We always say that game localization is a complex process and that it doesn’t end after adapting the game to another culture. Let’s say you localized your game, what’s next? If you want to make sure of your game’s quality before it hits the market, you need game localization testing. There are different ways to test your game after localization, and today, we will be exploring these in more detail.
Everybody understands different things when it comes to testing in game localization. For some people, testing could mean linguistic quality assurance (LQA) and functional quality assurance (FQA); however, some people could think it’s playtesting. These concepts are different things, but they aim for the same thing: high-quality and error-free game localization.
The whole point of game localization is to enhance the user experience, improve the brand’s reputation, and generate more revenue. By testing your localized game, you can ensure that the users in the target market experience the game in the same way as the players of the original game. During the localization phase, linguists don’t have direct access to the actual game, so they can’t see where the text is supposed to go. In a perfect world, each segment would include context so that the localization can be free of errors, but this is not the case most of the time. So, testing your game after localization shows that you care about your players, and this increases player loyalty.
LQA focuses on the linguistic aspects of the localization: checking the grammatical accuracy, terminological consistencies, contextual accuracy, etc. By conducting LQA, you can ensure that your game has high-quality localization. It is extremely important that LQA is done by a native linguist in order to completely grasp the target language and culture, and make changes accordingly.
As you can understand from its name, FQA focuses on the functionality of the localized game. Linguistic and cultural aspects of localization are not important for FQA. Is there anything wrong with the performance of the game? Are there any bugs or errors? Are all game mechanics adhere to those of the original game? During the FQA process, these questions need to be answered.
Playtesting is the process of playing the game in order to detect errors and provide feedback. The most natural way to see the game from the player’s perspective is to actually be a player, which is why playtesting is amazing when it comes to testing your game. If your game takes a short amount of time to play, it is best to test the whole game and not just a small portion of it. If your game doesn’t have an end, playtesting for at least 7-8 hours can give the best result.
We are aware that high-quality localization seems to have a lot of complex steps, and it can indeed be complex for people who aren’t familiar with game localization. It’s best to trust a dedicated game localization company to guarantee excellent localization. Many companies offer a full localization service, including LQA, FQA, and playtesting. It’s up to you to choose the best game localization company for your needs and get the perfect game localization service!
Written by
Ecenaz Batur
Marketing Specialist
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