everything and that makes it a bit challenging when localizing English game text into Arabic. The same fact also results in usually longer strings.
#4 Sensitive topics
There are quite a lot of sensitive topics to consider when translating video games. Homosexuality, explicit sexual scenes, nudity, alcohol, religious symbols or mentioning verses from Quran or Bible are still things to avoid when translating video games. Even if they exist in the main language version of the game, translators usually make amendments in a way that won’t offend Arab gamers or governments. Offense of Islam is of course a no-no.
Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) is the most commonly understood dialect used in the media and education. As it’s a language most common in media and official environments, it feels a bit formal. However, it’s understood by everyone and that’s a reason why game devs select it, even if the in-game events happen in a specific country. But if you want to add an ingenious touch to the game, you may need different voiceovers.
Some say that translation to the Middle East is just 10% of the effort, culturalization takes the other 90%. Arabic gamers love games that embed elements of their culture, be it prominent historical figures or celebrities. We’ve mentioned FIFA so many times but we can’t stop doing it once again:the Arabic version of the game featured local Arabic soccer stars.
Are you ready to conquer the Arabic markets? Or prefer more westernized eastern markets first? Then check our Turkish localization blog- this country is called a true gateway to MENA.
Gamers’ preferences vary from country to country but in general, arcade, action, sports, racing, and casual games do pretty well. The competition isn’t severe, so, if the game is localized or contains cultural elements (like the player traveling around the Middle East) - it will most probably be successful.
Challenges in the Arabic markets
Of course, internet speed, online payment support, and an average income varies from country to country. The Persian Gulf states may be the smallest population-wise but are way more lucrative than populous North African Egypt and Morocco. For international game development companies, it means that each market should be evaluated independently, depending on the game genre, design, and monetization model.
A few years ago, piracy was pretty common for the games markets in MENA and the Middle East. But it’s not the case anymore. Access to Xbox, Steam, and app stores made foreign games more accessible and affordable. Even more: Arabic gamers are not content with low quality translated games, and demand professional localization.
MMO games were at the forefront of content localization from English into Arabic. Western developers like EA, Ubisoft and Sony localized some of their games into Arabic or at least provided Arabic subtitles. FIFA, The Division, Assassin’s Creed, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End/Uncharted: The Lost Legacyare just a few titles to name.
Besides the translation of FIFA, EA also featured local teams and leagues. Ubisoft localized The Division into Arabic and even opened a studio in Abu Dhabi.
Image source: Twitter @UbisoftAbuDhabi
Arabic game localization essentials
So, as a game developer, what should you keep in mind when localizing your game into Arabic? We’ve asked one of our Arabic translator Alaa Magdy Ibrahim and here are some of her recommendations.
#1 Right to left text orientation
Arabic, Hebrew, Urdu and a number of other languages are right-to-left (RTL) languages which means you should not force (or lock) the text direction in your game. The entire user interface should also read from right to left. If the game UI is not adjusted for the RTL languages, some game devs mirror their games to reach the necessary effect.
#2 Latin usage
Almost everything should be localized. However the Arabic markets will usually be fine with transliteration of proper names and having Latin numbers instead of Arabic ones.
That is why LQA is important for the games localized into Arabic as a lot of developers experience troubles with font or how the text is displayed in game.
# 3 Gender specifications
Arabic, like French, is a language that has a grammatical gender for almost everything and that makes it a bit challenging when localizing English game text into Arabic. The same fact also results in usually longer strings.
#4 Sensitive topics
There are quite a lot of sensitive topics to consider when translating video games. Homosexuality, explicit sexual scenes, nudity, alcohol, religious symbols or mentioning verses from Quran or Bible are still things to avoid when translating video games. Even if they exist in the main language version of the game, translators usually make amendments in a way that won’t offend Arab gamers or governments. Offense of Islam is of course a no-no.
#5 Arabic dialects
Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) is the most commonly understood dialect used in the media and education. As it’s a language most common in media and official environments, it feels a bit formal. However, it’s understood by everyone and that’s a reason why game devs select it, even if the in-game events happen in a specific country. But if you want to add an ingenious touch to the game, you may need different voiceovers.
In some cases, certain parts of the game should be localized into a local dialect or left in English (or French for North Africa). Racing game Need for Speed, contained the names of the parts of the car which differ in various regions. They would have been ill-advised to have left them in Standard Arabic as not all gamers would understand the intended meaning.
#6 Culturalization
Some say that translation to the Middle East is just 10% of the effort, culturalization takes the other 90%. Arabic gamers love games that embed elements of their culture, be it prominent historical figures or celebrities. We’ve mentioned FIFA so many times but we can’t stop doing it once again:the Arabic version of the game featured local Arabic soccer stars.
Are you ready to conquer the Arabic markets? Or prefer more westernized eastern markets first? Then check our Turkish localization blog- this country is called a true gateway to MENA.
