{"id":791,"date":"2021-08-13T16:22:29","date_gmt":"2021-08-13T23:22:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ibabbleon.com\/copywriter-translator\/?p=791"},"modified":"2021-08-13T16:29:47","modified_gmt":"2021-08-13T23:29:47","slug":"gdc-localization-wrapup-inclusivity-in-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibabbleon.com\/copywriter-translator\/2021\/08\/gdc-localization-wrapup-inclusivity-in-games\/","title":{"rendered":"Localization at GDC 2021: Inclusive Writing for the Win"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

GDC 2021 was once again completely virtual, but that did not prevent it from being an amazing event. I attended this year for more insight on game localization, and was impressed with the variety of presentations and diverse attendees. \u201cInclusivity\u201d in game development was on everyone\u2019s agenda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Localization always focuses on the details of language. That means the user experience gets even more scrutiny, especially for dialog and culture. Most games lack this attention to detail, but it isn\u2019t intentional. When you\u2019re not trained for it, how would you know?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GDC 2021 helped answer these questions about inclusivity, and here\u2019s a look at how.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inclusive Writing (& Design) in Games<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Inclusivity in games focused on narrative writing and game development. According to several speakers, you can design experiences and write texts that openly show non-binary gender identities and diverse sexual orientations. This is new; in the past, avoiding<\/em> discussions of gender was considered \u201cinclusive.\u201d It is a step forward for English speakers, but what about the rest of the world?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In English, words themselves don\u2019t have gender. Writers can avoid specifying a character\u2019s gender or sexual orientation in a couple of ways. Instead of \u201cpoliceman\u201d or \u201cpolicewoman\u201d we say \u201cpolice officer\u201d and avoid the gender completely. When did the police officer come? \u201cThey just left!\u201d Writers often use the word \u201cthey\u201d instead of \u201che\u201d or \u201cshe.\u201d As English speakers, we understand this \u201cthey\u201d is not plural, but just a way to avoid specifying if a character is male or female.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wouldn\u2019t applaud this avoidant strategy as being inclusive, but it still allows the experience to be open-ended and fit a diverse community of players. The bigger issue comes when you want to localize this experience for non-English speakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One common problem I hear from translators is how some languages lack a neutral pronoun, like \u201cthey\u201d in English. In many European languages, for example, every object or person must<\/em> have a gender. Translators are told to work around the problem, but grammar rules are strict, making this type of inclusivity hard. In these cases, translators have to make important decisions about how the story or game text is presented to users in their language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what does a translator do? The issues are best solved at the early stages of game development. \u201cThey\u201d need the help of the game\u2019s writers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are some ideas presented at GDC on the topic of inclusivity in game development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t exclude unintentionally.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n