Masood Khoshsaligheh; Amir Arsalan Zoraqi; Manjet Kaur Mehar Singh
Abstract
Subtitling is one of the most widely used translation practices in the localization of video games and enjoys great popularity among end-users. Given the language-bound nature of subtitling practices, the present study seeks to shed light on the subtitling practices followed in Persian game localization ...
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Subtitling is one of the most widely used translation practices in the localization of video games and enjoys great popularity among end-users. Given the language-bound nature of subtitling practices, the present study seeks to shed light on the subtitling practices followed in Persian game localization and empirically provide a descriptive account of how game localization is carried out in the Iranian context. To this end, five video games were tested and played by the authors, and 300 subtitle segments were extracted from each title (totaling 1500 subtitle segments) and their respective translations in localized versions (totaling 3000 segments). Subtitles were analyzed in terms of subtitle length and segmentation, font (size adjustability, type, color, and background), character identification, sound effects, emotions, and line breaks. It was revealed that the Persian localized versions were very similar to the original regarding font, character identification, sound effects, and emotions. However, subtitle length and segmentation varied between the original and localized game versions.