One of the big events this March was LocJAM3, an online contest for game translators, a non-profit initiative aimed at spreading the word about video game localization. We participated in it and became one of the winners. Now the results are published, and the best works are available for download and study, so we would like to talk a bit about this contest.

The name is quite clear – LocJAM3 is the third occurrence of this event. It’s organized by a group of volunteers, coordinated by team GLOC on behalf of the IGDA Localization SIG. Team GLOC is a small freelance team specializing in English-to-Italian translation. The IGDA (International Game Developers Association) is the largest non-profit association devoted to game developers. The first LocJAM was held in March 2014 with over 500 participants joining.

The great thing about this contest is that professional translators can try out new areas, and newbies can take a look and understand what “translating games” tastes like. Free workshops are organized all over the world – anyone can learn more about localization, ask questions, and meet more experienced colleagues.

Quality is essential in the world of game development. The figure below illustrates how much language influences the success of the game.

Lots of players just won’t choose a game they don’t understand. Others won’t play if the quality of the localization is low: it is unclear, boring, or dull. So the more translators set their sights on game localization, the higher the chances games will not only be beautiful and exciting but will talk with us with a nice and clear tone.

Our congratulations to all the LocJAM3 participants! We’re looking forward to the next contest.