Journey to the East: Cultural adaptation of video games for the Chinese market

With the era of globalisation, China has become one of the most important video game markets in the world. To enter the Chinese market, culture adjustments are often made to video games in order to meet the needs and expectations of Chinese gamers. After briefly describing the characteristics of the...

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Main Authors: Luo Dong, Carme Mangiron
Format: Article
Language:deu
Published: ZHAW 2018-01-01
Series:JoSTrans: The Journal of Specialised Translation
Online Access:https://www.jostrans.org/article/view/7827
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author Luo Dong
Carme Mangiron
author_facet Luo Dong
Carme Mangiron
author_sort Luo Dong
collection DOAJ
description With the era of globalisation, China has become one of the most important video game markets in the world. To enter the Chinese market, culture adjustments are often made to video games in order to meet the needs and expectations of Chinese gamers. After briefly describing the characteristics of the Chinese game market, this article will focus on the process of cultural adaptation that games undergo when they are localised into Chinese, focusing on game-related aspects such as number format, food-related terminology, myths and legends, songs, the use of colours, character design, and game mechanics, as well as sociocultural, economic and political issues such as gaming habits and censorship. A number of examples are provided to illustrate how the above-mentioned aspects may affect the success of a foreign game in the Chinese market. The article concludes by highlighting the importance of cultural adaptation in game localisation into Chinese and outlining future research avenues.
format Article
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institution Kabale University
issn 1740-357X
language deu
publishDate 2018-01-01
publisher ZHAW
record_format Article
series JoSTrans: The Journal of Specialised Translation
spelling doaj-art-39967e72bc4f4b46a77817d9c069cb9c2025-08-20T03:30:08ZdeuZHAWJoSTrans: The Journal of Specialised Translation1740-357X2018-01-012910.26034/cm.jostrans.2018.216Journey to the East: Cultural adaptation of video games for the Chinese marketLuo DongCarme MangironWith the era of globalisation, China has become one of the most important video game markets in the world. To enter the Chinese market, culture adjustments are often made to video games in order to meet the needs and expectations of Chinese gamers. After briefly describing the characteristics of the Chinese game market, this article will focus on the process of cultural adaptation that games undergo when they are localised into Chinese, focusing on game-related aspects such as number format, food-related terminology, myths and legends, songs, the use of colours, character design, and game mechanics, as well as sociocultural, economic and political issues such as gaming habits and censorship. A number of examples are provided to illustrate how the above-mentioned aspects may affect the success of a foreign game in the Chinese market. The article concludes by highlighting the importance of cultural adaptation in game localisation into Chinese and outlining future research avenues.https://www.jostrans.org/article/view/7827
spellingShingle Luo Dong
Carme Mangiron
Journey to the East: Cultural adaptation of video games for the Chinese market
JoSTrans: The Journal of Specialised Translation
title Journey to the East: Cultural adaptation of video games for the Chinese market
title_full Journey to the East: Cultural adaptation of video games for the Chinese market
title_fullStr Journey to the East: Cultural adaptation of video games for the Chinese market
title_full_unstemmed Journey to the East: Cultural adaptation of video games for the Chinese market
title_short Journey to the East: Cultural adaptation of video games for the Chinese market
title_sort journey to the east cultural adaptation of video games for the chinese market
url https://www.jostrans.org/article/view/7827
work_keys_str_mv AT luodong journeytotheeastculturaladaptationofvideogamesforthechinesemarket
AT carmemangiron journeytotheeastculturaladaptationofvideogamesforthechinesemarket