5 Affordable Strategies for Indonesian Game Localization

For international game developers, Indonesia's gaming market presents a highly attractive opportunity. According to Antara, young gamers make up 43% of the gaming population in Indonesia, the largest proportion in Southeast Asia, with projections estimating 192 million gamers by 2025.

Research by Garena also places Indonesia 16th in the global gaming market rankings, highlighting its potential as a rapidly growing industry. It's no surprise that numerous developers from around the world are keen to expand their presence in this market.

However, achieving high-quality Indonesian game localization does require an investment. Some might consider free options like Google Translate or crowdsourcing (i.e., fan translations). While these methods are cost-free, they often result in significant quality issues. So, how can you localize your game to Indonesian on a limited budget without compromising quality? Discover the strategies in the following discussion!

Is Indonesian Game Localization Worth It?

Localizing games into Indonesian can be costly, particularly for indie development studios with limited budgets. Many new studios attempt to handle localization manually despite lacking the necessary industry experience. However, there are compelling reasons why Indonesian game localization is a worthwhile investment:

• To effectively reach and engage the Indonesian market, you need to tailor your game to their unique preferences and characteristics.
• Localizing your game in Indonesian significantly boosts downloads, reviews, social media presence, and overall marketing efforts. Indonesian players are more likely to download and engage with a game if they can understand its content.
• When players understand and enjoy your game, it enhances their satisfaction and builds loyalty and retention.
• Recognizing and valuing players makes them more likely to keep playing and spend money on in-game purchases or other premium content.
• With the highest percentage of young gamers in Southeast Asia, Indonesia offers substantial opportunities to attract more players and increase game spending. This leads to higher revenue growth, better conversion rates, and greater monetization potential.

Budget-Friendly Tips for Succeeding Your Indonesian Game Localization

Here are several ways to save money on the process of localizing your game into Indonesian:

1. Start Early

Don't delay localization until the final stages of your game design. Localization and game design have a very close relationship, where decisions in one aspect can greatly influence the other. By considering localization from the start, you can ensure that important elements such as text, dialogue, and the game interface are designed to be easily translated and adapted to Indonesian culture. This also helps identify potential problems early, such as not having enough text space for longer language or images that may not be culturally appropriate. If localization is done at a late stage, you may face a lot of unnecessary rework, which can take additional time and cost. For example, fixing dialogue or text that doesn't match the local culture, or having to overhaul the interface because it doesn't support special characters in the target language. All of this could be avoided if you included localization in the design process from the start. Additionally, early Indonesian game localization also enables for early testing with local audiences. Feedback from this testing is invaluable in ensuring that your game is well-received in its intended market. In this way, you not only save time and money but also improve the quality and suitability of your game for Indonesian players.

2. Keep Your Word Count in Check

Avoid using long and wordy texts that do not add value to the game. Don't forget to review every dialogue and sentence structure in your game to remove unnecessary or repetitive parts. By reducing the number of words used, you will minimize the need for translation, thereby saving time and money. Every word saved means less text that needs to be translated, ultimately reducing the workload and overall localization costs.

Additionally, it's best to do localization holistically in one large project rather than splitting it into several smaller projects. The reason is that when you combine all your translation and localization needs into one project, you are more likely to get more competitive rates from localization service providers. This is because larger projects often attract discounts or lower per-word rates compared to several small, separate projects.

Combining all the elements that need to be localized at one time also helps maintain consistency in translation. This way, your in-game terminology, style, and tone will be more uniform, improving the quality of the gaming experience for users.

3. Opt for Simple File Formats for Localized Strings

Using external files for localized strings is one of the main principles in saving the Indonesian game localization process. However, merely using separate files for translated text isn't sufficient. It’s crucial to ensure these files are in a format that simplifies the translation process or can be easily converted into a more translation-friendly format. Formats such as Excel files, XML files, and tab-separated text files are generally quite effective in facilitating the work of translators. Furthermore, it's important to note that many translators charge additional fees for working with complex or uncommon file formats. Therefore, it's advisable to have a discussion with your translation team before starting the localization process. Inquire about the file formats they find most user-friendly and whether there are any specific preferences that could streamline the translation process.

Selecting the appropriate file format not only eases the translator’s workload but also minimizes the risk of translation errors. Properly structured files enable translators to concentrate on the content without spending extra time dealing with technical challenges or unfamiliar formats. This ensures that the localization process proceeds smoothly and efficiently, saving both time and money.

By choosing simple and easily translatable file formats, you can guarantee a seamless localization process from beginning to end. This strategy ensures your game can be accurately and swiftly localized, making it ready for Indonesian players without any technical obstacles.

4. Replace Long Text With Visuals

Have you ever heard the saying "a picture is worth a thousand words"? This adage is very relevant in the gaming industry, and you should make the most of it. Using visual elements not only makes your game more interesting but can also reduce the cost and effort required for the localization process. Instead of using long, complicated text descriptions, try looking for opportunities to replace them with descriptive images.

Visual elements such as icons, pictograms, and other graphic elements have the advantage of being universally understood in various cultural contexts. For example, an icon with a heart to indicate “lives” or an image of coins to indicate in-game “currency”. These symbols require no translation and can be readily understood by players from any background. In doing so, you reduce the amount of text that needs to be translated, which ultimately reduces localization costs.

5. Empower Your Indonesian Game Localization Team With Detailed Context

To ensure high-quality game translation and localization, especially for your indie games, it is crucial for the translation team to thoroughly understand your game's original text. The more detailed information you provide, the better the translation will be. Here are some actions you can implement:

Character Description Describe each character in your game in detail. Include information such as their gender, age, habits, lifestyle, background, and personality. This information helps translators understand how characters should speak and behave, so they can provide accurate and context-appropriate translations.

Communication Style Determine each character's communication style. Are they serious, aggressive, funny, or old-fashioned? Additionally, identify the dialect or accent they use. For example, does the character use formal or casual language? Are there any special phrases or slang they frequently use? These details are important so that the translation remains consistent with the character's personality and background.

Context Related to the Virtual World and Actions in Your Game Provide an in-depth description of the virtual world in which your game takes place and the timing of the in-game action. Describe the geographical, cultural, historical, and technological settings that exist in that world. If your game is set in the future, past, or fantasy world, translators need to know this context to adjust the translation appropriately.

Takeaways

Considering the information provided, investing in Indonesian game localization is highly advisable, especially given that Indonesia boasts the largest gaming market and revenue potential in Southeast Asia. With a growing and substantial player base, Indonesia presents a lucrative opportunity for game developers.

However, localizing a game into Indonesian on a tight budget requires meticulous planning and strategic approaches, particularly for indie developers with limited resources. If you find yourself unsure of where to begin, partnering with Digital Trans-Asia is the best choice.

Digital Trans-Asia provides expert and cost-effective game localization services tailored for the Indonesian market. Our team of specialists ensures that your game is translated accurately and resonates with local cultural nuances. Seize the chance to dominate the biggest gaming market in Southeast Asia. Reach out to us today and embark on your path to success with Digital Trans-Asia!