Pulse
LOCALISATION ROUNDTABLE LIGHTNING BOX, WAZDAN, ONETOUCH, RED TIGER
How do you localise games? Is it a case of offering an alternate language option or does it mean a wholesale shift in mechanics, features and design?
Michael: Knowing the player is everything in game design. It’s clearly true that what one enjoys will not necessarily float the boat of the next one. To a degree you see that on a country- by-country basis. A good example would be the popularity of Joker themes games and those with a retro Stepper mechanic in Norway.
We know these don’t have nearly as much appeal in other markets. However, we don’t really focus attention on creating specific games for specific markets. Rather than look for differences, we look for similarities.
Mechanics and themes that have universal appeal are a far better revenue driver for our operator partners than ones that have narrower or more niche appeal.
It’s about understanding what keeps players
also make our games deliberately light to compensate for variations in local download speeds. We may introduce certain cultural themes, but that isn’t to say those themes won’t appeal to players elsewhere too.
Mechanics, other than volatility mentioned above, do not tend to be so significant in regional variation and are probably subject to less change. Ultimately, what operators want are global hits with universal appeal, so the starting point has always to be the macro not the micro.
Andrzej: Knowing what is important in a market is the key and creating features or environments that reflect the player preference can be much more beneficial than merely adding more languages or currencies. Tat is why we created, for instance, 9 Tigers, 9 Lions or Butterfly Lovers, in which even the smallest details complement the Asia-related theme.
Te same thing can be said about slots such as Los Muertos, centred around the Mexican holiday, or Valhalla, featuring elements of Norse
success with that region’s population.
Still, we also want to make sure that every player can enjoy our games to the fullest, being able to use a currency or cryptocurrency of their choice, as well as having all buttons and announcements available in their native language. With such a diverse world, localising games can be a fun exercise for development teams and seeing the success of hard work as localised content takes off can be extremely fulfilling, if done correctly.
Petra: Failing to localise a game can mean po- tential customers are not comfortable playing it. Worse still, it might not work at all – themes often need to be adapted to a local culture, but technical features may also need to be tweaked too.
A UI that works well in Latin America, for example, may not function as effectively in Europe, and US websites tend to look completely different to British ones. In this
Localised content can be important in emerging online markets. It makes a lot of sense to take games that have been popular in the country’s land-based market and re-purpose them when an operator goes online. That way you are taking players on a journey with familiar landmarks. Last year we had a big hit in Finland with Kulta-Jaska MegaWays, which we created as an exclusive for Veikkaus. The original Kulta-Jaska was a hugely popular game with Finns. We were able to take it to the next level by adding the licensed Megaways mechanic. We didn’t start off by asking ourselves what Finns might like, we took an established success and improved it further.
engaged and coming back in their numbers, not about putting them in pigeonholes. Too much attempted localisation misses the point.
Petra: You must have a detailed understanding of what your audience wants. For instance, our sumo-themed hit Ganbaruto Battle appeals heavily to, amongst others, Estonian players, as it features a well-known wrestler from that country named Baruto Kaito.
However, although themes reflecting a local culture often work well, it can also transpire that a great game is a great game no matter where you play it. For example, our basketball- themed title MVP Hoops has proved a global hit, despite being based on a sport that is hugely popular in specific parts of the world, but barely known in others.
Carl: Clearly you need game rules in different languages and technical compliance varies, depending on where you are in the world. We
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mythology, among others. Creating market- specific content is the extreme of localisation, but when entering a market, this can be a huge differentiator, allowing suppliers to make a splash and immediately enticing their content to players.
It’s also worth noting that while some games are localised for a specific market, they may become a surprising hit among players in other parts of the world too, as in the case of our slots 9 Lions and Larry the Leprechaun.
Is localising content important?
Andrzej: Every player has a different taste, so entering all markets with the exact same content will see wildly varying results. Successful games in Latin America and the United Kingdom will be hugely different, so creating games that appeal to different players is vital. Knowing target markets and finding key preferences is so important if games are to be a
industry, you can only succeed by fully understanding what works best in the region you are targeting.
Carl: Localised content can be important in emerging online markets. It makes a lot of sense to take games that have been popular in the country’s land-based market and re-purpose them when an operator goes online. Tat way you are taking players on a journey with familiar landmarks. Last year we had a big hit in Finland with Kulta-Jaska MegaWays which we created as an exclusive for Veikkaus, the state- run operator. Te original Kulta-Jaska was a hugely popular game with Finns. We were able to take it to the next level by adding the licensed Megaways mechanic. We didn’t start off by asking ourselves what Finns might like, we took an established success and improved it further.
I think you could say that it is a pragmatic approach to localisation, rather than localisation for the sake of it.
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