China has one of the most lucrative gaming markets in the world. According to Statista, in 2022, the video gaming market in China generated approximately 44 billion U.S. dollars in annual revenues, ranking second in the world. In terms of the gaming population, the number reached 664 million in 2022.

However, game regulation in China is notoriously complex. Games that wish to officially launch in China need to work with local Chinese publishers and go through a complicated review process to receive International Standard Book Numbers (ISBN) from the government. Meanwhile, strict content regulation enforces many restrictions on games.

Fortunately, the PC and console game markets are not strictly censored. PC platforms such as Steam and the Epic Games Store have a very large player base, and the console grey market is also prevalent. This can be an alternative route for your game to enter the Chinese market. 

To reach this lucrative game market and obtain commercial success, it’s important to know what to do. This article gives a brief introduction to how you can properly prepare to localize and test your game to enter the Chinese market.

Get your game localized for Chinese gamers

There is a huge population of Chinese players, and thus localization is the first step to giving your game an opportunity for success in the Chinese market.  

During the period when consoles were banned in mainland China from 2000 to 2015, many console games tended to only have Traditional Chinese localization for players in Hong Kong and Taiwan.  

However, with the growing number of Chinese players and the mitigation of the console ban in China in recent years, more and more games chose to add Simplified Chinese when released. For instance, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, released in 2015, only offered the Traditional Chinese language option. In the next-generation version of the game that released in 2022, the developers added Simplified Chinese alongside Mandarin voice acting. 

Simplified Chinese is the official language in mainland China, while Traditional Chinese is widely used in Hong Kong and Taiwan. They are similar in terms of form but are different in grammar and phrases.  

Although it isn’t difficult for Simplified Chinese users to recognize Traditional Chinese and vice versa, game localization should always be authentic and accurate to players’ languages as much as possible. For the best result, both Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese versions of your game should be released.  

Moreover, localized audio is also a trend in China. In recent years, more games, such as Cyberpunk 2077, Borderlands 3, and Dying Light 2 Stay Human, have added Mandarin voice acting and have received positive comments about it from Chinese players.

If you are considering localized voice acting in your games, it might be good to start with Mandarin, as it engages a larger player base. But if you are willing to dig deeper into the Chinese market, adding Cantonese (the spoken language in Hong Kong and some parts of the Guangdong area) voice acting is also a good option. For example, a recent well-known case is SIFU by Sloclap, which offered full Mandarin and Cantonese voice acting delivered by our voice production specialists at SIDE Shanghai.

Here are some useful top tips from our own localization experts:

• Despite the similarities between Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese, the two are different in various ways. Finding local game linguists helps ensure the localization quality for your target gamers. 
• Be careful about using buzzwords and slang in Chinese localization. 
• If any controversies for localization crop up, timely patches can greatly reduce any negative impacts.
• If you are planning a sequel or spin-off, ensure the consistency of the terms across the series.

Be cautious with content  

What is one of the most difficult tasks when launching a game in China? Many would point to game content regulation, which is strict and complicated. Guidelines from the National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA) indicate that games cannot have the presence of many elements, such as blood, erotica, drugs, gambling, etc. 

As the most notable one, political content is a red flag, and can have a severe impact on your game. If your game is launched through channels beyond the Chinese government’s regulation, the relevant information, downloads, news, or guides can still be fully removed from all local websites, forums, and game communities. This will drastically impact the commercial performance of your game.  

Also, be sure to look at the out-of-game content that will be used to publicize the game locally. A local Community Manager can advise on what content would work best to publicize and engage an audience with your game. 

Localization Quality Assurance for Chinese

Finally, do not forget the importance of thorough linguistic testing of your game, especially if your game is translated from any European language (e.g., English, French, German, etc.) into Chinese.

Let’s look at dialogue in English and Simplified Chinese from Cyberpunk 2077. You can easily see that the same dialogue appears longer in English than the text box in Chinese. 

Typically, when a game is translated from one language to another, the unique characteristics of the languages themselves may inevitably cause some errors when text is displayed in-game. If you simply put the translated sentences into the text box in your game without further adjustment or checks, there will probably be some fundamental errors, including issues on new lines, character strings, blank spaces, font, format, incorrect code, and other unexpected issues. A thorough localization QA check before release ensures that the game remains consistent outside of the original language version.

Here are some useful tips from PTW‘s elite LQA team:

• LQA not only checks the accuracy of translations but also ensures that text appears in the right place and in the right manner.
• Prepare LQA during the early stages of your game development and ensure collaboration between the LQA team and translators in the localization process. This can improve the efficiency and quality of the translation.
• LQA for each variation of the Chinese language should be carried out by corresponding testers who are native speakers.

Summary  

A game’s success in the Chinese market requires proper localization and culturalization. It might be difficult for the game’s developers and publishers to navigate through the regulations and cultural preferences. Working with a global service provider like PTW can help you to overcome such challenges and create an unhindered pathway for your games.

PTW and its family of brands can:

• Localize your game in both Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese. Our local linguists based at PTW Shanghai and PTW Taipei ensure that your game caters to local audiences.
• Do thorough Localization Quality Assurance (LQA) testing to find localization bugs before release.
• Offer localized audio in Mandarin and Cantonese.
• Provide certification testing for all big console platforms, including Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox.
• Conduct payment testing.