Localization of Digital Games: The Process of Blending for the Global Games Market

he process of localizing digital games can be significantly different from the process of localizing productivity software; although many of the issues can be discussed in similar terms, the game industry carries with it a series of unique challenges. The term digital game itself requires some clarification. Kerr (2002) defines digital games as “games on a number of different digital platforms ... [that] include a wide number of digital game genres” (p. 10). As Kerr notes, “Digital games combine and extend many different media (video, audio, text, graphics) and both borrow and parody existing forms of entertainment just as early radio, television and film did before it” (p. 10).