A preliminary exploration of the perceptions of Chinese to foreign language mobile game localizers. Processes, trends and areas of improvement

At this moment in time, China ranks as one of the top three video game exporters in the world. Such a success is inextricably linked to localization processes. Video game localizers, either as in-house translators or freelancers, are striving to transfer Chinese interactive experiences around the world. However, these actors at the core of such a key process remain greatly underresearched. In an effort to contribute to translation studies and video game localization, the present study attempts to provide a much-needed self- description of foreign localization specialists. Netnographical methods, including surveys and interviews, allowed online data collection. Through the eyes of professional localizers’, the paper explores the rapid changes taking place inside the Chinese video game localization market and locates several existing types of localization processes. Possible areas of improvement are then extracted from respondents’ verbatim data. Preliminary findings point towards a diverse workforce embedded in a rapidly evolving market, composed of diverse and complex practices. This piece of research strives to throw light on lesser- known localization processes and serves as a springboard to perform in-depth explorations of mobile game localizers’ realities in future.