On the sociolinguistics of video games localisation. Localising games into minority languages in Spain

This paper addresses the localization of video games into minority languages by presenting a qualitative study which reports on interviews with professional game localizers and translation scholars from bilingual territories in Spain: the Balearic Islands, the Basque Country, Catalonia, Galicia, and the Valencian Community. The article argues that sociolinguistics has been largely ignored within the emerging field of video game translation, and the implications of and the need to adapt video games into minority languages deserves further investigation. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were held with 5 experts aiming to recall their perceptions and views of the current situation of game localisation in Spain. The analysis of the interviews suggests there is a mismatch between the current reality of video game localisation, which is clearly market-driven, and the scenario for language diversity developed in the European Union and in Spain in the last few decades.