While established game developers and publishers now dedicate the time and resources necessary to solid translation, tools like Google Translate have given rise to a new sector of poorly translated games – games from indie developers looking for the “quick-fix” solution to global game markets.  I’ve written blog posts on this topic before, and I’ll likely write on it again, as I continue to encounter increasingly larger numbers of game studios using tools like Google Translate at incredibly high rates, at significant risk of actually driving gamers in global markets from playing their games.  By using translation tools at excessive rates (and more as a translation program than a mere tool), game studios could likely end up in a new series of YouTube videos by gamers who find your translation just as amusing as English translations of the NES/SNES days – “Conglaturation!!!  You have completed a great game.  And prooved the justice of our culture.”

Given that over 50% of worldwide game revenue comes from markets outside the United States, it is crucial for mobile game developers not only to make their games accessible on multiple platforms but also to gamers of different linguistic markets.  Would you take your Unity code that you developed for your iPhone game, simply use it to build an Android version, and release it – as is – for the Android market?  No!  Of course not!  With the varying interfaces, input methods, and other capability differences between Android models, it is essential to test for bugs and correct them, adapting your game to various Android devices.  The same is true with releasing your games for foreign markets.  If you don’t take the time to adapt your game to other audiences, you run the risk of your game simply not working within those markets.

We’ve all heard stories across brands, industries, and product lines in which cultural and linguistic considerations were not taken into account, and what generally happens as a result?  Entire product lines are recalled, at great expense to the company.  Imagine the money these companies could have saved by simply asking a native speaker to review their marketing materials and products.  Even images that non-native speakers might not consider to check are subject to costly errors within a given target market.  Ever hear about Nike’s product recall in 1996, forcing the company the recall 800,000 shoes due to the “Air” logo resembling the Arabic script for “Allah?”  Do you really want your game studio to make headlines by outraging an entire community of gamers?  I’m guessing a lawsuit is at the very bottom of purchases you’d like to make.

The American Marketing Association (AMA) conducted a study regarding product recall and found that consumers “[tend] to be more understanding if the company initiating the recall had never done so before or if it was well-liked.”  Unfortunately, smaller game studios just finding their place in the international market are more likely to use Google Translate as a cheap translation solution rather than a tool.  These are the same companies that likely have not had the time and resources to build up their brand’s reputation on a global scale and will be severely impacted by a localization blunder.  By taking such shortcuts, you have a better chance of negatively impacting your company’s image as opposed to enhancing it.  This quote from an article about reputation and brand image sums up the damage that can result, “Building your brand’s reputation takes years.  But it can be destroyed overnight with a product recall.”

Aside from the fact that there is a strong likelihood developers will damage their brand by relying too heavily on Google Translate, here’s the real kicker – By running your game’s strings through Google Translate, you are actually granting permission to third parties to permanently retain and use your original text.  For this reason, a number of translation companies legally prohibit employees from running any source material through Google Translate and similar tools.  You wouldn’t want to make your game text liable for being recycled by another developer, now would you?

It typically costs less to do something right the first time than spend the time and resources redoing it, and in the case of adapting games for foreign markets, the associated cost of recovering from significant localization blunders can come at an incredibly high price.  Game studios that overutilize translation tools and don’t allot the attention necessary for localization are likely to damage their games and brand reputation within foreign markets.  The financial implications of overutilizing these tools are significant, as these markets are key to attaining over half of the potential revenue for any given game.  Google Translate is a great tool, but it is just that, a tool.  Asking a native speaker to translate or (at the very least) review your game in the target language can rescue your game from becoming a wildfire YouTube share for mistranslations on par with “A winner is you!”

If there are any conferences we missed, please let us know @LanguageAutoInc.  We greatly appreciate and encourage feedback!

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January 3-5, 2013 9th International Congress on English at VIT University, Vellore

January 3-5, 2013 Inflectional Classes in the Languages of the Americas in Boston, Massachussets

January 3-6, 2013 American Name Society Annual Meeting in Boston, Massachussets

January 3-6, 2013 Latin American Contexts for Language Documentation and Revitalization in Boston, Massachussets

January 3-6, 2013 128th MLA Annual Convention in Boston, Massachussets

January 7-9, 2013 How categorical are categories? at the University of Wroclaw, Poland

January 11-12, 2013 Genre- and Register-related Text and Discourse Features Multilingual Corpora in Brussels, Belgium

January 11-12, 2013 15th Euro-PhD Symposium – Translating Literature across Culture in Saarbrücken, Germany

January 14-16, 2013 The 1st National Conference on Hausa Language, Literature and Culture at Bayero University, Kano

January 16-18, 2013 CUNY Conference on the Feature in Phonology and Phonetics

January 16-18, 2013 Variation and Language Processing Conference in Christchurch, New Zealand

January 16-19, 2013 The 10th Old World Conference in Phonology in Bogazici University, Istanbul

January 17-18, 2013 Tralogy – Futures in Technologies for Translation at Centre national de la recherche scientifique in Paris, France

January 17-19, 2013 10th International Congress on English Grammar in Manila, the Philippines

January 17-19, 2013 International Seminar on Dravidian Linguistics in Trivandrum, Kerala, India

January 18, 2013 The 23rd Meeting of Computational Linguistics at the University of Twente, Enschede, the Netherlands

January 18-19, 2013 Alliterativa Causa – A Conference about Alliteration in Prose and Verse in London, UK

January 18-20, 2013 The American Association for Corpus Linguistics in San Diego, California

January 19, 2013 Korea Association of Primary English Education in Seoul, Korea

January 21-25, 2013 13th International Symposium on Social Communication in Santiago de Cuba

January 22-25, 2013 La Percepción Unimodal y Multimodal del Habla in Madrid, Spain

January 23-25, 2013 6th International Conference of the Iberian Association of Translation and Interpreting Studies (AIETI) at the Universidad de las Palmas de Gran Canaria

January 23-25, 2013 Structural Changes in Heritage Languages in De Leeuwenhorst, Noordwijkerhout

January 24-25, 2013 Lieux et espaces de la langue. Perspectives sociolinguistiques contemporaines.

January 25, 2013 First Durham Postgraduate Colloquium at Durham University in Durham, UK

January 25, 2013 Theoretical Frameworks and Methodologies: Research in Translation Studies at Durham University in Durham, UK

January 25-26, 2013 Écriture(s) et représentations du langage et des langues at Pôle des langues et civilisations in Paris, France

January 25-27, 2013 13th Annual American Translators Association – Translation Company Division Conference in Orlando, Florida

January 25-27, 2013 International Conference on Phonetics and Phonology at the National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics

January 28-30, 2013 Macau Crossings: Translation and Cultures in Contact at the University of Macau in Macau, China

January 28-30, 2013 The First International Conference on Education and Language (ICEL) at Bandar Lampung University in Indonesia

January 30-31, 2013 The First National Conference on Interdisciplinary Translation Studies at Imam Reza International University in Mashhad, Iran

January 31-February 1, 2013 Service Encounters and Cross-Cultural Communication Symposium at Pablo de Olavide University in Seville

February 1, 2013 Cognitive Grammar in Literature in Nottingham, UK

February 1-2, 2013 Workshop on Agreement in Discourse at the University of Bamberg

February 1-2, 2013 Romania Nova VI in Brazil

February 4-5, 2013 The Australia and New Zealand Slavists’ Association 2013 Conference in Sydney, Australia

February 4-8, 2013 9th International Conference on Oceanic Language in Newcastle, Australia

February 6-8, 2013 Language Contact in India: Historical, Typological and Sociolinguistics Perspectives in India

February 6-8, 2013 New directions in lexical semantics and discourse organization in Osnabrück, Germany

February 7-8, 2013 XXXIII International VAKKI Symposium – Point of View as Challenge in Vaasa, Finland

February 8-9, 2013 5th Biennial Meeting of the Rice Linguistics Society: Language, Culture, and Cognition in Houston, Texas

February 8-10, 2013 7th Students’ Conference of Linguistics in India in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India

February 8-10, 2013 31st West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics at Arizona State University

February 13-16, 2013 Southwest/Texas Popular Culture and American Culture Association – 34th Annual Conference at Hyatt Regency Hotel in Albuquerque, New Mexico

February 16, 2013 10th Annual TALGS – Applied Linguistics Graduate Students Conference at East Carolina University

February 16-17, 2013 The 39th Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society at UC Berkeley

February 16-17, 2013 North American Conference on Afroasiatic Linguistics in New Haven, CT

February 21-22, 2013 20th Annual University of Texas at Arlington Student Conference in Linguistic and TESOL at UT Arlington

February 21-23, 2013 39th Incontro di Grammatica Generativa at Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia in Italy

February 21-23, 2013 3rd Annual Jil Jadid Graduate Student Conference in Arabic Studies at University of Texas in Austin, Texas

February 22-23, 2013 2nd Annual Hispanic & Luso-Brazilian Linguistics Conference at Arizona State University

February 22-23, 2013 International Conference on Mesoamerican Linguistics at CSU Fullerton

February 22-24, 2013 3rd Northeast Texas Humor Research Conference at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas

February 23, 2013 III Annual LANGSA Graduate Conference at the University of Connecticut

February 27-28, 2013 DoHa Münster in Münster, Germany

February 28-March 1, 2013 CROSSLING Symposium: Language Contacts at the Crossroads of Disciplines at the University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu

February 28-March 1, 2013 Perspectives on Interculturality Conference at Saint Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri

February 28-March 1, 2013 Workshop Language with and without Articles at CNRS Pouchet in Paris, France

February 28-March 2, 2013 27th Annual Symposium on Arabic Linguistics in Bloomington, Indiana

February 28-March 3, 2013 3rd International Conference on Language Documentation and Conversation at the University of Hawaii

March 1-2, 2013 4th Bremen Symposium at the University of Bremen in Germany

March 1-2, 2013 3rd Annual Alabama Modern Language Conference at the University of Alabama in Alabama

March 1-2, 2013 Linguistic Snapshots: Language and Cognition 2 at University of Silesia in Poland

March 1-2, 2013 Negotiation & Renegotiation at Indiana University in Bloomington, India

March 1-3, 2013 6th Undergraduate Linguistics Conference at the University of Toronto in Toronto, Canada

March 2, 2013 34th Annual Applied Linguistics Winter Conference in New York, New York

March 4-6, 2013 7th International Technology, Education, and Development Conference in Valencia, Spain

March 6, 2013 Drama Translation in the Age of Globalisation at the University of Salford, UK

March 6, 2013 2nd Annual Judeo-Spanish Conference: Survival in the Diaspora at UCLA

March 6-8, 2013 2nd Young Linguists Conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina

March 6-8, 2013 Workshop on ‘FeminineMasculine’ in Contrastive Lexicology and Phraseology in Limoges, Limousin, France

March 6-9, 2013 24th Conference on Spanish in the United States and 9th Conference on Spanish in Contact with Other Languages at Casa de Palmas Hotel in McAllen, Texas

March 7-8, 2013 Worldplay and Metalinguistic Reflection – New Interdisciplinary Perspectives in Tübingen, Germany

March 7-8, 2013 Paradigm Change in Historical Reconstruction: The Transeurasian Languages and Beyond in Mainz, Germany

March 7-8, 2013 International Conference on Urban Multilingualism and Education in Ghent, Belgium

March 7-10, 2013 African Languages: Specifics and Universals at Georgetown University in Washington D.C.

March 8, 2013 1st Postgraduate Conference on Linguistic Politeness at the University of Huddersfield

March 9-10, 2013 Formal Approaches to South Asian Languages 3 in Los Angeles, California

March 11-15, 2013 1st International Winter School on Evolution at Ciência Viva Knowledge Pavilion in Lisbon, Portugal

March 12, 2013 4th International Symposium on Live Subtitling at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

March 12, 2013 Speech Acts and Mentality at the University of Potsdam in Potsdam, Germany

March 13-15, 2013 35th Annual Conference of the German Linguistic Society in Potsdam, Germany

March 13-15, 2013 Les XXVIIes Journées de Linguistique in Quebec City, Canada

March 14-15, 2013 TAUS Translation Quality Evaluation Summit in Dublin, Ireland

March 14-16, 2013 5th International Conference on Corpus Linguistics at the Universidad de Alicante in Spain

March 14-16, 2013 Forging Linguistic Identities at Towson University in Towson, Maryland

March 15-16, 2013 5th Annual Western Interdisciplinary Student Symposium on Language Research at the University of Western Ontario in Ontario, Canada

March 16, 2013 The Second International Conference on English Studies – English Language and Anglophone Literatures Today 2 in Novi Sad, Serbia

March 16-19, 2013 American Association for Applied Linguistics at Sheraton Dallas in Dallas, Texas

March 17-18, 2013 Linguistic in the Gulf 4 at Qatar University in Doha, Qatar

March 17-20, 2013 GALA Conference at Miami Beach in Miami, Florida

March 18-19, 2013 1st Silesian Meeting of Young Scholars in Szczyrk, Poland

March 19, 2013 Towards a Formal Distributional Semantics in Potsdam, Germany

March 19, 2013 Workshop on a Computational Models of Spatial Language Interpretation and Generation in Potsdam, Germany

March 19-22, 2013 10th International Conference on Computational Semantics at the University of Potsdam in Potsdam, Germany

March 20-21, 2013 English across Space and Time at University of Lodz in Poland

March 20-22, 2013 17th Annual Conference on Conversation and Discourse Analysis in Mannheim, Germany

March 20-23, 2013 11th International Symposium of Psycholinguistics at Sandos San Blas Nature Resort in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain

March 20-23, 2013 History and Language History: Spanish & Portuguese in Contact with Other Languages in Muenster, Germany

March 21-22, 2013 The 4th Annual Tampa Workshop in Linguistics at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida

March 21-22, 2013 5th Nitra Conference on Discourse Studies

March 21-22, 2013 Workshop on Verb Valency Change in Hermosillo, Sonora

March 21-23, 2013 26th Annual CUNY Conference on Human Sentence Processing in South Carolina

March 21-23, 2013 40th FaDaF Annual Conference – German as a foreign or second language at the University of Bamberg in Germany

March 21-23, 2013 3rd International Symposium: Entertainment Discourse Beyond Humour Studies in Lodz, Poland

March 22, 2013 The Internationalisation of Spanish: Teaching Applications and the Role of Translation at Swansea University in Singleton Park, Swansea, Wales

March 22-23, 2013 Midwestern Conference on Literature, Language, & Media at Northern Illinois University in Dekalb, Illinois

March 22-24, 2013 37th Annual Penn Linguistics Colloquium at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

March 22-24, 2013 Dialogue in Multilingual, Multimodal, and Multicompetent Communities of Practice Workshop at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas

March 23, 2013 4th Annual Graduate Student Conference in Translation Studies

March 23-24, 2013 Translation and Localization Conference in Warsaw, Poland

March 23-24, 2013 Learner Corpus Studies in Asia and the World at Kobe University in Kobe, Japan

March 23-24, 2013 Reading the Target: Translation and Translation at the University of East Anglia in Norwich

March 24-30, 2013 14th International Conference on Intelligence Text Processing and Computational Linguistics at the University of the Aegean in Samos, Greece

March 27-28, 2013 2nd Regional Symposium on Language, Literature, and Translation in Sakhir, Bahrain

March 28-31, 2013 The Asian Conference on Ethics, Religion, and Philosophy at Ramada Osaka Hotel in Osaka, Japan

March 29-30, 2013 8th Annual Student Symposium of the Purdue Linguistics Association at Purdue University

March 29-30, 2013 The Borders and Identities Conference at the University of Rijeka in Rijeka, Croatia

March 30, 2013 19th Workshop on East Asian Languages in Los Angeles, California

March 30-April 2, 2013 International Conference on Interdisciplinary Translation Studies at Imam Reza International University in Mashhad, Iran

April 2-6, 2013 Generative Linguistics in the Old World 36 at Lund University in Lund, Sweden

April 4-6, 2013 Nordic Translation Conference at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England

April 4-6, 2013 Modernizing Educational Practice Perspectives in Content and Language Integrated Learning in Upper Silesia, Poland

April 4-6, 2013 Linguistic Evidence – Berlin Special at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

April 4-6, 2013 The Poetics in Multilingualism at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest

April 4-6, 2013 Excess(es) in Sfax, Tunisia

April 4-6, 2013 Southeastern Conference on Linguistics in Spartanburg, South Carolina

April 4-7, 2013 The Asian Conference on Arts & Humanities at the Ramada Hotel in Osaka, Japan

April 5, 2013 8th Newcastle upon Tyne Postgraduate Conference in Linguistics at Newcastle University in the UK

April 5, 2013 General and Specialist Translation/Interpretation: Theory, Methods, Practice in Kiev, Ukraine

April 5-6, 2013 The 3rd Linguistic Conference for Doctoral Students in Heidelberg, Germany

April 5-6, 2013 Distance in Language, Language of Distance in Munich, Germany

April 5-6, 2013 Ohio State Congress on Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics in Columbus, Ohio

April 5-6, 2013 Systematic Semantic Change in Austin, Texas

April 5-7, 2013 21st International Symposium on Theoretical & Applied Linguistics at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece

April 5-7, 2013 Illinois Language and Linguistics Society 5 at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois

April 5-7, 2013 18th Workshop on Structure and Constituency in the Languages of the Americas at UC Berkeley in Berkeley, California

April 6, 2013 Beyond the Mind’s Eye: Histories, Realities, Imagination at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan

April 6, 2013 3rd Annual Great Lakes Expo for Experimental and Formal Undergraduate Linguistics in East Lansing, Michigan

April 8-13, 2013 41st Annual Symposium on the American Indian Technology Future, Technology Past: A Woven Link at Northeastern State University

April 10-12, 2013 Localization World Conference & Exhibits in Singapore

April 10-12, 2013 13th International Conference of the Association of Young Researchers in Histiography and History of the Spanish Languages at University of Salamanca in Salamanca, Spain

April 11, 2013 Speaking While Black (or Brown): Language and Race in the US in San Antonio, Texas

April 11-12, 2013 4th FLL International Postgraduate Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

April 11-12, 2013 Identity and Paradox at the Université Charles-de-Gaulle, Lille, France

April 11-13, 2013 Francontraste 2013 2ème Colloque Francophone International at the University of Zagreb in Croatia

April 11-13, 2013 Meaning, Context, & Cognition at the University of Lodz in Poland

April 12-13, 2013 21st Annual Symposium on Language and Society – Language Variation and Change at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas

April 13-14, 2013 Symposia Iranica: 1st Biennial Graduate Conference on Iranian Studies at the University of Saint Andrews

April 15-16, 2013 II Jornadas de Lingüística Hispánica in Lisbon, Portugal

April 17-18, 2013 Workshop on Sound Change Actuation at the University of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois

April 17-19, 2013 43rd Linguistic Symposium on Romance Languages at The Graduate Center, CUNY in New York City

April 18-19, 2013 International Conference on Language Variation and Change in Postcolonial Contexts at the University of Salerno in Italy

April 18-20, 2013 31st Annual Conference at the University of La Laguna in Tenerife

April 18-20, 2013 The Chicago Linguistic Society at the University of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois

April 18-20, 2013 Informatique & Langues in Béja, Tunisia

April 18-20, 2013 What Can We Learn from 500 Billion Words? at IU Bloomington in Indiana

April 18-20, 2013 I-mean 3, Identity and Language Conference in Bristol, UK

April 19-20, 2013 2nd International Conference ‘From Language to Culture, Literature, Art and Media – Towards Integrated Learning and Teaching‘ in Krotosyn, Poland

April 23-25, 2013 4th National Symposium on Informatics in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

April 25-27, 2013 Cognition and Poetics Conference in Osnabrück, Germany

April 25-27, 2013 Arabic Script in Africa: Synergies Resulting from the Study of a Writing System in Brussels, Belgium

April 26-27, 2013 Workshop on American Indigenous Languages at UC Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California

April 26-27, 2013 Communication across Cultures: Face and Interaction at the University of Silesia in Sosnowiec, Poland

April 26-27, 2013 Nineteenth Germanic Linguistics Annual Conference at SUNY in Buffalo, New York

April 26-27, 2013 Language, Literature, Marginalisation in Niš, Serbia

April 26-28, 2013 Generative Approaches to Second Language Acquisition at the University of Florida

April 27-28, 2013 The English Linguistic Society of Japan 6th International Spring Forum at the University of Tokyo in Tokyo, Japan

April 29-30, 2013 4th Conference Digital Document & Sociey in Zagreb, Croatia

May 2-3, 2013 Specialised Seminar of the International Association for Researching and Applying Metaphor in Roznan, Poland

May 2-4, 2013 8th International Conference on Middle English at the University of Murcia in Spain

May 2-4, 2013 2nd ASSE International Conference on British and American Studies – Nation, nationality, nationhood: What’s in a name? in Tiranë, Albania

May 2-4, 2013 Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study Conference in San Francisco, California

May 3-5, 2013 2nd Student Linguistic Conference in Zagreb, Croatia

May 3-5, 2013 Formal Approaches to Slavic Linguistics 22 at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada

May 3-5, 2013 23rd Semantics and Linguistic Theory Conference at UC Santa Cruz in Santa Cruz, California

May 3-5, 2013 9th International Symposium on Iconicity in Language and Literature at Rikkyo University in Tokyo, Japan

May 4, 2013 4th Theoretical Phonology Conference in Taipei, Taiwan

May 4-5, 2013 5th International Conference of Slavic Languages, Literatures and Cultures at Chengchi University in Taipei, Taiwan

May 7-9, 2013 The International Conference on E-Technologies and the Web in Bagkok, Thailand

May 8-10, 2013 3rd International Translation Studies Conference “Translation: New Destinations” at Yildiz Technical University in Istanbul

May 8-10, 2013 The 3rd International Conference on English Pronunciation: Issues & Practices in Murcia, Spain

May 9-11, 2013 23rd Colloquium on Generative Grammar in Madrid, Spain

May 9-11, 2013 The International Conference on Onomastics Name and Naming in Baia Mare

May 9-11, 2013 Third International Conference on Philosophy of Language and Linguistics at the University of Lodz in Poland

May 10-11, 2013 Rethinking Comparative Syntax at the University of Cambridge

May 10-11, 2013 Workshop on the Grammar of Mimetics in London, UK

May 10-12, 2013 19th Annual Conference on Language, Interaction, and Social Organization at UC Santa Barbara in Santa Barbara, California

May 10-13, 2013 New Research in Old High German Literature and Linguistics at Western Michigan University in Michigan

May 13-15, 2013 25th Scandinavian Conference of Linguistics at the University of Iceland in Reykjavík, Iceland

May 13-15, 2013 Speaking in a Foreign Language: Psycholinguistic and Sociolinguistic Perspectives in Konin

May 15-16, 2013 Concepts and Categorization in Duesseldorf, Germany

May 15-17, 2013 Fifth International Conference of the Association Française de Linguistique Cognitive at the University of Lille 3 in Lille, France

May 15-17, 2013 The First International Workshop on Bilingualism and Cognitive Control in Krakow, Poland

May 15-17, 2013 Empirical Approaches to Multi-Modality and to Language Variation in Lille, France

May 16-17, 2013 Contacts, Interactions, Transformations? in Toronto, Canada

May 16-17, 2013 Variation and Variability in the Language Sciences: Analysing, Measuring, Contextualising in Toulouse, France

May 16-18, 2013 34th Annual Meeting of the Department of Linguistics at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece

May 16-18, 2013 Uses and Functions of Rhetoric in Brussels, Belgium

May 16-18, 2013 7th Meeting – 1st Conference on Postgraduate and PhD Students at the University of Athens in Athens, Greece

May 16-19, 2013 3e Colloque du GELiTeC in Procida, Italy

May 17-18, 2013 Historical Syntax of German – Typological Perspectives at the University of Bamberg

May 17-19, 2013 The 20th Meeting of the Austronesian Formal Linguistics Association at the UT Arlington

May 17-19, 2013 New Sounds at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada

May 18-19, 2013 The Ukranian Translation Industry Conference at Hotel Rus in Kyiv

May 20-24, 2013 LRC Summer School 2013 in Limerick, Ireland

May 21-22, 2013 International Conference on Current Trends in ELT at Urmia University in Iran

May 22, 2013 Workshop: Processing in Corpora: ‘Support Strategies’ in Language Variation and Change in Santiago de Compostela, Spain

May 22-24, 2013 Nilo-Saharan Linguistics Colloquium at the University of Cologne

May 22-26, 2013 34th ICAME Conference at the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain

May 22-26, 2013 English Corpus Linguistics on the Move: Applications and Implications in Santiago de Compostela, Spain

May 23-24, 2013 2nd International Symposium Language for International Communication at the University of Latvia in Riga, Latvia

May 23-24, 2013 Chinese Students, Teachers and Scholars Abroad: Myths and Realities at the University of Helsinki in Finland

May 23-24, 2013 Impoliteness and Interaction in Bydgoszcz, Poland

May 23-25, 2013 The 21st Manchester Phonology Meeting at Hulme Hall in Manchester

May 23-25, 2013 25th International Conference on Foreign/Second Language Acquisition in Szczyrk, Poland

May 23-25, 2013 4th Workshop in Translation Greek Speaking in Thessaloniki, Greece

May 23-25, 2013 Face Work and Social Media at the University of Hildesheim

May 23-25, 2013 VI Coloquio Internacional sobre La historia de los Lenguajes Iberorrománicos de Especialid in Barcelona, Spain

May 24-25, 2013 Sixth Austronesian and Papuan Languages and Linguistics Conference at the University of London

May 24-25, 2013 Methodological Issues in the Study of Information Structure in Graz, Austria

May 24-26, 2013 The Asian Conference on Cultural Studies at the Ramada Osaka Hotel in Osaka, Japan

May 25-26, 2013 Ways to Protolanguage 3 in Wroclaw, Poland

May 26-30, 2013 10th Extended Semantic Web Conference in Montpellier, France

May 27-29, 2013 Alternative Pedagogies in the English Language & Communication at the National University of Singapore

May 27-29, 2013 Language Testing in Europe: Time for a New Framework? at the University of Antwerp in Belgium

May 29-31, 2013 The 23rd Annual Meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistics at Chualongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand

May 29-31, 2013 Approaches to Complex Predicates in Paris, France

May 29-31, 2013 Colloque International de Linguistique (Ibéro)Romane in Montpellier, France

May 29-31, 2013 Global Advances in Business Communication – 5th Annual Tricontinental Conference at the University of Antwerp in Belgium

May 29-31, 2013 Translation and Modernization in East Asia in the 19th and Early 20th Century Conference at The Chinese University of Hong Kong

May 30-31, 2013 16th Recontres Jeunes Chercheurs at Sorbonne Nouvelle University

May 30-31, 2013 New Territories in Word-Formation in Sofia, Bulgaria

May 30-June 1, 2013 Address(ing) (Pro)Nouns – Sociolinguistics and Grammar of Terms of Address at Freie Universität in Berlin, Germany

May 31-June 1, 2013 Innovation in Methodology and Practice in Language Learning: Experiences and Proposals for University Language Centres in Foggia, Italy

May 31-June 2, 2013 The Third International Conference on Law, Translation and Culture in Hangzhou

June 1-2, 2013 13th Annual Conference on the Japan Second Language Association in Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan

June 1-2, 2013 Breakthrough Greek in Bristol, UK

June 1-2, 2013 The 24th International Japanese-English Translation Conference in Honolulu, Hawaii

June 1-4, 2013 Les Français Minoritaires: Caractéristiques, Identités, Enjeux in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

June 3-5, 2013 26th Conference of the Canadian Association for Translation Studies at Victoria University in British Columbia, Canada

June 3-5, 2013 Canadian Association of Applied Linguistics Conference at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada

June 3-6, 2013 3rd International Conference on Law, Language and Discourse in Shanghai, China

June 4-6, 2013 Double Entendre and Polysemy: Eastern and Western Perspectives in Aix-en-Provence, France

June 4-7, 2013 Colour Language and Colour Categorization Conference in Tallinn, Estonia

June 5-7, 2013 Department of English 7th International Conference in Gaborone, Botswana

June 5-7, 2013 Language and Super-Diversity: Explorations and Interrogations in Jväskylä, Finland

June 5-7, 2013 Towards a Theory of Syntactic Variation in Bilbao, Spain

June 5-8, 2013 Applied Linguistics Perspectives on Content and Language Integrated Learning in Madrid, Spain

June 5-8, 2013 19th Biennial Conference of the Australian Federation of Modern Language Teachers Association at the Australian National University in Canberra

June 6, 2013 Optimising the Human Factor in Translation: Facing the Technological Challenge in Rennes, France

June 6-7, 2013 The Fourth International Symposium on the Languages of Java at Bung Hutta University in Padang, Sumatra, Indonesia

June 6-7, 2013 Terminology & Ontology: Theories and Applications in Chambéry, France

June 6-8, 2013 The 15th Annual Conference of the English Department at the University of Bucharest in Romania

June 6-8, 2013 3rd Biennial Conference on the Diachrony of English at the Université de Picardie Jules Verne in Amiens, France

June 6-8, 2013 CELLS: Going Against the Grain

June 6-8, 2013 The 4th Conference on Grammar and Context: New Approaches to the Uralic Languages at the University of Tartu in Estonia

June 6-8, 2013 Olomouc Linguistics Colloquium in Olomouc, Czech Republic

June 6-8, 2013 Langue Française Mise en Relief(s): Aspects Linguistiques, Didactiques et Institutionnels in Perpignan, France

June 6-9, 2013 The Fourth Asian Conference on the Social Sciences at the Ramada Hotel in Osaka, Japan

June 7-8, 2013 27th Cerlico Conference: From Realis to Irrealis in Limoges, Limousin, France

June 7-8, 2013 The Five Senses in Medieval and Early Modern Cultures: Literature and Language in Bern, Switzerland

June 7-9, 2013 21st International Association of Chinese Linguistics in Taipei, Taiwan

June 8-9, 2013 The Seventeenth International Symposium on Malay/Indonesian Linguistics in Pandang, West Sumatra, Indonesia

June 10-11, 2013 TAUS Translation Data Summit in Dublin, Ireland

June 10-11, 2013 Maintaining Languages, Developing Multilingualism in Vienna, Austria

June 10-12, 2013 Changing English Contacts & Variation in Helsinki, Finland

June 10-12, 2013 Information Structure in Spoken Language Corpora in Bielefeld, Germany

June 10-13, 2013 The 9th International Symposium on Bilingualism in Singapore

June 10-14, 2013 Semantics and Philosophy in Europe 6 in Saint Petersburg, Russia

June 11-12, 2013 Approximation and Precision III in Tel Aviv, Israel

June 12-14, 2013 Localization World Conference & Exhibits in London, England

June 12-14, 2013 Prescription and Tradition in Language in Leiden, the Netherlands

June 12 -14, 2013 4th Conference of Scandinavian Association for Language & Cognition in Joensuu, Finland

June 12-15, 2013 5th International Conference on Bantu Languages in Paris, France

June 13-15, 2013 Workshop European Dialect Syntax VII at the University of Konstanz, Germany

June 13-15 2013 The International Society for Language Studies Conference at the Sheraton Old San Juan Hotel and Casino in San Juan, Puerto Rico

June 17-18, 2013 2nd Annual International Conference Language, Literature, & Linguistics in Singapore

June 17-18, 2013 Re-visiting the State of Indigenous Languages at the University of Arizona in Tuscon, Arizona

June 17-20, 2013 Pragmatics on the Go – Teaching and Learning about Pragmatics: Principles, Methods and Practices in Padua, Italy

June 18-20, 2013 5th AILA-Europe Junior Research Meeting in Applied Linguistics in Dublin, Ireland

June 19-21, 2013 Tilburg Gesture Research Meeting in Tilburg, the Netherlands

June 20-21, 2013 Discourse Expectations: Theoretical, Experimental, and Computational Perspectives at the University of Tübingen in Germany

June 20-22, 2013 Si J’Aurais Su, J’Aurais Pas Venu in Bressels, Belgium

June 21, 2013 Cognitive and Functional Approach to the Study of Japanese as a Second Language Symposium in Banff, Alberta, Canada

June 21-22, 2013 This Romanics Turicensis VII at the University of Zurich

June 21-23, 2013 Approaches to Phonology and Phonetics in Lublin, Poland

June 23-28, 2013 The 12th International Cognitive Linguistics Conference at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

June 23-28, 2013 Non-Compositionality and Figurative Speech: Collocations, Idioms, Metaphors, and Proverbs at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem

June 24-26, 2013 4ème Colloque International le Français Parlé dans les Médias in Montpellier, France

June 24-27, 2013 11th Biennial Conference on Forensic Linguistics at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México in Mexico City, Mexico

June 24-August 15, 2013 International Greek and Latin Summer School at University College in Cork, Ireland

June 25-26, 2013 Phonetics and Phonology in Iberia 2013 in Lisbon, Portugal

June 26-28, 2013 Cross-Cultural Pragmatics at a Crossroads III at the University of East Anglia, Norwich

June 26-28, 2013 7th International Conference on Language Variation in Europe in Trondheim, Norway

June 26-28, 2013 Tocharian Texts in Context at the University of Vienna

June 26-28, 2013 Variation within and across Jewish Languages at the University of Antwerp

June 26-28, 2013 Racism and Anti-Racism through Education and Community Practice: An International Exchange in Edinburgh, UK

June 26-28, 2013 International Workshop ‘The Syntactic Variation of Catalan and Spanish Dialects’ in Barcelona, Spain

June 27-29, 2013 Register Revisited: New Perspectives on Function Text Variety in English at the University of Vechta

June 27-29, 2013 The Fifth European Conference on African Studies in Lisbon, Portugal

June 28, 2013 Lexis, Lexeme, Lexicon: Representation and Acquisition in Pau, France

June 28-30, 2013 Japanese Society for Language Sciences 15th Annual International Conference in Nagasaki, Japan

July 1-3, 2013 French Phonology Network Meeting in Nantes, France

July 1-4, 2013 École d’été Didactique et Languages at the Université de Caen

July 2-5, 2013 Challenges to (Endangered) Minority Languages in Southeast Asia in Lisbon, Portugal

July 3-4, 2013 4th Malaysia International Conference on Foreign Languages in Malacca, Malaysia

July 3-5, 2013 Congrès 2013 – Réseau Francophone de Sociolinguistique in Corti, Corsica

July 3-5, 2013 4th Biennial Meeting of the International Association for the Study of Spanish in Society: Language and Identity in the Spanish-Speaking World at the University of London in the UK

July 3-6, 2013 International Conference on English Linguistics in Seoul, Korea

July 4-6, 2013 Représentations du Sens Linguistique in Nantes, France

July 5-6, 2013 African Urban & Youth Languages at the University of Cape Town in Africa

July 7-10, 2013 Phonetics and Phonology of Sub-Saharn Languages at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg

July 8, 2013 Teaching and Learning (Im)politeness at the University of London

July 8-10, 2013 19th European Symposium on Languages for Special Purposes – Languages for Special Purposes in a Multilingual, Transcultural World at the University of Vienna in Vienna, Austria

July 8-10, 2013 The Third International Conference on Digital Information and Communication Technology and Its Applications at the Technical University of Ostrava in the Czech Republic

July 8-10, 2013 The Fourth International Conference on e-Learning at the Technical University of Ostrava in the Czech Republic

July 8-11, 2013 6th Annual International Conference on Languages & Linguistics in Athens, Greece

July 10-13, 2013 International Contrastive Linguistics Conference 7 – Using Corpora in Contrastive and Translation Studies in Ghent, Belgium

July 11-13, 2013 The 7th International Web Rule Symposium in Seattle, Washington

July 13-14, 2013 Patterns of Alignment in the Indo-Iranian Languages: Towards a Typology in Michigan

July 15- 17, 2013 The 11th International Conference on Finite-State Methods in St. Andrews, Scotland

July 15-20, 2013 XXVII Congrès International de Linguistique et de Philologie Romanes in Nancy, France

July 17-19, 2013 Indigenous and Migrant Minority Languages in Changing Multilingual Environments in Luxembourg

July 18-20, 2013 Lexical Functional Grammar Conference at the University of Debrecen

July 18-21, 2013 Inaugural European Conference on Arts and Humanities in Brighton, UK

July 19-21, 2013 Re-positioning Linguistics, Languages and Literature Studies in the Universities in Africa: Past, Present, and the Future in Kisumu, Kenya

July 22-26, 2013 Fifth Interdisciplinary Workshop on Corpus-Based Approach at Lancaster University in the UK

July 22-26, 2013 Summer School in Cognitive Linguistics at Bangor University in Bangor, UK

July 22-27, 2013 19th International Congress of Linguists in Geneva, Switzerland

July 25-27, 2013 Australex 2013: Endangered Words, and Signs of Revival at The University of Adelaide in Australia

July 26, 2013 Language Endangerment: Language Policy and Planning in Cambridge, UK

July 29-August 1, 2013 40th Linguistic Association of Canada and the United States Forum in Brooklyn, New York

July 29-August 2, 2013 Joint Conference of the West African Linguistic Society and the Linguistic Association of Nigeria in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria

July 31-August 4, 2013 Poetics and Linguistics Association Annual Conference at Ruprecht-Karls-Universität in Heidelberg, Germany

August 1-3, 2013 Diachronic Generative Syntax in Ottawa, Canada

August 1-3, 2013 Role and Reference Grammar – International Conference 2013 in Freiburg, Germany

August 3-10, 2013 7th HiSoN Summer School in Historical Sociolinguistics in Kalloni, Lesbos, Greece

August 4-6, 2013 The 35th Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society – Computational Modes of Narrative at the Universität Hamburg in Hamburg, Germany

August 4-9, 2013 51st Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics in Sofia, Bulgaria

August 5-9, 2013 The 21st International Conference on Historical Linguistics at the University of Oslo in Oslo, Norway

August 7-9, 2013 Recursion in Brazilian Languages and Beyond in Rio de Janerio, Brazil

August 8-10, 2013 VI Encuentro de Gramática Generativa in Patagonia, Argentina

August 12-30, 2013 Language Development: Evolution, Change, Acquisition in Berlin, Germany

August 15-18, 2013 Association for Linguistic Typology 10th Biennial Conference at the University of Leipzig in Germany

August 19-24, 2013 Discourses and Practices that Matter at Aalborg University in Aalborg, Denmark

August 20-22, 2013 Lexicography and Dictionaries in the Information Age in Bali Indonesia

August 21-23, 2013 8th International Symposium on the Ancient Chinese Grammar in Seoul, Korea

August 21-23, 2013 Phonetics, Phonology, and Languages in Contact in Paris, France

August 21-23, 2013 The 9th Conference of the Nordic Association of Japanese and Korean Studies in Bergen, Norway

August 22-24, 2013 Metalinguistic Reflection and Discontinuity: Turning Points and Times of Crisis and Upheaval in Potsdam, Germany

August 24-26, 2013 Fifth International Conference on Iranian Linguistics at the University of Bamberg

August 25-27, 2013 8th International Workshop on Neurobilingualism in Groningen, the Netherlands

August 25-29, 2013 14th Annual Conference of the International Speech Communication Association in Lyon, France

August 27-29, 2013 The 14th International Conference on Translation & the FIT 7th Asian Translators’ Forum in Pulau Pinang, Malaysia

August 28-30, 2013 5th International Conference on Late Modern English – Transatlantic Perspectives on Late Modern English at the University of Bergamo

August 28-31, 2013 23rd Conference of the European Second Language Association in Amsterdam, the Netherlands

August 29-31, 2013 7th European Society for Translation Studies Congress at the University of Mainz in Germersheim

August 29-31, 2013 6th International Conference on Meaning-Text Theory in Prague, the Czech Republic

August 29-31, 2013 Translation Studies: Centres and Peripheries in Germersheim, Germany

August 29-31, 2013 The Stockholm Metaphor Festival in Stockholm, Sweden

August 29-September 1, 2013 44th Poznan Linguistic Meeting in Poznan, Poland

September 2-3, 2013 Eliciting Data in Second Language Research: Challenge and Innovation in York, UK

September 2-4, 2013 UK Language Variation and Change Conference in Sheffield, UK

September 2-4, 2013 3rd Workshop on Sino-Tibetan Languages of Sichuan in Paris, France

September 4-6, 2013 7th International Conference on Language Acquisition in Bilbao, Spain

September 4-6, 2013 The 5th Biennial Experimental Pragmatics Conference at the Utrecth University in the Netherlands

September 5-6, 2013 Did Anyone Say Power? Rethinking Domination and Hegmony in Translation in Wales, the UK

September 5-7, 2013 Multidisciplinary Approaches in Language Policy and Planning Conference in Calgary, Alberta, Canada

September 5-7, 2013 46th Annual Meeting of the British Association for Applied Linguistcs: The Impact of Applied Linguistics at the Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh

September 6, 2013 Third International Workshops on Systems and Frameworks in Berlin, Germany

September 6-8, 2013 19th Himalayan Language Symposium in Canberra, Australia

September 8-13, 2013 13th International Pragmatics Conference in New Delhi, India

September 9-10, 2013 Contested Languages in the Old World Conference in Bangor, Wales

September 9-11, 2013 Cross-Linguistic Priming in Bilinguals: Perspectives and Constraints at the Radboud University in Nijmegan, the Netherlands

September 11-13, 2013 Prosody-Discourse Interface in Leuven, Belgium

September 11-13, 2013 Sinn und Bedeutung at the University of the Basque Country in Spain

September 11-14, 2013 International Conference on Minority Language XIV in Graz, Austria

September 12-13, 2013 1st International Conference on Linguistics, Literature, & Cultural Studies in Modern Language in Murcia, Spain

September 12-13, 2013 Morphology and its Interfaces at the Université Lille 3 in France

September 13-14, 2013 3rd International Language Management Symposium: Special Focus on Research Methodology in Prague, the Czech Republic

September 15-18, 2013 9th Mediterranean Morphology Meeting in Dubrownik, Croatia

September 18-21, 2013 12th Bavarian-Austrian Dialektologentagung in Vienna, Austria

September 18-21, 2013 46th Annual Meeting of the Societas Linguistica Europaea at Split University in Croatia

September 19-21, 2013 9th International Workshop on Balto-Slavic Accentology in Croatia

September 23-25, 2013 2nd International Conference on Informatics & Applications in Lodz, Poland

September 23-25, 2013 18th Annual LRC I18N and L10N Conference in Limerick, Ireland

September 23-26, 2013 Uncovering Plagiarism, Authorship, and Social Software Misuse in Valencia, Spain

September 25-27, 2013 Intersemiotic Translation Conference at the University of Lodz in Poland

September 26-28, 2013 10th Syntax and Semantics Conference in Paris, France

September 26-28, 2013 42nd Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Association of the Southwest in New Brunswick, New Jersey

September 26-29, 2013 11th International Conference on Greek Linguistics in Rhodes, Greece

September 27, 2013 Working Memory Resources in Language Processing and Acquisition in Salerno, Italy

September 29-30, 2013 3rd Language Arts and Linguistics Conference in Kowloon, Hong Kong

October 1-4, 2013 The 44th Annual Conference of the Australian Linguistic Society at the University of Melbourne in Australia

October 6-7, 2013 29th Annual Meeting of the Israel Association for Theoretical Linguistics in Jerusalem, Israel

October 7-9, 2013 Intercultural Horizons in Siena, Italy

October 7-9, 2013 Topics in Applied Linguistics: Social, Cultural and Affective Influences on Language Processing in Opole, Poland

October 8-10, 2013 International Week 2013: Diversity, Plurilingualism, Internationalization in Lucerne, Switzerland

October 9-11, 2013 Localization World in Silicon Valley, California

October 9-12, 2013 XII Congreso Nacional de Lingüística in Santiago de Querétaro, Mexico

October 10-12, 2013 67th Annual Rocky Mountain MLA Convention in Vancouver, Washington

October 10-12, 2013 Multilingual Individuals and Multilingual Societies in Teehas, Feldbrunnenstraβe, Hamburg

October 11-13, 2013 23rd Japanese/Korean Linguistics Conference in Cambridge, Massachussets

October 12-14, 2013 Diachronic Slavonic Syntax: Language Contact vs. Internal Factors in Novi Sad, Serbia

October 17-19, 2013 Electronic Lexicography in the 21st Century: Thinking Outside the Paper in Tallinn, Estonia

October 18-19, 2013 Englishes Today: Theoretical and Methodological Issues in Vigo, Spain

October 22-24, 2013 International Conference on Languages, Linguistics and Society in Sabah, Malaysia

October 25-26, 2013 Workshop on Semantic Variation in Chicago, Illinois

October 30-31, 2013 Les idéologies linguistiques dans la presse écrite: l’exemple des langues romanes at the Université d’Augsbourg

November 8-9, 2013 Constructionist Approaches to Language Pedagogy at the Université Saint Louis in Brussels

November 14-16, 2013 Portuguese Linguistics in the United States in Athens, Georgia

November 21-23, 2013 Languages & the Media: 9th International Conference & Exhibition on Language Transfer in Audiovisual Media in Berlin, Germany

November 27-29, 2013 Applied Linguistics Associations of New Zealand and Australia Joint Conference 2013 in Wellington, New Zealand

December 5-7, 2013 10th European Conference on Formal Description of Slavic Languages in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany

December 18-20, 2013 Vocab@Vic 2013 at the University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand

This list may not be complete and may not reflect the most recent information available.  Please check the relevant webpages to learn more about these conferences.

If there are any conferences we missed, please let us know @LanguageAutoInc.  We greatly appreciate and encourage feedback!  We also have a Twitter list of 70+ video game conferences.  Subscribe now to easily stay on top of conference updates.

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LAI in Mexico City for DevHour 2012.

First off, Language Automation, Inc. (LAI), is holding its BIG 20th anniversary BASH Fall 2013 in the Bay Area.  Sign up for our newsletter to stay on top of RSVP and key event information.

January 8-11, 2013 International CES at the Las Vegas Convention Center and World Trade Center (LVCC)/Las Vegas Hotel & Casino (LVH)   @IntlCES

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) is the owner and producer of the International CES.  In 2012, there were more than 3,100 exhibitors with over 153,000 attendees.  The last day to register prior to event ended December 5th, 2012.  Attendees may register onsite for $200.

January 19-20, 2013 Game Design Expo at the Vancouver International Film Centre, 1181 Seymour Street, Vancouver, BC  @GameDesignExpo

Speaker sessions with some of the “leading minds in game design and development,” including the developers behind Halo 4 and Assassin’s Creed.  Attendance cost C$125 + 12% HST.

January 23-24, 2013 Mobile Games Forum and Social Games & Virtual Goods Forum at the Dexter House, London @GamesForum @VirtualGoodsUK @VGSummit

10th anniversary show, hailed as the leading event in Europe for commercial and business deals and networking.  Mobile Games Forum early bird price £995 (until December 21st, 2012), full price £1,295.  Social Games & Virtual Goods Forum early bird price £795 (until December 21st, 2012), full price £995.

January 29-30, 2013 GameON: Finance at Bram & Bluma Appel Salon, Toronto, Canada

North America’s longest-running and largest forum for digital game entrepreneurs and investors.  Early bird tickets until January 13th, 2013 at $399 + HST for members and $579 + HST regular rate.  Advance tickets at $489 + HST for members and $699 + HST regular rate.  On site tickets $549 + HST for members and $789 + HST regular rate.

January 30-31, 2013 Mobile Gaming USA East in New York @MobileGamingUSA

The most recent Mobile Gaming USA conference featured 180 senior-level executives across mobile gaming.  Early bird prices (available until January 4th, 2013) – silver pass $1,195, gold pass $1,295, all access pass $1,445.  After early bird deadline, add $100 to each pass price.

January 31-February 2, 2013 International Game Industry Conference & Exhibition – INTERGAME at Estonian Faire Centre, Tallinn, Estonia

A wide spectrum of gaming professionals is anticipated from Northern, Western, and Eastern Europe.  Conference passes are available for 150€, start up pass 50€, student pass 40€.

January 31-February 2, 2013 Taipei Game Show at the Nangang Exhibition Hall, Taipei, Taiwan @computex_taipei

This is the only game show in Taiwan, and every year, the conference holds over 400 booths and more than 300,000 attendees.  LAI will be attending!

February 2, 2013 Carolina Games Summit at Wayne Community College, NC @CGSummit

With industry speakers and tournaments, there’s something for everyone at this event.  Tickets are $10 and cover entry into all tournaments and sessions.

February 7, 2013 Norwegian Game Conference at Høgskolen i Hedmark i Auditorium 1, Holsetgata 31, Hamar, Norway

This conference will explore the future of user digital experiences.  Tickets £975.

February 5-8, 2013 Design Innovate Communicate Entertain (DICE) Summit at Hard Rock Hotel, Las Vegas, NV @DICESummit

Past speakers have included Shigeru Miyamoyo, creator of Mario and The Legend of Zelda and Gabe Newell, co-founder and managing director of Valve.  Early bird registration ended November 16th, 2012, general rate open until December 21st, 2012 at $2,000 for creative technical members, $2,200 active business members, $2,950 non-members.  Late registration ends January 25th, 2013 at $2,250 for creative technical members, $2,475 active business members, and $3,300 non-members.

February 6-8, 2013 Audio for Games Conference at 2 Carlton House Terrace in London, UK @AESGames

The Audio Engineering Society is the only professional society devoted exclusively to audio technology.  Early-bird registration closed in December 2012.  Regular registration for AES members £449 including VAT, non-members £499 including VAT, and student members £199 including VAT.

February 12, 2013 Flash GAMM! at the Congress Center, Hamburg, Germany  @FlashGAMM

Flash GAMM is a conference dedicated to flash, social, and mobile games and is part of Casual Connect Europe.

February 12-13, 2013 Digital Kids Conference at the Javits Convention Center @DigitalKidsCon

The 7th annual conference is a “must-attend event” for professionals engaging with children online and on digital devices.  Early rate available until January 11th, 2013 at $595, online rate until February 8th, 2013 at $695, and onsite at $895.

February 12-14, 2013 Casual Connect Europe at Congress Center, Marseiller Straße 1, 20355, Hamburg, Germany

Casual Connect is considered the “premiere event for the casual games industry,” averaging over 3,500 professionals every year.  Early bird registration ends January 31st, 2013 at €350 ($450), regular rate is at €425 ($575).

February 15-17, 2013 IndieCade – International Festival of Independent Games at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York City, NY @IndieCade

The IndieCade Festival is the only stand-alone independent-focused game event in the nation and includes festival workshops, keynotes, family-focused activities, meet-and-greets, and hands-on gameplay.  Check back for registration information.

February 21-22, 2013 Cloud Gaming Europe at Thistle Marble Arch, Bryanston Street, London, W1H 7EH

This conference brings together publishers, cloud platforms, and telecoms.  Basic pass available for £1,095+VAT, business pass for £1,295+VAT, and diamond pass for £2,295+VAT.

February 22-25, 2013 Play4Agile at Rückersbach, Kolpingstraβe 1, 63867, Johannesberg, Germany @Play4Agile

Play4Agile invites participants to co-create an unconference by creating games that can be played with participants during the conference.  Registration currently full, but you can check the waiting list.  The cost will be less than 350€ including food and accomodations.

March 7-9, 2013 GAMEON-ASIA 2013 at Westin Bund, Shanghai, China

This conference is based upon simulation and AI in computer games and will facilitate discussions about programming, hardware design and applications.  Registration after February 5th, €550 for EUROSIS members and €595 for other participants.

March 14, 2013 Hamburg Games Conference at Bucerius Law School, Jungiusstrasse 6, Hamburg, Germany

The Hamburg Games Conferences is an interdisciplinary conference of the computer games industry.  Attendance is limited, and the fee is €119 plus VAT and for start-ups to 2 years, it’s 99€ plus VAT with ID.

March 22-24, 2013 PAX East at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, Boston, MA @Official_PAX

PAX East doubled in size each year since its start in 2004 until venue capacities were reached, and when PAX expanded from Washington to Boston in 2010, tens of thousands attended.  With tournaments, concerts, a handheld lounge, and widely attended speaker sessions, there’s something for everyone at PAX.  Individual day passes available at $35, three day pass for $70.

March 24, 2013 Flash Gaming Summit (FGS) in San Francisco, CA @FGSummit

In addition to a program for Flash game developers, FGS holds an annual award show for the top Flash games in 10 different categories.  Early bird tickets available until January 4th at $99 plus a small fee.  Speaker submission deadline is January 4th.  LAI will be attending!

March 25-27, 2013 Game Connection at Sir Francis Drake Hotel @The_GameCo

At Game Connection, it’s easy to book meetings with the organizations you want to connect with.  Early bird price at €300 for a standard pass until January 30th, late registration price at €525 through March 25th.  Business pass available for €1990.  LAI will be attending!

March 25-29, 2013 GDC 2013 @Official_GDC @IGFNews

Be a part of the world’s largest and longest-running professionals-only game industry event, with over 22,500 attendees, The Localization Summit, the Independent Games Festival, and the Smartphone & Tablet Games Summit.  Early bird main conference pass at $995 through February 13th, regular price at $1,350, early bird all access pass at $1,475 through February 13th, regular all access price at $1,975.  LAI will be attending!

March 28, 2013 SoCalBio Games for Health Conference in Los Angeles, CA@GamesforHealth

This conference focuses on opportunities in medicinal gaming and will showcase games, simulation, disease management (such as rehabilitating stroke victims), etc.  Check website for registration prices.

April 1-2, 2013 VentureBeat Mobile Summit 2013 at Cavallo Point, Sausalito, CA@VentureBeat

The top 180 mobile executives come together for an exclusive, invite-only discussion “to shape the future of the mobile industry.”

April 3-5, 2013 Guangzhou Game Show at the China Import and Export Fair pazhou Complex

Last year’s conference saw 150,000 attendees and is Southern China’s largest expo.  Check back for registration information.  LAI will be attending!

April 16-18, 2013 The Gamification Summit at Mission Bay Conference Center @GSummit2013

This summit brings together top experts in gamification for workshops, lectures, and networking.  There will even be an opportunity to earn a gamification design certificate.  Regular registration summit pass $695, summit pass and workshop $1495, or workshop only at $895.

April 18-19, 2013 LA Games Conference at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, 7000 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles

This conference gathers together over 700 industry leaders and has 3 tracks with fireside chats, panels, demos, and presentations on digital game creation, distribution, monetization, and marketing.  The early bird all access pass is available at $499 (plus a small fee) until January 15th, and the basic pass is available at $199 (plus a small fee).

April 22-23, 2013 6th Annual International Conference on Computer Games, Multimedia, and Allied Technology (CGAT) at Hotel Fort Canning, 11 Canning Walk, Singapore

The CGAT conference has a number of special tracks, including Multimedia Computer Games, Cloud Computing and Virtualization, Web Technologies and Internet Applications, Social Computing and Behavioural Modelling, Entreprise Resource Planning & Supply Chain Management, and Mobile Communications Networking and Applications.  Non-author participant fees are $756, other fees vary.

April 24-25, 2013 Festival of Games in Utrecht, Holland @NLGD

Last year’s festival had over 1,500 professionals.  In addition to the conference, the festival features a career fair for the digital games industry.  All Access Business Pass available for €450.

April 24-25, 2013 East Coast Game Conference at the Raleigh Convention Center, Raleigh, NC

The East Coast Game Conference is the largest gathering of video game professionals on the East Coast.  Early bird passes end March 15th, 2013 and are $79 (plus a small fee) for the conference pass, $249 (plus a small fee) for a premier pass.  Regular registration ends April 22, 2013 and are $70 (plus a small fee) for a conference pass and $60 (plus a small fee) for expo only.

May 1-2, 2013 NeuroGaming Conference and Expo at Yetizen Game Innovation Lab, San Francisco @NeuroGameConf

The NeuroGaming Conference reveals the latest emotional, cognitive, sensory, and behavioral technologies for gaming experiences.  The full conference pass is available at a discount until March 15th at $650 (start up rate $550) and after March 15th at $1,250 (start up $950).

May 8-9, 2013 GameHorizon at Newcastle @GameHorizon

The event coordinators are aiming to make GameHorizon “the essential and most inspiring professional games conference in Europe.”  Tickets are available for £270.

May 13, 2013 Flash GAMM! at the International Exhibition Center, Moscow, Russia @FlashGAMM

Flash GAMM is a meeting place for professional Flash game developers.  Until March 31st, early bird price available at $35 for standard registration and $70 thereafter.  Until March 31st, premium registration available at $70 and $100 thereafter.

May 13-14, 2013 Game Monetisation Europe 2013 at Double Tree by Hilton, London Tower, UK

Publishers, developers, billing engines and analytics platforms come together at the only industry summit looking exclusively at how to monetize the digital gaming revolution.  Early bird price available until March 15th at £1095 for the business pass, last chance until April 12th at £1195, full price at £1295.  Basic pass available for £100 less at each price tier.

May 14-15, 2013 Mobile Gaming USA West at Hotel Kabuki in San Francisco

Mobile Gaming USA brings together the top game developers and publishers in mobile gaming. Launch registration standard all-access pass ends February 15th at $1,295 (developer/publisher at $1,095).  Super early bird all-access pass ends March 22nd at $1,495 (developer/publisher at $1,295), early bird April 12th at $1,695 (developer/publisher at $1,395), and regular May 14th at $1,895 (developer/publisher at $1,595).  Gold and silver passes also available.

May 14-15, 2013 Social Gambling & Gaming Summit in Berlin, Germany

The 3rd annual Berlin Social Gaming Summit is focused on the intersection of casino-style social games, mobile gaming, virtual goods, and the bridge between mainstream social gambling and gaming.  Gold passport early bird available until April 5th at €590, regular until May 13th at €710, onsite at €825, and a basic networking pass at €118.

May 14-17, 2013 Foundations of Digital Games (FDG), Chania, Crete, Greece

The 8th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games is designed for academic researchers to share information regarding games, game technologies, gameplay, and game design.  Early registration available until March 31st for $360 (plus a small fee) and late registration for $420 (plus a small fee).

May 15-17, 2013 Russian Game Developer’s Conference (KRI) in Moscow, Russia

The Russian Game Developer’s Conference (KRI) is an annual professional event devoted to game development, publishing and distribution.  Early registration available until April 19th at $165, $265 after.

May 20-21, 2013 Kontagent Konnect 2013 at The Westin, 50 3rd Street, San Francisco, CA @Kontagent

Put on by app analyst organization Kontagent, this event will focus on subjects such as mobile marketing, customer experience, and monetization.  General admission ends May 20th at $179.

May 21-23, 2013 Casual Connect Asia at Shangri-La Hotel, 22 Orange Grove Road, Singapore @CasualConnect

The conference is put on by the Casual Games Association, a professional trade organization providing educational community support for game developers for the mass market consumer.  Early bird standard registration is available for $300 until May 14th, 2013 and then changes to $350.  Early bird premium registration is available for $450 until May 14th, 2013 and then changes to $650.  

May 22-24, 2013 Nordic Game Conference in Slagthuset, Malmö, Sweden @NordicGame

In addition to meeting game developers from the Nordic region and general conference activities, participate in Nordic Indie Night and the Gala Dinner with Nordic Game Awards.  Heavy bird discount available until February 28th, early bird until April 10th, and ordinary bird until May 21st.  Multiple prices available for different levels, including a Pitch and Match session.  Heavy bird Nordic Game conference pass available at 3,900SEK, early bird at 5,450SEK, ordinary at 6,100SEK, and late at 6,950SEK.  Pitch & Match limited session plus conference available at 6,000SEK or 7,500SEK.  Check website for more detailed registration information.  LAI will be attending!

May 28-29, 2013 Game Connection Asia in Shanghai, China

Game Connection allows individuals to network with 1000+ industry professionals from around the world.  Early bird business package price available through April 17th at €790 or late registration through May 29th at €990.  LAI will be attending!

May 28-31, 2013 The Android Development Conference (AnDevCon) in Boston, MA @AnDevCon

The Android Development Conference is the world’s largest Android developer conference in the world.  The 3-day passport is available for $945 until January 4th, $995 until February 1st, $1,095 until March 8th, $1,145 until April 12th, $1,245 until May 10th, and $1,495 May 11th or after.  There are other prices for the pre-conference workshop package, and the exhibit hall only is free.

May 30-31, 2013 Ottawa Game Conference at the Ottawa Convention Centre in Ottawa, Canada @OIGConf

The Ottawa International Game Conference (OIGC) showcases the innovations and emerging trends in the Ottawa and Canadian gaming industry.  Early bird registration available until April 1st at $350, advanced registration until May 29th at $495, and onsite registration at $595.

June 6-7, 2013 Inside Social Apps Conference & Expo at the Hilton in Union Square, San Francisco, CA

The conference explores issues and opportunities in social and mobile apps, such as marketing, monetization, app and game design, and distribution on established and emerging platforms.  A job fair is available the first day of the conference.  Early bird conference pass available until January 25th at $295.

June 11-12, 2013 MultiScreen Summit at the Metropolitan Pavilion, New York City, NY @MultiScreenSumm

The MultiScreen Summit Brand Engagement conference helps attendees learn how to effectively market across the multiScreen universe.  One day pass standard price available until June 10th for $895 or onsite for $995.  Two day pass standard price available until June 10th for $995 or onsite for $1,195.

June 11-13, 2013 E3 Gaming Convention 2013 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles, CA @E3Expo

In 2012, E3 received 45,700 game industry professionals, investor analysts, journalists, and retailers from 103 countries.  3 day expo pass is available until April 29th or $795 and after for $995.  Industry passes are available for free until April 29th to qualified Interactive Entertainment Industry Professionals only.  LAI may be attending!

June 17-19, 2013 Canadian Gaming Summit at Palais des congrès in Montréal, Québec @CDNGamingSummit

The Canadian Gaming Summit is Canada’s premier conference for gaming professionals and even includes a golf tournament.  Early bird registration available until May 13th at $695 for the Gaming Delegate pass, $445 for the Charitable Gaming Conference Delegate, and $745 for the Charitable Gaming Conference/Gaming Delegate.

June 17-19, 2013 Games for Change Festival in New York City, NY @G4C

Games for Change is the largest gaming event in NYC and brings together funders, NGOs, corporations, government agencies, and educators seeking to leverage entertainment and engagement for social good with leading game developers.  General admission is available until June 7th for $550 plus a small fee.

June 19-20, 2013 Web Game Conference in Paris, France

The Web Game Conference is organized by the SNJV (France’s video game trade association) and brings together European leaders to discuss design, business, community and legal areas of online game development and publishing.  Early bird registration available until May 1st at €125.

June 26-28, 2013 Games Beyond Entertainment Week/Games for Health at Back Bay Events Center, 180 Berkeley Street, Boston, MA @GamesforHealth

Games Beyond Entertainment Week is a series of one and two-day conferences designed to explore serious game and emerging market opportunities for video games and video game technologies.  Registration available at $699 until May 1st, $749 after May 1st.  Other price options available.

June 27, 2013 SoCalBio Games for Health Conference: How Gaming and Digital Entertainment Technologies Promise to Change the Face of Medicine in Los Angeles, CA

This conference focuses on the medicinal gaming opportunities and will be a focal point for showcasing gaming, simulations, music, and other entertainment technologies.  Registration available until June 27th at $250 (plus a small fee) for non-SoCalBio members, $150 (plus a small fee) for SoCalBio members, and $100 (plus a small fee) for academic/government/nonprofit.

June 2013? Tehran Game Expo in Tehran, Iran

The most prominent consumer video game expo in Iran, organized by Iran’s National Foundation of Computer Games.  Month estimate based on 2012 dates.  Check back for exact dates and registration information.

July 9-10, 2013 MobileBeat 2013 at the Palace Hotel, San Francisco, CA @VentureBeat

In 2012, over 1,000 industry professionals attended to learn about the mobile space.  MobileBeat Ticket is available until July 9th for $650 plus a small fee.

July 9-11, 2013 Develop Conference in Brighton, UK @DevelopConf

Last year’s conference had over 1,500 developers and 450 companies plus an Indie Showcase, pub quiz, and poker tournament.  A 1 day pass is £350 (academic rate of £215), 2 day £595 (academic at £305), 3 day £685 (academic £385), and there other passes for particular sessions such as the Audio Track, Indie Dev Day, and expo only.

July 14-16, 2013 5th Global Conference Videogame Cultures and the Future of Interactive Entertainment at Mansfield College, Oxford

This multi-disciplinary conference encourages theoretical and practical debates surrounding the cultural contexts of the video game industry.  Conference fee is £285.  Speaker submission deadline February 8th.

July 19-21, 2013 PAX Australia in Melbourne, Australia @PAXAus

The first international PAX.  3 day pass available for $125, 1 day pass for $50.  Speaker registration deadline April 5th.

July 21-25, 2013 SIGGRAPH at the Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, CA @SIGGRAPH

Last year’s SIGGRAPH brought together over 20,000 creators and users of computer graphics and interactive techniques.  Basic and full conference passes available at varying prices for members, students, and non-members.  Full conference access available until June 18th for non-members at $1,045, ACM SIGGRAPH members at $895, and student members at $395; until July 16th for non-members at $1,195, members $1,070, and student members $445; at SIGGRAPH for non-members at $1,320, members $1,170, and student members $495.

July 25-29, 2013 ChinaJoy in China @ChinaJoyExpo @CGBC_ChinaJoy

ChinaJoy is the largest scale conference in China.  Check back for registration information.  LAI will be attending!

July 30-August 1, 2013 18th International Conference on Computer Games USA (CGames) at the Galt House Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky

CGAMES is one of the leading research conferences devoted to advancing the theory and practice of computer games development.  One day registration for IEEE members available at $300, non-members at $330.  Prices vary for author participants and student authors.

July 30-July 1, 2013 Casual Connect San Francisco in San Francisco, CA

Casual Connect is put on by the Casual Games Association, which puts on premiere events for the casual games industry with over 5,500 professionals attending Casual Connect events each year.  Standard registration available until July 16th for $495, raises by $100 after.  Premium registration available for $695, raises by $100 after.  LAI will be attending!

August 15-18, 2013 Play: Innovación, Tecnología, y Videojuegos at Centro de Convenciones in Guayaquil, Ecuador

Play is an industry event connecting over 5,000 professionals.  Check back for registration information.  LAI may be attending!

August 19-21, 2013 GDC Europe in Cologne, Germany @GDC_Europe

GDC Europe is co-located with gamescom and is the largest professionals-only game industry event in Europe.  Main conference pass early registration available until July 18th at 550€, regular August 7th at 650€, and onsite for 725€.  All access pass early registration at 750€, regular at 850€, and onsite for 925€.  Student discounts available at a 15% reduction.  Other VIP and summit passes available.

August 20-22, 2013 Serious Play Conference at DigiPen Institute of Technology, 9931 Willows Road NE, Redmond, WA

Developers, analysts, researchers, and consultants discuss what it takes to make a game and simulations and virtual worlds that work.  Early bird 3 day pass for $499, one day passes available for $249, academic and student rates available.

August 21-25, 2013 gamescom in Cologne, Germany @gamescomcologne

gamescom 2012 broke records with over 275,000 visitors, 600 exhibitors from 40 countries, making gamescom the largest game trade fair in the world.  Admission tickets available from April 2nd at 15€ for a weekend day ticket or 11€ for a weekday day ticket.  LAI may be attending!

August 26-28, 2013 Serious Games & Social Connect 2013 in Singapore

This event is becoming an international platform for serious games developers, government agencies, and individuals keen in maximizing the applications of serious games.  Early bird rate available until May 31st at SGD 500 for SGA members and 550 for non-members and standard passes at SGD 600 for SGA members and SGD 650 for non-members.

August 28-30, 2013 Unite 2013 at Vancouver Convention Centre, 1055 Canada Place in Vancouver, Canada

Unite is Unity Technologies’ annual user conference and authoritative forum for developers, publishers, training providers and enthusiasts to discuss and learn about Unity.  Early bird rate available until April 22nd at a 15% discount of $340 plus a small fee.  Training day available at $100.

August 28-29, 2013 PAX Dev in Seattle, Washington @Official_PAX

PAX Dev takes place 2 days before PAX Prime and is about creating a place to share, debate, and learn.  Early bird pricing available until May 17th at $279, after May 17th at $369.

August 30-September 2, 2013 PAX Prime in Seattle, Washington @Official_PAX

PAX includes concerts, console freeplay, a handheld lounge, and other components.  One day passes available for $35, three day passes for $65.

September 2-3, 2013 Vienna Game AI Conference in Vienna, Austria @GameAiConf

The largest independent event about artificial intelligence and game development.  Discounted tickets available at €397 (regular price will be €497).

September 11-13, 2013 5th International Conference on Games and Virtual Worlds for Serious Applications(VS Games) in Bournemouth University, Talbot Campus, Poole, BH12 5BB, Dorset, UK

The VS Games 2013 conference addresses contemporary challenges in the cross-disciplinary communities involved in serious games.  Paper submissions due March 25th.  Early registration cost for IEEE members £385, late £425.  Non-member early registration cost £250, late £475.  Check website for early bird cut off dates.

September 14, 2013 Boston Festival of Indie Games (FIG) at MIT in Boston, Massachussets @BostonFIG

FIG showcases indie game developers by providing a free public event that encourages attendees to share and interact with games.  Check back for registration information.

September 17, 2013 New York Games Conference at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York  @DMWEvents @DMWNews

 NY Games Conference features 2 tracks with fireside chats, panels, demos and presentations on digital game creation, distribution, monetization and marketing.  Hundreds of industry leaders will gather to network, make deals, and share ideas about the future of games and connected entertainment.  Early registration begins at $199 (plus service charge).

September 19-22, 2013 Tokyo Game Show at Makuhari Messe in Tokyo, Japan @Tokyo_Game_Show

The Tokyo Game Show is one of the world’s biggest game shows.  The first two days are business days for invited members of the industry and media, and the final two days are open to the general public.  Advance registration is 1,000 yen per day, otherwise registration is 1,200 yen.

September 23-25, 2013 IEEE Games Innovation Conference (IGIC) in Vancouver, BC, Canada

The IEEE IGIC conference is a platform for disseminating innovative research and development work on game technologies and developing new ideas through audience interaction.  Check website for paper submission information.

September 25-29, 2013 GameFest at Feria de Madrid in Madrid, Spain @GAMEFESTSpain

The largest videogame fair in Spain.  Check back for registration information.

September 26-27, 2013 LOGIN Conference in San Francisco, CA @LoginConference

Early registration is available for developers at $395, regular registration at $495, and late at $695.  Early registration is available for VIP attendees at $695, regular registration at $995, and late at $1,195.  LAI may be attending!

September 2013? Sociality Rocks! in Kyiv or Moscow, Russia @SocialityRocks

Sociality Rocks! is the 1st international conference in Eastern Europe focused on social games and gathers the most numerous Russian-speaking developers, platforms, and payment providers.  The conference is held twice a year in Kyiv and Moscow.  Corporate registration $150.

 September 2013? 3D Gaming Summit in Southern CA @3DGamingSummit

The 3D Gaming Summit brings together industry professionals to define the market opportunity for 3D stereoscopic gaming and entertainment.  Check back for registration information and exact dates.

September 2013? Swipe Conference in Australia @SwipeConf

Swipe brings together designers and developers for iOS and Mac.  Check back for registration information and exact dates.

September 2013? Developer Conference in Germany @DCHH2012

The last Developer Conference had about 350 participants and 50 speakers.  Check back for registration information and exact dates.

September 2013? Game Design Conference in San Francisco, CA

Check back for registration information and exact dates.  LAI may be attending!

September 2013? Cloud Gaming USA in San Francisco, CA

Cloud Gaming is the only dedicated forum delivering executive insights in cloud gaming from industry professionals.  Check back for registration information and exact dates.

October 12, 2013 LAI’s 20th Anniversary BASH! at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA  @LanguageAutoInc

LAI invites you to be a part of our 20th anniversary celebration, bringing together hundreds of Bay Area game developers and publishers for an evening of speakers, game tournaments, networking, and more!  Come learn about agile game localization and the past and future of gaming.  Early bird registration is currently FREE.  The LAI Team will be attending!

October 25-29, 2013 Brasil Game Show in São Paulo, Brazil @BrasilGameShow

The Brasil Game Show is the largest game fair in Latin America.  Check website for registration information.

October 28-29, 2013 Games for Health Europe at the Muziekgebouw aan’t IJ, Piet Heinkade 1, 1019 BR Amsterdam, the Netherlands @GFHEU

Games for Health brings serious gaming and healthcare together to contribute to more advanced healthcare across Europe.  Super early bird discount 2 day pass at €350, regular price €499, and 1 day pass €300.  Check website for early bird cutoff dates.

October 29-30, 2013 GamesBeat2013 at Hotel Sofitel, Redwood City, CA @VentureBeat

GamesBeat is VentureBeat’s conference on disruption in the video game market. Early bird pass available until June 7th at $495 (plus a small fee), available at $595 (plus small fee) thereafter.

October 2013? Indonesia Game Show & Jakarta Game Show in Indonesia @IndoGameShow @GamesExpo

Check back for registration information  and exact dates.

October 2013? Swedish Game Conference in Sweden

Check back for registration information and exact dates.

October 2013? All-Russian Conference on Game Industry (ACGI) in Moscow, Russia

Check back for registration information and exact dates.

October 2013? Italian Videogames & Digital Contents Conference (IVDC) in Rome, Italy

Check back for registration information and exact dates.

October 2013? Korea Game Conference (KGC) in Seoul, Korea @KGConf

Check back for registration information and exact dates.

October 2013? DevHour in Mexico City, Mexico @DevHourMX

Check back for registration information and exact dates.

October 2013? Meaningful Play in Michigan @MeaningfulPlay

A conference about designing and studying serious games.  Check back for registration information and exact dates.

October 2013? Casual Connect Kyiv in Kyiv, Ukraine

Check back for registration information and exact dates.

October 2013? GameX in Istanbul, Turkey

Check back for registration information and exact dates.

October 2013? Temporada de Patos in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, México @TDPicnic

Check back for registration information and exact dates.

October 2013? November 2013? Paris Games Week in Paris, France @ParisGamesWeek

Check back for registration information and exact dates.

October 2013? November 2013? IGDA Leadership Forum at the San Francisco Airport Marriott, San Francisco, CA @IGDALeadership

Check back for registration information and exact dates.  LAI may be attending!

November 5-7, 2013 Game Developers Conference Next (GDC Next) at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, CA @GDC_Online @GDC_Next

GDC Next is the successor to GDC Online and will be co-located with the App Developers Conference.  Check back for registration information.  LAI may be attending!

November 5-7, 2013 App Developers Conference  (ADC) at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, CA @AppConf

From the creators of the Game Developers Conference is a brand new app conference focusing on the best development, UI, marketing and business of apps.  LAI may be attending!

November 18-19, 2013 Dubai World Game Expo at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, Sheikh Saeed Hall3, Dubai @DubaiGame

The Dubai World Game Expo is that largest annual gathering and networking event for the interactive entertainment industry in the Middle East.  Check back for registration information.

November 19-22, 2013 SIGGRAPH Asia 2013 – Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong, China @SIGGRAPH

SIGGRAPH Asia is the premier platform for the advancement of graphics, animation, art, and technology.  Call for submissions begin March 2013.  Check back for registration information in August.

November 2013? Game Developers Conference China in China @GDC_China

Check back for registration information and exact dates.

November 2013? G-Star in Korea @GStar_GameShow

Check back for registration information and exact dates.  LAI may be attending!

November 2013? Montreal International Game Summit/Digital Festival (MTL DGTL) in Montreal, Canada @MTLDGTL @MIGS__

Check back for registration information and exact dates.

November 2013? London Games Conference in London, UK @LondonGamesConf

Check back for registration information and exact dates.

November 2013? Exposición de videojuegos (EVA) in Argentina @ExpoEVA

Check back for registration information and exact dates.

November 2013? Congreso internaciónal de desarrolladores de videojuegos (COIDEV) in Peru @CoidevPeru

Check back for registration information and exact dates.

November 2013? December 2013?  Game Connection at Centre de Congrès, Lyon, France @The_GameCo

Check back for registration information and exact dates.

December 2013? Social Gaming & Gambling Summit in Los Angeles, CA

Check back for registration information and exact dates.

December 2013? Evolve Conference in London, UK @EvolveConf

Check back for registration information and exact dates.

Also check back for more information on the following:

The Christian Game Developers Conference Community (CGD)

GameSym @GameSym

NY Mobile Entertainment Summit

Game Professionals Expo (GPXPO)

DevBeat 2013

Game Connection Asia @The_GameCo

Despite the importance of making games available in a variety of languages for gamers across global markets, translation and localization is still a source of confusion for many developers.  Due to the number of easily-avoided issues encountered by game translation and localization companies on a regular basis, we realized the value to the entire development community to dispel common myths regarding the localization process, thereby perpetuating a network of informed developers to ultimately enhance decisions regarding game translation, producing a global library of games with quality localization.

Here’s a recap of Myths #1-4:

Myth #1: A translation is a translation is a translation – In the long run, cheaper is better for my company’s bottom line, so I should always be searching for vendor alternatives.

-          In actuality, switching localization vendors can have a negative impact on your company’s financial statement.  In this section, we take a look at the implications of changing vendors.

Myth #2: Translation vendors are all built the same.  There’s no difference in one agency versus another.

-          Without a broad understanding of the quality issues you may encounter with some translation vendors, you are risking financial loss due to consumer drop off.

Myth #3: Prior localization efforts are unnecessary to current translators of my games.

-          Learn how to avoid paying threefold unnecessarily by effectively utilizing work that has already been done.

Myth #4: My friend/relative/significant other/guy down the street speaks (insert language), I’ll just have him/her translate my game.

-          Your game and company brand are at stake, and gamers know what they want when it comes to quality.  Don’t repeat the fatal mistakes made by other game developers!

This brings us to our final myth…

Myth #5: Everyone in the gaming world speaks English, so it’s a waste of money to professionally translate my game.  If nothing else, I’ll run it through Google Translate for other languages.  That’ll be good enough.

“Try not.  Do, or do not.  There is no try.”  Even though your prior English teacher would likely ring you upside the head for using phrases like “try not” in your essays, would anyone dare to correct the Jedi Master’s English?  Remember – Yoda is almost always the exception when it comes to English grammar.  George Lucas granted Yoda special artistic license in his use of the English language that just doesn’t apply to the rest of us – we checked.  As a general rule, jumbled sentence fragments simply do not create the immersive environment players want to experience during gameplay.

However, we can apply Yoda’s philosophy to translation attempts with Google Translate.  “Try not.  Do, or do not.  There is no try.”  Have you ever tried running a whole e-mail or article through Google Translate?  How much of the translation did you really understand?  While you may get lucky with a couple short phrases, would you really want to read an entire newspaper fed through Google Translate or even a whole book?  I could spend incredible amounts of time trying to warn you of the dangers of Google Translate, but it’s far more effective if you experience Google Translate for yourself…

Let’s perform a little experiment, running sentences from Don Quixote through Google Translate.  Now here’s an inspired quote, “All kinds of beauty do not inspire love; there is a kind which only pleases the sight, but does not captivate the affections.”  Now the full meaning of that quote may take some time for consideration, even for native English speakers but is far more poetic than the alternative.  If you run the original Spanish version through Google Translate (“No todas hermosuras enamoran, que algunas alegran la vista, y no rinden la voluntad.”), it yields a phrase which may sound poetic on some level but certainly not like a human translated version – “Not all love beauties, some happy sight, and will not yield.”

Let’s try another one – “Make yourself honey and the flies will devour you.”  (In Spanish, “Haceos miel, y paparos han moscas.”)  Google Translate’s version – “Honey yourselves, and have flies paparos.”  Google didn’t even attempt to translate “paparos,” though it would like to auto-correct Cervantes by changing “paparos” to “papas” (literally potatoes or fries).  If I go with Google’s suggestion, the sentence “Make yourself honey and the flies will devour you” becomes “Yourselves honey and potatoes have flies.”  Now there’s a translation reminiscent of old video games, in the times when companies cut corners in the translation process…Back when they didn’t see the need to spend hard-earned development dollars on quality localization.  (Can you say, “A winner is you?” J)

If you haven’t figured it out by now, Google Translate DOES NOT do the trick!  I’ll share a secret with you – native speakers can tell when you use Google!  I tested it myself in high school.  Classic scenario, true story – I was in the computer lab for French class and only had one class period to read a news article in French and write an essay about it.  The bell was about to ring, so I ran the two concluding sentences through Google Translate.  Baaaaaad idea.  It was only two sentences, but my teacher knew, oh wow, she knew.

Google Translate aside, dictionaries are not always the way to go either.  You would think that just as long as you were able to match one definition with another, you would be able to produce an accurate translation.  Well, let me paint you another picture.  It was high school French, and this time we were in the classroom – no computers – and were asked to write an essay about anything.  I decided to write about my friend’s project for the local senior center.  Now, I was determined to stay away from any outside help (like an obedient student, I learned from my prior mistake).  However, for my chosen topic, I needed to use the word elderly throughout my essay, but I had no idea how to translate elderly into French.  I used the provided French-English dictionary with my teacher watching me like a hawk.  But guess what – I was still called in after school!  My mistake?  Using the provided dictionary!  My French teacher pointed to my translation of “elderly” and asked why I used that word.  I wasn’t sure how to respond, since I had no idea what was wrong with the translation.  “Um…because it was in the dictionary?”  She looked at me, shook her head, and said, “Impossible.”  Then, I pulled out the school-provided dictionary and watched her eyes go wide.  The dictionary translation of “elderly” was literally “old people,” a phrase I had subsequently used throughout my entire essay.  It just goes to show that even seemingly straightforward translation questions can be easily butchered in the hands of a non-native…even with acceptable tools like the dictionary.

You wouldn’t cut corners on game development looking to save a buck, so why would you treat the translation of your game any differently?  Google Translate doesn’t understand context and other linguistic nuances that make all the difference in quality translation.  In fact, some people have intentionally tried to sabotage Google Translate by submitting incorrect translations.  Anyone – including machines– can suggest “better” translations, but there is no human component involved to recognize context and literal translations vs. figurative.  It’s a fact of life – quality translation requires human translators, humans who understand the distinction between “elderly” and “old people.”  Low quality translation treatments will generate buzz about your brand – thousands of YouTube videos will be made and your game will get made fun of.  Google Translate doesn’t make for an immersive experience, but it can provide hours of entertainment in other ways.

Ever hear of Star War The Third Gathers: The Backstroke of the West?  It is a prime example of why machine translations just don’t work.  This bootleg version of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith provided English speakers loads of entertainment, though not due to Lucas’ original intentions.  This version took the Chinese subtitles and most likely used a machine translation to convert the text back to English, resulting in translations such as the Jedi Council as “Presbyterian Church” or “Hopeless Situation Presbyterian/Parliament,” the Sand People as “Pathetic people,” and C-3PO as “Below the skin.”  I can’t imagine the multilingual C-3PO would approve of those translations.

As for hoping the purchasers of your game speak English, that’s a tall order considering 50% of worldwide video game revenue comes from markets outside the US.  Even the US, UK, and Australia cannot boast 100% English-speaking populations.  According to a study conducted by the European Commission, English is not even the most widely spoken “mother tongue” in Europe but rather, German.  When looking at the country rankings in the English Proficiency Index, one of the top countries for video game consumption – China – ranks as one of the lowest countries in “low English proficiency,” with Korea, Japan, and Hong Kong ranking under moderate proficiency.  Even though the Nordic countries rank under very high English proficiency, it is still common for developers and publishers to localize their games for Nordic gamers.  Why?

First of all, the English proficiency rankings are based on adult knowledge of the language, meaning children will likely have a significantly lower level of language proficiency.  In addition, just because someone has moderate or even high level proficiency does not mean it’s their language of choice or that they will understand the cultural context of a game in English.  Even native English speakers from different parts of the same country or across international borders may not understand certain cultural elements.  Humor, vocab, holidays, etc. change depending on location.  References to Swan Upping (occurring annually in Britian) or cheese curds (commonly served in parts of the US and Canada) will not translate across all English speakers.  This is where localization comes into play.

What’s the bottom line?

You’re putting your time, company resources, and ultimately, your company’s name on global versions of your game.  You wouldn’t want to slap your brand on another “All your base are belong to us,” now would you?  The reputation you worked so hard to build can disappear in an instant through fatal localization errors keeping with the above myths.  There are proven problems with Google Translate, machine translations, the use of novice translators, and vendors that cut corners on quality, passing the subsequently lower cost AND lower quality product onto you.  While cheaper vendors may appease higher ups in your organization and game studios just starting out, the overall goal is to satisfy your consumers, and gamers don’t stand for subpar translation.  Gamers continue to make videos, blog posts, and forum comments about poor translations from older games.  DON’T let your game fall subject to this treatment!  It is ALWAYS worth the cost of QUALITY translation and localization – including the use of fully-qualified, professional translators who understand game terminology and translation agencies that employ quality-checking techniques such as review by a 2^nd translator and quality assurance testing methods.  Quality translation begins with a quality translation vendor.  Use a translation service that you can trust to deliver a quality product to your consumers and eliminates the cost of translation and localization errors.  Speak with Language Automation, Inc.’s CEO, David Lakritz (dave@lai.com) to learn how LAI can meet your cost and quality considerations.

Despite the importance of making games available in a variety of languages for gamers across global markets, translation and localization is still a source of confusion for many developers.  Due to the number of easily-avoided issues encountered by game translation and localization companies on a regular basis, we realized the value to the entire development community to dispel common myths regarding the localization process, thereby perpetuating a network of informed developers to ultimately enhance decisions regarding game translation, producing a global library of games with quality localization.

Part 1 taught you that switching localization vendors can have a negative impact on your company’s financial statement.  Part 2 revealed the quality issues that distinguish one vendor from another, and part 3 showed you how to avoid paying threefold unnecessarily by effectively using prior work.  In this post, we cover one of the most common mistakes made in video game translation and discuss how it, too, can have a significant impact on the quality of your game.  Be sure to check back this Friday, November 16^th, for Myth #5.

Myth #4: My friend/relative/significant other/guy down the street speaks (insert language), I’ll just have him/her translate my game.

Good plan, in theory.  However, there is a reason translators spend years earning their qualifications, despite their fluency in more than one language.  Due to the long hours spent training, preparing for their future careers, there is a significant difference in the quality of translation between a professional translator and a bilingual off the street.

If you were developing a massive RPG, you probably wouldn’t want novice writers creating the multiple, overarching storylines that define your game’s genre.  You would want established writers who have a deep understanding of the intertwined web of fully-constructed characters, their complex relationships with one another and the rest of the world, plus the development of an incredibly intricate society, complete with new races and relevant languages, backstories for all aspects of the civilization (including origin) and the creation of different cultures, among a host of other complex components.  There is a layer of depth that will likely be lacking in the hands of someone who has not spent years training and practicing their creative writing abilities under the supervision of highly experienced and studied mentors and, besides that, has no professional writing experience of which to speak.  Just as a RPG with the depth of Skyrim cannot hope to achieve a similar immersive experience by writers with little to no experience writing on a similar scale, quality translations cannot be wished into existence by bilinguals who may not have a clear understanding of translation, creative writing, and/or game terminology.  You wouldn’t want your original text to be written by someone without a thorough understanding of creative writing and video games, so why would your thought-process change when it comes to the translation of your game?

Professional translators have a thorough understanding of the intricacies of languages and what makes a quality translation.  Translations cannot be sufficiently handled by machines because translation is not a straightforward process and there are multiple ways to translate even seemingly simple words.  There are subtleties in meaning, idioms and words without direct equivalents, and the reinvention of character names, equipment, places, items, etc. that make game translation incredibly complex.  While an unstudied translator may be able to handle certain pieces of your game, you don’t want to compromise the overall quality of your game by entrusting its complete iteration into another language to a novice translator.  Remember – your game and company brand are at stake, and gamers know what they want when it comes to quality.

One of the worst mistakes people make is believing that someone with less than native proficiency in the target language is fit to localize their game.  It is a common misconception that a couple semesters of a foreign language or a couple summers abroad qualifies someone to translate a game.  If you’re lucky, a couple summers abroad might set you at the proficiency level of a 3-5 year old, but would you let a 3-5 year old translate your game or even write the original text for your game?  How long did it take you to achieve an adult-level of proficiency in your own native language?

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, in English alone there are roughly over 170,000 words, 9,500+/- derivative words plus 47,000+ obsolete words.  A BBC article estimates that most people know about 50,000 words, and educated individuals may know about 75,000…but how many of these words do people use in everyday speech?  Certainly not all of them!  There are bound to be significant knowledge gaps among people who are still working toward fluency in a language, resulting in lack of quality options for the translation of words and phrases.  There are specific groups of vocab that new speakers of a language may not even be exposed to, such as situation-specific words (describing tools, house repairs, and plumbing emergencies; explaining philosophy and ancient cultures; telling a doctor how you injured yourself, relevant allergies and family medical history).  And, unless your pal is an avid video game player, comic reader, or has managed to expose him/herself to genre specific vocab through consumption of relevant books, movies, and games, it is highly unlikely (s)he will know the words central to the theme of your game – words pertaining to sci-fi, fantasy, MMO’s, etc.

While your friend/neighbor/etc. may be the most intelligent person you know, that doesn’t mean they have reached a level of proficiency that qualifies them to make difficult translation calls or understand cultural nuances pertinent to quality translation.  For example, in a number of cultures, it is common to call boyfriends and girlfriends “husbands” and “wives” if the couple is acting as husband and wife (aka living together).  Someone without that cultural knowledge may translate boyfriend literally as boyfriend as opposed to husband, contextually changing the nature of the couple’s relationships.

In addition, even though someone can easily converse with natives does not mean they can write like natives.  There are different proficiency levels in speaking, writing, and listening that can vary drastically for individuals in a given language.  If the individual lacks writing skills to begin with, they are likely to face equal or greater difficulty writing eloquently in another language.  While you may very well trust your friend to help you close a business deal with a foreigner, it may be a very different story when it comes to writing a follow up e-mail.  Some people learn how to speak a foreign language without ever learning how to read or write, others may have trouble with grammar, spelling, and punctuation in general that would make written interactions disastrous.  After all, do you really want your video game text to be akin to the incomprehensible spam comments you receive on your blog?

The breadth of vocabulary and grammatical knowledge necessary for translation would be lacking in those who are less than native in the target language, and natives can definitely tell the difference.  After all, would you honestly translate a game with your high school French or Japanese?  It’s like taking a high school level biology course and then applying for a job as a scientific writer – while the fundamental knowledge may be there, a high school bio course does not qualify someone to speak, or write, at a level equivalent to scientists with years of experience in the field.

Even bilinguals will not have the skills of a professional translator and will quite possibly not have the writing abilities or gaming knowledge pertinent to quality translation of your game.  The experts have a thorough understanding of all of the components important to video game translation and localization – be sure to stick with a qualified professional.

Don’t make the same mistakes commonly made by game developers and publishers.  Read the rest of our “Top 5 Myth” series to ensure you don’t fall into the same pit traps as others, and be sure to read our final game translation myth this Friday (Nov. 16^th).  Here’s a preview:

Myth #5: Everyone in the gaming world speaks English, so it’s a waste of money to professionally translate my game.  If nothing else, I’ll run it through Google Translate for other languages.  That’ll be good enough.

• Low quality translation treatments will certainly generate buzz about your brand – thousands of YouTube videos will be made and your game will get made fun of.  Google Translate doesn’t make for an immersive experience, but it can provide hours of entertainment in other ways.
• As for English speakers of the gaming world – not even the US, UK, and Australia can boast 100% English-speaking populations, and even in countries with high English proficiency rankings, children are likely to have a much lower level of proficiency.  Besides that, children and adults alike are not likely to understand the cultural elements that have a significant impact on immersion into a game, elements that are remedied through quality localization efforts.

Despite the importance of making games available in a variety of languages for gamers across global markets, translation and localization is still a source of confusion for many developers.  Due to the number of easily-avoided issues encountered by game translation and localization companies on a regular basis, we realized the value to the entire development community to dispel common myths regarding the localization process, thereby perpetuating a network of informed developers to ultimately enhance decisions regarding game translation, producing a global library of games with quality localization.

In part 1, you learned how switching localization vendors can have a negative impact on your company’s financial statement, and in part 2, we discussed the core quality issues that set one vendor apart from another.  Thus far in our “Top 5 Myths & Facts” series, we have covered

-          Myth 1: A translation is a translation is a translation – In the long run, cheaper is better for my company’s bottom line, so I should always be searching for vendor alternatives.

-          Myth 2: Translation vendors are all built the same.  There’s no difference in one agency versus another.

This brings us to Myth #3:

Myth #3: Prior localization efforts are unnecessary to current translators of my games.

Would you want a surgeon operating on you without any knowledge of your medical history – past surgeries and illnesses, allergies, patterns of disease within your family?  While localizing a game certainly isn’t life-threatening, that doesn’t mean past localizations don’t have a place in current projects.  You don’t want to send translators in blind.

You know that dropdown “synonym” button in Microsoft Word?  Think of multiple games in a series, each using different translators without access to prior translation work directly relevant to the current game (a terminology database for the game series).  Now imagine the series is sci-fi, and each frequently used keyword has multiple options for translation.  Just like receiving roughly 5-10 different possibilities in that dropdown “synonym” tool, each translator is subject to using a different word for each new game in the series or even within the same game!  There may very well be no consistency in words like warp speed, cyborg, and lightyear.  That may not be a huge deal between games in the same series (although it would be odd for one game to consistently use the word “cyborg” and for the next to refer to those same cyborgs as “robotic humans,” no matter how accurate the two translations may be).  However, some game companies won’t hesitate to change translation companies midway through a project.  Since these are frequently the same organizations that don’t see the need to provide the translation work completed for the 1^st half of the game, the second translator is lost in an ocean of “what ifs”…What if the quality of the 1^st translation agency was subpar and the 1^st translator didn’t understand science fiction, instead translating warp speed as light speed?  What if the 1^st translator continuously referred to the Empire as the Galactic Empire, leaving the 2^nd half of the game subject to inconsistencies?

The really tricky part is the translations of essential character names, equipment, and places.  These items pertinent to the game and overall gameplay are often difficult to duplicate without knowing the prior translation, particularly for names and places invented specifically for the game series.  There is no frame of reference for these names, so it is impossible for future translators to know whether to translate by sound, meaning, etc.  The world of video games is such a creative space and sometimes, so too are the translations.  In our recent post regarding the intricacies of game translation, we discuss the translation challenges unique to video games, including the pairing down of translations to fit UI space.  UI considerations and other aspects unique to video games must be balanced with the creative translation puzzles faced by game translators.  For example, in addition to developing an entirely new word for a weapon eloquently conveyed in Kanji through wordplay, translators must balance screen space with the translation of 4 separate Japanese characters into a concise equivalent, while maintaining a large part of the meaning expressed in the original text.  Therefore, it is nearly impossible for two game translators to develop the exact same translation for the “who,” “where,” and “what” of games – characters, settings, and items.

How do you think players would react if some Final Fantasy games had moogles and others had an alternative translation, like moogrels, for example?  The Twitter feed and Facebook pages would be flooded with gamers angry over lack of consistency between games in the same series.  What if two different translators had handled Star Wars and had no access to the other translator’s work?  In half of the movie, Darth Vader may have ended up as Lord Vader.  While a couple instances of Lord Vader would be acceptable to fans, there would have been a big problem if he was Darth Vader for the first half of the movie and Lord Vader for the second half.

Since localization is such a complex process with many decisions made by individuals outside of your control, how can you make sure that you end up with satisfactory results?  A: Linguistic QA testing.  It is only through linguistic QA testing that all of the elements and decisions made during localization can be seen in-context to make sure they are the choices most appropriate for your game.  Of course, experienced game localizers make those decisions all the time, but they’re handicapped because they’re working out of context – typically from an Excel spreadsheet whose layout of in-game dialogue may not even match the flow as experienced by a real gamer.  Do you really want the millions of gamers who purchase your game to be the first to actually see your localized game?  It would be like skipping normal QA testing during the development process and shipping a game merely on the basis of having built the executable without actually playing the game.  (Check out the upcoming interview on our YouTube channel with Language Automation, Inc.’s CEO speaking about these aspects of the game localization process.)

By not providing future translators with previous translation efforts, you are not only squandering the money and time spent on the previous translation, but you are ultimately reducing the overall quality of your game.  It takes time for translators to develop quality translations, and you are paying for their time and the output of their time – a database of terminology used on the project in addition to the game translation.  The problem with denying future translators access to those terminology records is that you are not only comprising the quality of your game through inconsistencies, but you are also requiring translators to redo work that has already been done.  Thus, you are paying threefold unnecessarily – for the time of the original translation plus the 2^nd translator’s new translation of terminology used throughout a game/game series; for the output of the two individuals’ translations; and for the inflated workload of the QA tester.  If you don’t have a linguistic QA tester ensuring the consistency of terminology throughout the game(s), you are also costing your company PR dollars and quite possibly diminishing your customer base due to a perception of a low quality product.

Do yourself, your translators, your brand, and your consumers a HUGE favor, and absolutely ensure terminology databases make it to relevant translators.  It will make a significant impact on your financial statement and will save a huge headache for future translators and QA testers.

Here’s a sneak peek at next week’s topic (watch for it Tuesday, November 13^th):

Myth #4: My friend/relative/significant other/guy down the street speaks (insert language), I’ll just have him/her translate my game.

• Your game and company brand are at stake, and gamers know what they want when it comes to quality.  Don’t repeat the fatal mistakes made by other game developers!

Despite the importance of making games available in a variety of languages for gamers across global markets, translation and localization is still a source of confusion for many developers.  Due to the number of easily-avoided issues encountered by game translation and localization companies on a regular basis, we realized the value to the entire development community to dispel common myths regarding the localization process, thereby perpetuating a network of informed developers to ultimately enhance decisions regarding game translation, producing a global library of games with quality localization.

In part 1, you learned the ways in which changing localization vendors can actually have a negative impact on your company’s financial statement and also received a quick look at the quality concerns between different vendors.  In this post, we will delve further into the core issues that sets vendors apart from one another.  In case you missed the first installment of our 5 part Game Localization Myth series, be sure to check out “Myth #1:  A translation is a translation is a translation – In the long run, cheaper is better for my company’s bottom line, so I should always be searching for vendor alternatives.”  Feel free to send us feedback on our Twitter page @LanguageAutoInc.

Myth #2: Translation vendors are all built the same.  There’s no difference in one agency versus another.

Would anyone dare to apply this same logic to video games?  Example – Mario and Mortal Kombat are both video game series, so they’re roughly the same entertainment experience.  No!  You wouldn’t give Mortal Kombat (hopefully) to a young kid looking to be entertained.  Why not?  Mario and Mortal Kombat belong to two entirely different genres of games –Mario won the hearts of families around the world through his appearance in child and family-oriented games, whereas Mortal Kombat is a mature fighting series that would have parents picketing outside of game stores if marketed to or placed in the hands of children.  Just as there exists large gaps in the experience provided by games of different genres, so too, exists a significant difference in translation vendors and their abilities to adequately bring your video games to global markets.

First of all, there are translation agencies that try to cater to everyone – legal, medical, website translation, video games – they do it all!  But didn’t anyone ever warn you that you can’t be everything to everyone?  While some companies may be large enough to where they can successfully pull off such a feat, it is unlikely they will be able to provide the specialized services of a company focused solely upon video game translation and localization, meaning not only will you lose the opportunity to take advantage of service offerings designed for your game studio or publishing company but you may also not have access to a wide breadth of languages and a large team of translators who understand video game vocabulary and gaming culture necessary for quality translation.

Then there are the differences in quality.  While price doesn’t always indicate quality, there is likely an important reason for translation agencies charging significantly less for their services.  After all, if you were searching high and low for a top-of-the-line sports convertible and found a new one for less than $10k, you probably wouldn’t be overjoyed the price.  Rather, you would likely be left wondering what’s wrong with the car and who’s trying to scam you.  You’re not being pessimistic, it’s just a fact of life – quality products and services require money.  And since you’re ultimately putting your company’s brand on your games (translated games included!), you want to ensure you’re receiving a quality translation.  After all, when it comes to your company’s reputation, it’s worth paying full price (unless you’re aching to be the next “All your base are belong to us” case study).  All the money in the world sometimes isn’t sufficient for damage control.  Who’s to say your cost-effective translation solution wouldn’t result in a crowd-sourced disaster like the racial slur that appeared in Minecraft?  Crowd-sourcing-related problems aren’t the only quality issues to consider in translation and localization.

Your game could end up in the hands of a translator who understands the source language and target language but doesn’t understand gaming language, posing a big problem for gamers who expect game-centric words like “rez” and “drop” to read correctly in the target language as opposed to an absurd translation like “resolution” for “rez” and “faint” or “release” for “drop.”  (As discussed in our previous article, just because you are fluent in 2+ languages does not mean you are fluent in “gamer” jargon.)

In addition, some translation companies don’t hesitate to place non-native speakers on translation projects.  While you might be able to understand the use of a translator “practically” fluent in the target language, would you be so understanding if your translation agency places a student on your game translation with only a couple semesters of experience in the target language?  Would it help if the student stayed abroad in the relevant country for a summer or two?  These are just some of the quality issues you may encounter with certain translation companies.

Unfortunately, you likely won’t be able to assess for yourself whether your localization provider is providing quality localization for each translated version of your game, since only a select few people in existence have been able to speak the number of languages necessary for adequately expanding the global reach of your video game.

This is why you need a company you can trust, a company with proven experience for a wide array of industry leaders.  Translation companies are not built the same.  In addition to using translators who don’t speak gamer or don’t speak the target language well enough to translate your game accurately, companies may go a step beyond crowdsourcing and simply run sections of your game (perhaps even your whole game) through Google Translate.  (See myth #5 when it comes out Nov. 16^th to learn why this is a bad, bad idea.)  This is why you want to ensure your translation company has built in methods for ensuring quality, such as review by a second linguist and quality assurance for multiple elements (including UI limitations and consistency of terminology).

Make sure you do your homework – What is the business model of your translation agency?  Who are their clients, and what is their satisfaction level?  If you catch wind of the use of translation techniques that result in poorly translated games, it is better for your company to find another organization with a business model you approve of.  The pennies you save per word with certain translation agencies will not be worth it in the long run.  Gamers frequently cite “immersion” as a key factor for the enjoyment of video games and will very quickly lose confidence in the quality of your products if the translation is off, resulting in financial loss due to consumer drop off as opposed to the financial gain you seek by taking your games to foreign markets.

Be sure to check back on our blog Friday, November 9^th for myth #3.  Until then, here’s a snapshot into the future:

Myth #3: Prior localization efforts are unnecessary to current translators of my games.

• In this upcoming post, learn how to avoid paying threefold unnecessarily by effectively utilizing work that has already been done.

Despite the importance of making games available in a variety of languages for gamers across global markets, translation and localization is still a source of confusion for many game developers and publishers.  Due to the number of easily-avoided issues encountered by game translation and localization companies on a regular basis, we realized the value to the entire development community to dispel common myths regarding the localization process, thereby perpetuating a network of informed developers to ultimately enhance decisions regarding game translation, producing a global library of games with quality localization.

LAI – Obliterating Translation Errors for Nearly 20 Years.

Our pumpkin features Cats of Zero Wing atop an Angry Birds scene, and his quote infamous to game translation, “All your base are belong to us.”  He’s on top of the tower of Angry Birds enemies because he represents the worst scenario in game translation – gamers have spent the last 20+ years quoting Cats when making a point about how little emphasis was placed on video game translation in the past.  It is Language Automation, Inc.’s mission to capsize these poor translation efforts, and we use our blog posts to aid this process through educating developers and publishers about video game translation and localization.

Myth #1: A translation is a translation is a translation – In the long run, cheaper is better for my company’s bottom line, so I should always be searching for vendor alternatives.

As tempting as it might be to constantly hunt for cheaper translation and localization vendors, not only does the search waste valuable company time and resources but transferring your localization projects could ultimately have a negative impact on quality.  Over time, translators build a deeper understanding of your games and your organization’s needs – commonly used words, company mission, cost vs. quality considerations – all of the factors most important to producing a localization aligned with your company’s global vision.

As you spend more time working with a translator, you develop a certain knowledge base that is not immediately transferrable to other translators.  It’s like playing the original NES Mega Man – no save capabilities, no password system… no magical way of skipping forward to avoid repeating hours of work.  Your translators spend valuable time learning the unique aspects of your studio that sets your games apart from others on the market.  Details that you might not consider of primary importance to your game’s translation team (such as your company’s overall vision) are components that specialized game localization companies put at the forefront of your localization projects to ensure consistency with your business strategy.

When switching translation vendors, you are actually squandering company resources.  Think of all the statistics out there about the expense associated with signing new customers.  Some specialists believe it’s 5 times as expensive, some 7.  You should apply a similar financial loss estimate when switching localization vendors due to the time spent learning (and in the case of your new vendor, relearning) the specifications of your unique business needs, and that is a significant chunk of money from your pool of game production capital.  This learning and relearning by multiple translators equates to valuable company dollars and sunk cost for your company.  At the very least, before switching to another translation company, you should ask for the list of terminology developed by translators specifically for your game.  These files legally belong to your company and are directly relevant to current and future iterations of your games.  (See part 3 of our upcoming blog post for more information.)

Decision-makers within your organization are looking to cut costs in order to better serve financial considerations.  There is a reason game developer and publisher industry leaders (such as Sony and Ubisoft) repeatedly do business with us and why we choose to remain a boutique company dedicated solely to the video game industry.  When you work with a highly specialized game translation company like Language Automation, Inc., you receive closely tailored services by an organization who understands the specifications and key considerations of the game development community.  We have proven solutions for the common issues most relevant to game developers due to our longstanding and vested interest in the industry:

Due to our deep understanding of the cost versus quality battleground and relevant tradeoffs, we work with companies to accommodate these shifting needs.  Unlike vendors focused on providing translations across a wide range of fields (legal, medical, literary, website, etc., ultimately thinning corporate resources for deeper reach into specialized industries such as game development), our game localization services are expansive and are designed to grow with the needs of your company.  If low cost is your priority, we provide a more economical approach to work within your budget.  On the other hand, if schedule is your priority, we developed proven solutions to ensure your needs are met.  We give you complete freedom to achieve your goals according to your specifications.

Is there ever a time to change vendors?  Certainly – but switch vendors only if your current vendor doesn’t satisfy your needs or understand the growth path of your organization.  As you’ll read in the next section, not all translation vendors are built the same.  As such, there could very well be another organization better suited to your needs.  If you are unhappy with the quality of your vendor’s translations, encounter communication issues with the translation team, or find that the company simply can’t cater to the business goals and strategies of your company, open the lines of communication.  Talk to your vendor and discuss relevant issues.  Quality problems are frequently due to poor communication or lack of in-game testing (an essential part of the complete localization process, and a component we’ll cover in a future blog post).  These problems are usually easily resolved with a phone call or meeting.  The key to remember is that translation vendors are on your side and want you to be successful.  However, if you’re looking to switch translation vendors due to a minor or even moderate difference in price per word, it’s likely you won’t save your company anything by jumping ship.  You could even be costing your company in ways that may not be immediately transparent on your financial statement.  Check back on our blog Nov. 6^th for part 2 in order to gain a better understanding of these nuances and learn which kind of translation company best fits in with your organization.

Here’s a snapshot at next week’s blog post:

Myth #2: Translation vendors are all built the same.  There’s no difference in one agency versus another.

• Without a broad understanding of the quality issues you may encounter with some translation vendors, you are risking financial loss due to consumer drop off.