Follow-up – Jawdat Nasri
The virtual world of games gives players an opportunity to enjoy a good experience of fun and excitement, and with the increase in the popularity of these games, electronic sports tournaments and game competitions have also increased, with the Saudi Electronic Sports Federation directing efforts to Arabize electronic games.
the reasons
Although there are video games supported in the Arabic language and directed to a segment of Arab youth who are fond of such games, there has been a neglect of their Arabization at some point, and this is due – according to specialists – to the following:
– The small number of buyers of games in the Arab world, due to the low level of income
– Too much piracy, not to lack of players.
– The emergence of some different voices among themselves regarding the preference of dubbing in classical or colloquial.
Localization of games
Although some attempts to Arabize electronic games may suffer from literal translation or poor audio performance, Arabization efforts are improving and developing significantly. About 12 or 10 years ago, we began to witness great and remarkable efforts by game companies to localize their games in Arabic, led by PlayStation and Ubisoft. and others.
In the past few years, the number of Arabized games has begun to increase a lot, and the number of companies interested in presenting their games in the Arabic language is growing more and more. Localized video:
Tomb Raider – dubbing with subtitles
It is considered as a reboot for the series released in 2013, as it retells the story of Lara Croft from the beginning, so it was important that we return to live Lara’s story from its beginning through our mother tongue, and this game is considered one of the best Arabized games as translating menus and dubbing dialogues, as the Lebanese actress Nadine Njeim excelled She assumed the role and character of Lara with a distinguished performance in the voice acting of the heroine of the game, Lara Croft, in classical Arabic, to the extent that we were attached to her more than the foreign actress, even the performance of the rest of the characters in the dubbing was excellent.
The last part, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, also received support in the Arabic language, but it was not at the level of the first part of the robot, as the translation was comprehensive for the menus and dialogues, and in general it was good and understandable. Due to the difference between the Arabic and English languages, and apparently due to lack of time, parts of the conversations were deleted to make them shorter and faster, which affected the quality of the dubbing, making it difficult to understand and not reflecting the atmosphere of the game as required.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Text translation of menus and dialogues
One of the best games of the last decade, The Witcher 3 is a massive RPG that offers complex and branching gameplay systems.
The efforts made in Arabizing it are very impressive and a commendable effort. Everything in it is translated, from the names of enemies and tools, to the names of plants and mixtures, and the texts of the dialogues are complete very well.
Deathloop – Subtitled
It is the first “Bethesda” game to support the Arabic language, as the game’s support for Arabic is limited to texts and menus without supporting audio dubbing – which is usually the most common request from players in the region.
Bethesda was able to provide a very good level of translation, as the game won the Best Localization Award at the Arab Games Awards 2021.
Battlefield 1 – dubbing and translation
The game talks mainly regarding Lawrence of Arabia, and the fall of the Ottoman Empire, so the presence of the Arabic language was very appropriate here, and EA succeeded in providing in this game a translation of texts and an elaborate Arabic voice performance that makes the player feel that he is watching a documentary film on the National Geographic channel, had it not been for some broken words And nagging with a pony.
God of War Ragnarok – dubbed and subtitled
Since the game has an epic story full of events and twists, the news of its Arabization was an impressive addition, and it can be said that the Arabic translation was very good, while the dubbing is acceptable and either or both of the options can be activated.
Finally, the presence of games supported in the Arabic language helps players understand and enjoy them, for easy access to options and menus, knowing what is required of you in the game, or understanding and enjoying the story.
