An overview of the localisation of video games into Arabic

Abstract

With the emergence of video game localisation studies in the last decade, scholarly interest in translation studies in this young discipline has increased. Although globalisation has encouraged video game companies to offer their products in as many languages and markets as feasible, this academic discipline is still an under-researched area, especially in the Arab context. This article presents an overview to engender a better understanding of the nature of video games and their localisation in the Arab market. This market is distinct due to its culture, politics and language. In addition to the translational challenges related to the Arabic language, this study deals with the specificities of video game localisation from political, cultural and linguistic perspectives. This research offers a historical overview of the localisation of video games into Arabic since the inception of the practice, including an outline of the main localisation milestones in this field.