Are UN languages in games a standard!? Языки ООН в играх - это стандарт!?

[DOKA]

Sorry about the machine translation.

Greetings! I am a long-time customer of the Steam platform and am generally satisfied. But I don’t speak languages other than my native Russian! In this regard, I am forced to refuse to purchase many very interesting games.
Both the Steam administration and game developers/publishers should be interested in maximizing the reach of the player audience and, as a result, increasing sales!

Suggestion: the Steam administration can first introduce a requirement as “recommendatory”, and in the future as “mandatory” - the localization of games exhibited on the site into UN languages (these languages are used by people almost all over the world). According to Wiki: "The official languages of the United Nations are: English, Arabic, Spanish, Chinese, Russian and French." Developers/publishers may localize into additional languages at their discretion. How this is implemented and at the moment localization must necessarily extend to the game interface and subtitles (if available). These measures will globally expand the reach of players, which should have an extremely positive impact on sales!


Приветствую! Я являюсь давним клиентом площадки Steam и в целом доволен. Но я не владею языками кроме родного русского! В связи с этим вынужден отказываться от приобретения множества весьма интересных игр.
Как администрация Steam так и разработчики/издатели игр должны быть заинтересованы в максимальном охвате аудитории игроков и как следствие - увеличении продаж!

Предложение: администрация Steam может для начала ввести требование как "рекомендательное", а в перспективе как "обязательные" - локализация выставляемых на площадке игр на языки ООН (данные языки используют народы практически всего мира). Согласно Wiki: " Официальными языками Организации Объединённых Наций являются: английский, арабский, испанский, китайский, русский и французский языки". Разработчики/издатели на свое усмотрение могут производить локализацию на дополнительные языки. Как это реализуется и в настоящий момент локализация должна распространятся в обязательном порядке на интерфейс игры и субтитры (при наличии). Данные меры глобально расширят охват аудитории игроков, что должно крайне положительно сказаться на продажах!

P.S. The Steam administration can stimulate game developers/publishers by offering them certain bonuses (at the discretion of the administration) subject to localization into UN languages!
Администрация Steam может стимулировать разработчиков/издателей игр предложив им некие бонусы (на усмотрение администрации) при условии локализации на языки ООН!

[Start_Running]

Yeah that;'sm not gonna be something Valve is gonna make a requirement. That's a lot of languages and each one literally can cost thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Localization is completely up to the dev/pub as should any major development related expense.

[DOKA]

Greetings! I'm not saying that it will be easy or cheap! But the worldwide reach of the player audience will certainly lead to increased sales, and this can significantly recoup both the costs and efforts of additional localizations!

Приветствую! Я и не утверждаю, что это будет просто или дешево! Но всемирный охват аудитории игроков обязательно приведет к росту продаж, а это может значительно окупить как затраты так и усилия по дополнительным локализациям!

[Mad Scientist]

Oprindeligt skrevet af DOKA:

Both the Steam administration and game developers/publishers should be interested in maximizing the reach of the player audience and, as a result, increasing sales!

It's up to the people that make the game to decide what language(s) they wish to support.
Many games are made in regions where other languages are not spoken, similar to how you'd expect russian games to not support Japanes or possible English languages.

You can ask the Developer/Publisher to consider such, or to offer translation assistance as many Indie Devs will accept outside translation.

Oprindeligt skrevet af DOKA:

Suggestion: the Steam administration can first introduce a requirement as “recommendatory”, and in the future as “mandatory” - the localization of games exhibited on the site into UN languages (these languages are used by people almost all over the world). According to Wiki: "The official languages of the United Nations are: English, Arabic, Spanish, Chinese, Russian and French." Developers/publishers may localize into additional languages at their discretion. How this is implemented and at the moment localization must necessarily extend to the game interface and subtitles (if available). These measures will globally expand the reach of players, which should have an extremely positive impact on sales!

They're not going to require any languages.

[nullable]

Localization is expensive, and unless Valve is willing to pay for that localization they're not going to make it a requirement to publish games.

And invariably it will just freeze out indie developers who can't afford localization.

No, the publishers/developers own their products and Valve isn't in the habit of trying to manage other businesses products.

Steam is not some kinda big stick that users can use to bash other developers over the head with to get their way. But it's something some users definitely pine for.

[Start_Running]

Oprindeligt skrevet af DOKA:

Greetings! I'm not saying that it will be easy or cheap! But the worldwide reach of the player audience will certainly lead to increased sales, and this can significantly recoup both the costs and efforts of additional localizations!

Приветствую! Я и не утверждаю, что это будет просто или дешево! Но всемирный охват аудитории игроков обязательно приведет к росту продаж, а это может значительно окупить как затраты так и усилия по дополнительным локализациям!

You might be surprised..
Let's be frank. If that was how it worked... then devs would be doing it on their own already.

[AmsterdamHeavy]

This is a decision for developers.

Also, by this logic every game should automatically support Chinese as that theoretically would provide the highest return.

Thats not reality.

[Crazy Tiger]

Oprindeligt skrevet af DOKA:

Greetings! I'm not saying that it will be easy or cheap! But the worldwide reach of the player audience will certainly lead to increased sales, and this can significantly recoup both the costs and efforts of additional localizations!

Tell that to the game developers. They're in charge of languages they put in their games.

They might not agree with you, though.

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Oprindeligt skrevet af DOKA:

Greetings! I'm not saying that it will be easy or cheap! But the worldwide reach of the player audience will certainly lead to increased sales, and this can significantly recoup both the costs and efforts of additional localizations!

Приветствую! Я и не утверждаю, что это будет просто или дешево! Но всемирный охват аудитории игроков обязательно приведет к росту продаж, а это может значительно окупить как затраты так и усилия по дополнительным локализациям!

https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/store/localization

[nullable]

Oprindeligt skrevet af Start_Running:

Oprindeligt skrevet af DOKA:

Greetings! I'm not saying that it will be easy or cheap! But the worldwide reach of the player audience will certainly lead to increased sales, and this can significantly recoup both the costs and efforts of additional localizations!

Приветствую! Я и не утверждаю, что это будет просто или дешево! Но всемирный охват аудитории игроков обязательно приведет к росту продаж, а это может значительно окупить как затраты так и усилия по дополнительным локализациям!

You might be surprised..
Let's be frank. If that was how it worked... then devs would be doing it on their own already.

Right? And the costs wouldn't matter if the outcome was a guaranteed cash cow, neither would the difficulty.

[Start_Running]

Oprindeligt skrevet af nullable:

Oprindeligt skrevet af Start_Running:

You might be surprised..
Let's be frank. If that was how it worked... then devs would be doing it on their own already.

Right? And the costs wouldn't matter if the outcome was a guaranteed cash cow, neither would the difficulty.

Yup. Guaranteed cash cows are things businesses waste no time in exploiting. If there is a consistent pattern of Spen $X get $X*1.15 back then as said it would be standard practice.
There'd literally be no such thing as Japan only releases for console titles and stuff.

[DOKA]

Greetings! Thank you all for participating in the discussion! As can be seen from my proposal, no one insists on “mandatory localization” of everything and into all UN languages. But as a recommendation for Steam developers, this may well be introduced. Making games for one country (or a very small number of countries - in a less common language) and putting them on Steam (a global seller) is strange in my opinion! I looked at Wiki articles on the spread of various languages of the world. As expected, the UN languages are all included in the top ten and cover almost all regions of the world! From this follows my assumption about a significant expansion of the audience of players! And expanding your customer base usually leads to increased sales! As for Chinese, it is now one of the most frequently used localization languages besides English (simplified Chinese is often used). If Steam finds an effective mechanism to encourage developers/publishers to expand the list of languages to the UN, it will be beneficial for everyone! Steam and developers/publishers increase sales and players gain seamless access to games.

Приветствую! Всем спасибо за участие в обсуждении! Как видно из моего предложения, никто не настаивает на "обязательной локализации" всего и на все языки ООН. Но как рекомендацию для разработчиков Steam это вполне может ввести. Делать игры для одной страны (или очень малого числа стран - на мало распространенном языке) и выставлять их на Steam (глобального продавца) - на мой взгляд странно! Посмотрел статьи в Wiki по распространению различных языков мира. Как и ожидалось языки ООН все вошли в первую десятку и перекрывают практически все регионы мира! Из этого и следует мое предположение о значительном расширении аудитории игроков! А расширение клиентской базы обычно ведет и к увеличению продаж! Что же касается китайского - он сейчас один из самых часто встречаемых помимо английского язык локализации (часто используют китайский - упрощенный). Если Steam найдет действенный механизм стимулирования разработчиков/издателей на расширение списка языков до ООН - это будет на пользу для всех! Steam и разработчики/издатели увеличивают объемы продаж, а игроки получают комфортный доступ к играм.

[Anonymous Helper]

It's far more likely devs will stop localizing in Russian and even stop selling in Russian region entirely than Valve making Russian localization mandatory.

[DOKA]

Greetings! If you don’t get hung up on politics, but engage in business (game sales), then you need to take into account that Russian (according to Wiki) is the main (native) language for 147 million people, and as a second (normally mastered) language for another 108 million (256 in total) 19+ countries - a very decent audience 8-9 place among the ten most popular languages! And I repeat my thesis again - no one should force anyone, but to stimulate anyone is permissible and even normal! An audience of a quarter of a billion is quite a decent sum!

Приветствую! Если не зацикливаться на политике, а заниматься бизнесом (продажами игр) то надо учитывать, что русский (по данным Wiki) является основным (родным) для 147 миллионов человек, а как второй (нормально освоенный) еще для 108 миллионов (всего 256) в 19+ странах - аудитория весьма приличная 8-9 место среди десяти самых популярных языков! И я опять повторяю свой тезис - никто никого не должен заставлять, а вот стимулировать - это допустимо и даже нормально! Аудитория в четверть миллиарда - вполне приличный куш!


P.S. As a small point, I’ll add that the main consumers of games are children and youth (students), and in Russia now almost every schoolchild has a computer (and not necessarily a very weak one) with an Internet connection! I just need it for studying! The entire program, starting from first grade, is replete with references to the Internet! It’s not even worth talking about the students! There, having a computer is the norm.

Как маленький штрих добавлю - основными потребителями игр являются дети и молодежь (студенты), а в России сейчас практически у каждого школьника есть компьютер (и не обязательно совсем слабый) с подключением к Интернету! Он просто нужен для учебы! Вся программа начиная с первого класса изобилует ссылками к сети! Про студентов и говорить не стоит! Там наличие компьютера - это норма.


P.P.S. Those who stop localization and sales in Russian (they already exist) will simply lose the market and money. Others will take their place!

Те кто прекратят локализацию и продажи на русском (такие уже есть) просто потеряют рынок и деньги. Их место займут другие!

[Mad Scientist]

Oprindeligt skrevet af DOKA:

Greetings! If you don’t get hung up on politics, but engage in business (game sales), then you need to take into account that Russian (according to Wiki) is the main (native) language for 147 million people, and as a second (normally mastered) language for another 108 million (256 in total) 19+ countries - a very decent audience 8-9 place among the ten most popular languages! And I repeat my thesis again - no one should force anyone, but to stimulate anyone is permissible and even normal! An audience of a quarter of a billion is quite a decent sum!

Number of people living in a country does not equate to people using one particular store.

Considering active sanctions and basically no ability to do business with that region, the chances of anyone adding such a language are basically 0.

You can ask a developer or publisher to consider such language additions. They will not mandate it.

Oprindeligt skrevet af DOKA:

P.S. As a small point, I’ll add that the main consumers of games are children and youth (students), and in Russia now almost every schoolchild has a computer (and not necessarily a very weak one) with an Internet connection! I just need it for studying! The entire program, starting from first grade, is replete with references to the Internet! It’s not even worth talking about the students! There, having a computer is the norm.

Students often have no purchasing power. Again, there's also sanctions, so there's very little ability to do trade with that region until conflict has ended and is resolved.

[DOKA]

Greetings! Regarding sanctions - well, I use Steam and I don’t suffer!
And as I noted above, more than a quarter of a billion people speak Russian in more than nineteen countries. Even without taking into account Russia itself, there is quite a decent audience. As for purchasing power - trust your father - a child can always beg to buy him a game! And I already wrote about the presence of computers with a network connection.

Приветствую! По поводу санкций - ну я ведь пользуюсь Steam и не страдаю!
И как я отметил выше - русским владеет более четверти миллиарда человек в более чем девятнадцати странах. Даже без учета самой России вполне приличная аудитория. Что же до покупательной способности - поверьте отцу - ребенок всегда сможет упросить купить ему игру! А про наличие компьютеров с подключением к сети я уже писал.