The issue with Arabic Localization

How are Arabic Localizations of video games being taken by players in the Gulf?

4 min readMay 16, 2018

In 2009, Activision released Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, a first person shooter on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game included a map that depicted Pakistan, yet featured Arabic text, even though the Official languages spoken in Pakistan are Urdu and English.

In comparison, Sony Computer Entertainment released Uncharted 3, an action-adventure game exclusively on the PlayStation 3 in 2011. One of the scenes in the game had an Egyptian character, played by actual Egyptian-American Actor Sayed Badreya, that spoke in fluent, informal Arabic. Naughty Dog, the game developers behind the game series, then released Uncharted 4 in 2016, which had fully localized Arabic dubbing in the game.

These two instances show how if executed correctly, localizing games in Arabic can possibly create a better gaming experience that would exceed expectations for Arabic speakers.

The first ever game to be translated in Arabic was Pixar’s ‘WALL-E’ video game on current gen consoles at the time in 2008. The game came out as a tie-in with the movie’s release. Although, 2004 football game “This is Football” from Sony developers featured Arabic audio commentary.

“My experience with the Arabic localization is okay for the most part. The translation tends to be great (Resident Evil 7 and The Witcher 3 are the best two examples)” says Mohammed, the General Manager behind OmaniGamerz.com, a weekly podcast show and online personality. “Dubbing, on the other hand is all over the place. […] Games fall short in these departments when they use standard Arabic and the way the lines are delivered is mediocre at best.”

The standard Arabic vernacular that Mohammed mentions tends to be the easier route game companies go for. The game Far Cry 5 was released earlier this March by Ubisoft, and has Standard Arabic subtitles as an option. Although, you could only turn the subtitles on after the introductory cut-scene to the game.

Majid Al Mazaami, the content creator behind YouTube channel Tarfeeh says, “It’s not as good as it could be right now, there are a few translation errors with Arabic terminology. The voice actors in these games seem to be beginners.” Although Majid’s channel features videos exclusively in Arabic, he says, “Translations continue to ruin the experience of the game for me due to them being very primitive. That negatively affects me so I avoid playing them in Arabic, although I buy the Arabic versions to support their efforts.”

However, when contacted about the issue, popular Arabic gaming website Saudi Gamer’s content manager Saleh Bazara says, “Arabic Localization is growing real fast. Not only to make accessing menus easier, but making the player understand the story of the game to make it more enjoyable, which gives the player the ideas, culture, and knowledge.” Saudi Gamer has been running online since early 2009. “It’s facing some problems like technical issues for text, metaphrases or not-so-good voice acting, but still deliver a decent experience for Arab players, especially young players who would enter video games and get used to Arabic while they grow with it.”

Last month, PlayStation Saudi Arabia tweeted that Quantic Dream’s new game Detroit: Become Human will feature Arabic dubbing, subtitles, and a user interface all in Arabic. When the demo released on the 24th of April, the Arabic dubbing was done exclusively with an Egyptian dialect. The game will be out later this month on the 25th of May. This isn’t the first time Egyptian voice actors were explored. Guerrilla Games’ Horizon Zero Dawn featured an array of cast members with a diverse group of voice actors, and their roles were recorded in Egypt.

“Of course when you work in a region that encompasses 18 Arabic speaking territories, it’s a very tricky matter.” says Malek Teffaha, the head of communication and localization sector behind Game publishing company Ubisoft’s Middle East branch. When asked about Ubisoft ME’s efforts In terms of localization he says, “We have had two fully localized and dubbed games (AC Syndicate and Division 1) and 10 games with some form of support (Be it subtitles only or menus as well). We are exploring other dialect options for future games, mostly Syrian, due to its popularity with dubbed shows and movies recently. But the text based localization will always be MSA to ensure that the common denominator is always accessible by all.”

The localization of games in Arabic is fairly new, so as newer games may offer an Arabic option, older games did not. That’s why Athbi, an avid gamer from Kuwait took matters into his own hands and began translating old games in Arabic. He has reworked what was the original English text that is read from left to right into Arabic text that’s read right to left. Something that wasn’t available on older consoles, is showcased on his Patreon. His latest project is localizing SNES RPG Final Fantasy VI in Arabic.

As the industry moves forward to be inclusive of languages, it’s important to remember that English is used as a lingua franca, and it is sometimes used as a jumping point to boost localization in different languages.

Special thanks to the content creators featured in this article!

You can find them on their links below:

Mohammed, General Manager behind @ Omani Gamerz.

Website: omanigamerz.com

Twitter: twitter.com/icomairi

Majid Al Mazaami, content creator behind Tarfeeh.

Twitter: twitter.com/sircorvo

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyp3VjabK3x4Qllu3JZ3l6A

Saleh Bazara, content manager @ Saudi Gamer.

Website: saudigamer.com/

Twitter: twitter.com/salehbazara

Malek Teffaha, head of the localization team at Ubisoft Middle East.