Is Linguistic Game Testing Necessity, Or It Is Luxury

China and India have fast-paced up in the mobile market for tech startups and companies, leaving the US much behind in the league. Today, you have to check your application ten times before you decide to release various language versions of the game or application. You might have to shell out hefty amounts for minor mistakes. Linguistic game testing is an actual necessity for gamers. Linguistic game testing exists to prevent unforeseen situations and must be incorporated at every stage – software development and localization. 

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Understanding game localization testing

It’s natural to wonder about linguistic game testing. In simple words, it is the testing that verifies whether a game or application can cater to a particular region’s cultural, linguistic, and regional specifications. You could be an excellent game developer leading a team of extraordinary members. But that doesn’t mean your team speaks all the languages you wish to localize your game into. While English estimates to be 34.6 percent of users worldwide, other preferred languages include Chinese, Russian, Spanish, German, French, Polish, and Japanese, among others. 

Linguistic game testing is a procedure for testing video games for language comprehension as well as localization. In this process, the testers needed to speak and comprehend the various languages where the game is tested. The testing constitutes the following main stages:

1. Translation: This is the initial stage of game localization testing, where the text, as well as the audio of the game, is translated into the other languages to which the developers want to localize it.

2. Localization: In this step, the game attempts to adapt to the target culture and language. This could imply changing the game’s graphics, audio, and gameplay. 

3. Testing: The testing starts at this point, where the tester will play the game and evaluate it. In this stage, the localization services closely assess the competition for errors in the above steps. They will also search for bugs or other issues in the game. 

4. Reporting: The final phase of linguistic game testing is reporting. In this stage, testers have to report what they have found to the game developers, who will fix the bugs and errors in the game. 

Why is linguistic testing of games necessary? 

The gaming industry is booming at a fast pace. According to Mordor Intelligence’s reports, the global video gaming market is expected to reach $314.40 billion in the next few years. The industry has maintained its position as one of the most lucrative worldwide. That’s because the industry has moved past every single benchmark from the point of view of technology and commerce. Let’s see how linguistic testing helps to ensure every aspect of the game is top-notch:

• Ensures globalization: Games and applications are increasingly becoming global products. Players across the globe are accessing their favorite games through digital platforms like Play Store. In such a scenario, it is imperative to ensure that the game can be enjoyed by players from any place in the world, regardless of their language expertise. 

• Complete analysis and evaluation: Linguistic testing refers to the primary and general checking of the text to ensure that there is zero stylistic, factual, or semantic error. The translation is thoroughly checked to find if it feels native and natural. Since translators lack contextual knowledge at times, mistakes are pretty standard. 

• Entertaining and immersive experience: Online games need to offer entertainment and an all-immersive experience. Minute glitches in the text can disrupt the user’s overall gaming experience. 

• Shorter turnaround time: Nowadays, games are released with a quicker turnaround time. As a result, there is little chance of error. When the developers invest in linguistic game testing in the early phase, developers can save time and money in fixing last-minute errors. 

• High-quality end products: The gaming industry is entirely professionalized. Developers now realize how crucial it is to produce flawless high-quality products. This means those developers investing in linguistic game testing are enjoying a competitive edge compared to those who don’t. 

• Better scalability: The linguistic game testing mainly concerns language peculiarities, including spelling errors, grammatical errors, punctuation errors, terminology consistency, the direction of text, and proper use of names. This testing is a crucial part of game localization testing and offers a brilliant key to scalability. 

When equipped with precise tools, localization testing offers a marvel in scalability. As a game or application expands in newer places and regions, localization only aids in fortifying the odds of success. If localization can be incorporated from the development phase, scalability intertwines with the software.

The source code and the user interface become adaptable enough to align with the needs and preferences of various locals. As a result, it aids in creating, testing, and releasing localized versions for marketing as early as possible. 

It is also linked with the user interface, which ensures that the game or application looks perfect in all targeted languages. At the same time, some may argue that this testing is a luxury on the part of the developers. But in reality, it is an inherent aspect of game development without which a game cannot run long-term. 

With localization testing in effect, quality assessment quickly picks up any error with translation, violation of geographical areas, legal issues, and much more. After all, users prefer to use their favorite games and applications in their native language. This streamlines the quality assessment process, making identifying and removing bugs effortlessly.

Final thoughts

With localization testing, the developers can ensure that the end product is localized to all the desired languages. It can never be a luxury since all strings must be translated, and all terminology should meet the hardware manufacturer’s protocol.

Moreover, this testing ensures that the translations are perfected with a natural consistency. It is an integral part of the quality assurance of any game that takes care of visual and functional quality assurance along with linguistic testing.