The groundwork that was laid by the early pioneers in Middle East game development has paved the way for current Western developers and publishers to successfully enter the space today, and they are more cognizant of the challenges and specifics of this market. One of the greatest challenges along the way included attempts at pure language localization that weren’t met with much success. THQ was one of the first western publishers to enter the Arabic speaking market and quickly learned the necessity of cultural relevancy: Ifirst localized title, Wall-E, was unsuccessful, as it was marketed to Saudi Arabia, a country with no cinemas.
Yet another important localization lesson was learned when Arabized MMO games first started showing up in the Middle East. The purely Google-translated text made no sense, and a lot of technical flaws were exploited, like the lack of standard Unicode text, RTL (right-to-left) support in the marketing assets, and lack of support websites. With heavy ad spending, however, the developers saw traffic pick up from the region and the more far-sighted ones forged local partnerships for better localization and on-the-ground CRM. This resulted in the tremendous success of games such as Travian.
Content relevance and adherence to familiar themes is crucial in developing and publishing games aimed at Arab markets. Sony understood this as far back as 2004 when it introduced This Is Football in Arabic for the PS2, given that football (soccer) is the region’s biggest sport. Sony continues to cater to the market today, being the only console producer with Arabic content for its motion control platform with the release of Start the Party! in Arabic. The publishers that take the time to go beyond pure language localization and understand the gamer demographic and culture can reap the benefits of this wide open market.
Cultural Sensitivity
In addition to language localization and content relevance, cultural sensitivity is another important element that must be considered. On the surface, the guidelines might seem straightforward: Sex, gambling, alcohol and nudity are obvious subjects to avoid. The reality is slightly more complex, as approaches to topics such as family, workplace ethics, politics and war are all areas that could easily be misrepresented in a game environment. Additionally, the social and cultural guidelines are not consistent across the many countries that comprise the Arab world. A deeper understanding of these variations and how product positioning varies from North Africa all the way to the more affluent Gulf market is a sure way of guaranteeing stronger returns on any game investments made in the region.
Ultimately, once the barriers of language and culture have been successfully understood and penetrated, the Middle Eastern gamer is no different than any gamer anywhere else in the world. The interactive experience sought and enjoyed in the Middle East is no different than the typical fun, entertaining game developed for the U.S. markets. It is my strong belief that partnerships between Western and Middle Eastern developers are the key to success; with new marketplaces, stores and digital distribution channels, there is no reason why a successful game cannot -- with a little bit of effort and insight -- bridge the cultural divide for a truly global game experience.
More Gaming Resources from Mashable:
- Why Virtual Worlds Play an Important Role in the Changing Arab World
- The Influence of Social Gaming on Consoles
- 5 Top Social Games and Why They're So Successful