An-Najah National University 

 

Faculty of Graduate Studies 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LINGUISTIC CHALLENGES FACING THE 

LOCALIZATION OF VIDEO GAMES FROM 

ENGLISH INTO ARABIC 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By 

Saqer Osama Sobhi Odeh 

 

 

 

Supervisor 

Dr. Ekrama Mohammed Shehab 

 

 
This Thesis is Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree 

of Master of Applied Linguistics and Translation, Faculty of Graduate Studies, 

An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine. 
 

2023 



ii 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

LINGUISTIC CHALLENGES FACING THE 

LOCALIZATION OF VIDEO GAMES FROM 

ENGLISH INTO ARABIC  

 
By 

Saqer Osama Odeh 

 

 

This Thesis was defended successfully on 14/05/2023 and approved by: 

 

 



iii 

Dedication 

To the Name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful.  

To the sunshine in my eyes, calling me to dance with the skies. 

To my respective parents, my beloved mother and father for their generous support, 

sincere prayers and love, for making me believe that I can be no matter what.  

To my one and only sister, Nataly.  

To the love of my relatives, friends, and colleagues who have been by my side since the 

start of my thesis.  

To all the localizers and researchers who have always been a good source of knowledge 

and inspiration in all their previous studies. This thesis is meant to pave the way for 

researchers to overcome obstacles in the translation of video games 

. 

 

 

  



iv 

Acknowledgment 

I would like to express my gratitude to Almighty Allah and our prophet Muhammed, 

peace be upon him, our first teacher who nourished our hearts with the light of faith. 

I would like also to extend my deep gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Ekrema Shehab, for 

his valuable support, and very constructive feedback during the completion of this thesis 

from its conception to its delivery.  

Many thanks are also due to An-Najah National University academic staff who paved the 

way for me to complete this thesis. Without their knowledge and teaching, I would not 

have been standing here in front of everyone holding and sharing the results of my effort. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  



v 

Declaration 

I, the undersigned, declare that I submitted the thesis entitled: 

LINGUISTIC CHALLENGES FACING THE 

LOCALIZATION OF VIDEO GAMES FROM 

ENGLISH INTO ARABIC  
 

 

I declare that the work provided in this thesis, unless otherwise referenced, is the 

researcher’s own work, and has not been submitted elsewhere for any other degree or 

qualification. 

 

  Student's Name:  

 

Signature: 

  Date: 

 

  

Saqer Osama Odeh 

14/05/2023 



vi 

Table of Contents 

 

Dedication …………………………………………………………………………….. iii 

Acknowledgment ............................................................................................................. iv 

Declaration  ....................................................................................................................... v 

Table of Contents ............................................................................................................. vi 

List of Tables ................................................................................................................. viii 

List of Figures .................................................................................................................. ix 

List of Appendices ............................................................................................................ x 

Abstract …………………………………………………………………………………xi 

Chapter One: Introduction ............................................................................................ 1 

1.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 

1.2 Purpose of the Study ................................................................................................... 2 

1.3 Questions of the Study ................................................................................................ 2 

1.4 Statement of the Problem ............................................................................................ 3 

1.5 Significance of the Study ............................................................................................ 3 

1.6 Methodology of the Study .......................................................................................... 4 

1.7 Main Concepts: Technical Translation, Localization, Video Game Localization ...... 4 

1.8 Structure of the Study ................................................................................................. 5 

Chapter Two: Review of Related Literature ................................................................ 6 

2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 6 

2.2 Birth of Video Games ................................................................................................. 6 

2.3 History of Video Game Localization .......................................................................... 7 

Chapter Three: Data Analysis ..................................................................................... 22 

3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 22 

3.2 GILT Business and Video Games ............................................................................ 22 

3.3 Video Game and Software Localization ................................................................... 26 

3.4 Video Games Localization and Audio-Visual Translation ....................................... 26 

3.5 Characteristics of Video Games Localization .......................................................... 27 

3.6 Localizing Video Game Assets ................................................................................. 28 

3.6.1 In-Game Text Assets ............................................................................................. 28 

3.6.2 Textual Graphics and Displayed Texts .................................................................. 32 

3.6.3 Audio and Cinematic Assets .................................................................................. 34 

3.6.4 Printed and Hard-Copy Materials .......................................................................... 35 

3.7 Video Game Localization Process ............................................................................ 36 



vii 

3.7.1 Pre-Localization Process ........................................................................................ 36 

3.7.2 Localization Process (Translation, Editing, and Voice Recording) ....................... 36 

3.7.3 Post-Localization Process ...................................................................................... 38 

3.8 Linguistic Challenges ............................................................................................... 39 

3.8.1 Transferring Term Meanings/ Transference Errors ............................................... 39 

3.8.2 Disconnected Units of Characters/ Block Letters .................................................. 41 

3.8.3 Variables in Translation ......................................................................................... 42 

3.8.4 Wrong Translation Choices ................................................................................... 43 

3.8.5 Lexical Problems ................................................................................................... 45 

3.9 Linguistic Errors in Translation ................................................................................ 47 

3.9.1 Linguistic Accuracy ............................................................................................... 47 

3.9.2 Translating Culture-Specific Expressions ............................................................. 49 

3.9.3 Errors in Translating Proper Names ...................................................................... 52 

3.9.4 Translation Errors in Repetition of Lexical Items ................................................. 54 

3.9.5 Translation Errors in Word Order .......................................................................... 55 

3.9.6 Translation Errors in Language Layout ................................................................. 56 

Chapter Four: Conclusion and Recommendations ................................................... 58 

4.1 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 58 

4.2 Recommendations ..................................................................................................... 61 

List of Abbreviations ...................................................................................................... 63 

References ……………………………………………………………………………...64 

Appendices  ..................................................................................................................... 69 

 ب...………………………………………………………………………………… الملخص

 

 

 

 

  



viii 

List of Tables 

 

Table (1): Comparison between PlayStatin’s Terminology with Its Xbox Counterpart 32 

Table (2): Suggested Translation for the Term “Camping” in Arabic ........................... 40 

Table (3): Suggested Translation for the Term “Bot” in Arabic .................................... 40 

Table (4): A Comparison in Fortnite’s Use of Variables between English and Arabic . 42 

Table (5): Comparison between Fortnite’s Use of Gender and Number Variables between 

English and Arabic ....................................................................................... 43 

Table (6): Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 English and Arabic Counterparts

 ...................................................................................................................... 44 

Table (7): Suggested Translations for Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 English 

and Arabic Terms ......................................................................................... 45 

Table (8): Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 English and Arabic Counterparts

 ...................................................................................................................... 45 

Table (9): Suggested Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 English and Arabic 

Translation ................................................................................................... 46 

Table (10): Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 Suggested Translation ............ 46 

Table (11): Translation of the Term “Chakra” from Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja 

Storm 4 ......................................................................................................... 80 

Table (12): Different Phonetic Pronunciation for the Term “Chakra” from Naruto 

Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 ............................................................. 80 

Table (13): Suggested Translation for the Term “Chakra” ............................................. 80 

Table (14): Call of Duty: Mobile Setting Options and Their Suggested Corrections .... 80 

Table (15): Suggested Translation of Ramses’s Culture-specific Term ......................... 81 

Table (16): Suggested Translation for “Give Me God of War” ..................................... 81 

Table (17): Suggested Translation of PUBG’s Official UI ............................................ 81 

Table (18): Suggested Translation for Battlefield 1 Example ........................................ 81 

Table (19): Suggested Translation for PUBG: Mobile Example .................................... 81 

 

 

 

 

  



ix 

List of Figures 

 

Figure (1): First Video Game Ever ................................................................................... 7 

Figure (2): Atari’s Localized User Manual. ...................................................................... 8 

Figure (3): Comparison between the Original Japanese Puck Man and Its Localized 

Version ........................................................................................................... 9 

Figure (4): Puck Man Japanese Character Names and Their English Localization ....... 10 

Figure (5): A Comparison between Ninja Gaiden English and Its Arabic Version ....... 11 

Figure (6): Pepsi Man Video Game and Its Arabic Localized Version .......................... 13 

Figure (7): Silent Hill 2 Video Game and Its Arabic Localized Version ....................... 15 

Figure (8): Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune Video Game and Its Arabic Localized Version

 ...................................................................................................................... 17 

Figure (9): Call of Duty: Mobile Settings Layout and Localization ............................... 19 

Figure (10): Detroit: Become Human Conversation Comparison .................................. 20 

Figure (11): Shadow of the Tomb Raider UI Translation .............................................. 69 

Figure (12): Comparison between Video Game Button Layout and Its Controller 

Counterparts ................................................................................................. 69 

Figure (13): Dying Light 2: Stay Human Version and Its Translation ........................... 70 

Figure (14): Dying Light 2: Stay Human’s Alder Wood Windmill ............................... 71 

Figure (15): Ghostwire: Tokyo – Prelude NPCs Dialogue ............................................. 71 

Figure (17): Detroit: Become Human Audio and Cinematic Assets .............................. 72 

Figure (18): Batman: The Enemy Within Block Letters Issue ....................................... 73 

Figure (19): Batman: The Enemy Within Comparison between UI and Gameplay Options

 ...................................................................................................................... 73 

Figure (20): Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 English and Its Arabic 

Counterpart .................................................................................................. 74 

Figure (21): Call of Duty: Mobile Settings Layout in English and Arabic .................... 75 

Figure (22): Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception Use of Cultural-specific Expressions ..... 75 

Figure (23): God of War Ragnarok in English and Arabic ............................................. 76 

Figure (24): Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Use of Proper Names ................................ 77 

Figure (25): PUBG’s Official UI Repetition of Lexical Items ....................................... 78 

Figure (26): Battlefield 1 in English and Its Arabic Translation .................................... 78 

Figure (27): PUBG: Mobile UI Web Section and Its Translation .................................. 79 

 

 

 



x 

List of Appendices  

 

Appendix (A): Figures .................................................................................................... 69 

Appendix (B): Tables ...................................................................................................... 80 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  



xi 

A LINGUISTIC CHALLENGES FACING THE LOCALIZATION 

OF VIDEO GAMES FROM ENGLISH INTO ARABIC 
By 

Saqer Osama Sobhi Odeh 

Supervisor 

Dr. Ekrema Mohammed Shehab 

Abstract 

For more than two decades, the Arab gaming community has been growing continuously 

after the vast spread of technological devices. PCs, consoles (PS, Xbox, Nintendo, and 

so), and smartphones are mostly preferred by young Arabs due to peer pressure. The 

desire of Arab gamers to play more and more has made developers set up new goals to 

localize their English language games into many other Target Languages versions, 

leading to a new field in translation known as video game localization. This thesis has 

studied the localization of video games, and has provided a look at the Arabic translation 

process. In addition, it has attempted to understand how localized games are dealt with 

by their Arabic target audience, and what linguistic challenges they encounter. Using 

many examples of the community’s most popular video games, the researcher has focused 

on the challenges encountered during the localization process. He dwelled on discussion 

of linguistic challenges, the relationship between linguistic, cultural, terminological, and 

technical issues. Then, the researcher suggested possible solutions and better localization 

terms to show the gap between both the SL and the TL that localization faces, especially 

if it is not localized by a local translator. 

Keywords: Arabic; English; Linguistic Challenges; Localization; Localizer; Video 

Game Localization; Video Games. 

 

 

 

 



1 

Chapter One 
Introduction 

1.1 Introduction 

Translation, for ages, has been an important tool for connecting communities of different 

languages and spreading knowledge. According to Jacobson (1958), translation itself has 

several meanings. It can refer to the general subject field, the product (the text that has 

been translated), or the process (the act of producing the translation, otherwise known as 

translating). This thesis will take the video game language field as its main area of 

translation.  

The vast and fast spread of technology has made technical translation a part of daily life. 

According to Newmark (Newmark, 1981), the technical translator’s notion is content. 

Byrne (2006) states that ‘technical’ means something related to technology and 

technological texts. Technical translation is concerned with politics, finance, government, 

medicine, electronics, and gaming. The term ‘technical’ is not confined to natural science 

and technology. Any speciality has its technical terms and its genre-marking 

characteristics.  

Amarasinghe (Amarasinghe, 2020) maintained that technical translation is observed more 

as potentially non-cultural i.e. universal. Moreover, the advantages of technology are not 

exclusive to one speech community but all.  

One of the fields of technical translation is gaming. The gaming community began to 

expand larger than ever around the world, attracting the attention of people and young 

people in particular. The category of gaming includes many fields such as action, 

shooting, adventure, and mystery. Many people have become a part of this community, 

and that has led to the creation of a whole new virtual world called “the world of gaming”. 

With the spread of this community across countries and communities, a new language 

has emerged: the language of gaming. For that reason, the gaming community needed 

experts to make gaming dictionaries or even manuals that include terms in different 

languages to make video games easier to play and accessible to all users across the globe.  

Hsu (Hsu, 2018) found that the gamers’ spoken language varies depending on whether 

they were talking to another gamer or a non-gamer. Gamers adjust their vocabulary from 



2 

much more common and accessible terminology to a more specialized terminology 

depending on the listener’s video game knowledge and experience. This claim proves that 

if a non-gamer hears a term that they are unfamiliar with, they will not understand what 

it refers to unless they become directly engaged within the community of gaming.  

This thesis has addressed the linguistic challenges that face the localization of video 

games from English into Arabic. The lack of dictionaries specialized in the translation of 

video games language might pause many linguistic challenges and even affect translators’ 

quality of work. Translators might not be able to find appropriate meanings in ordinary 

dictionaries due to lack of experience and knowledge of gaming terminology. 

Within the gaming industry, the demand for localizing games started to increase. 

Localization includes taking a certain product and making it, both on the linguistic and 

cultural levels, appropriate to the target locale (country/region, traditions, religion, 

culture, and language) where it will be marketed, sold and used (Fry, 2003).  

This thesis focuses on the linguistic challenges and errors that face the localization of 

video games. According to Al-Batineh (Al-Batineh, 2021), the localization process 

requires much more than “text-to-text translation”. It must take into account the socio-

cultural, religious characteristics of the target market and subsequent adaptation of the 

game to the target culture. These two categories are discussed as subsections under 

localization and errors like accuracy, linguistic and terminology errors as well as stylistic 

errors, typos, etc. 

1.2 Purpose of the Study 

 This study has four aims: shedding light on the difficulties encountered in the localization 

of video games, highlighting the process, by providing examples from a number of 

famous games, setting boundaries between video game localization and other models of 

translation and exploring the distinctive challenges of localization and ways of 

overcoming them.  

1.3 Questions of the Study 

• What are the difficulties that may be faced while translating textual material within 

different games?  

• What is the relationship between textual and non-textual material that may originate 

challenges while localizing video games?  



3 

• What are the linguistic challenges and errors that face video game localization and 

can they be overcome and fixed respectively?  

1.4 Statement of the Problem 

It has been noticed that almost a lot of the gaming terms that are used within the gaming 

community are usually either borrowed from English. That is, they either transliterated 

(transferred) or translated into the TL.  

Many English gaming terms are used as they are in their original form without rendering 

them into Arabic because they have no equivalents. Such borrowed terms are considered 

Arabic terms because of their deliberation within the language. The main problem related 

to the inability of non-gamers to give a translation for the gaming terms is due to language 

inexpertness in entertainment technologies and video game language in particular. In 

addition, their inability is also due to the lack of specialized dictionaries related to gaming 

terminology.  

Many non-gaming community members neither use such terms nor understand their 

meanings. As a result, this affects the knowledge of gaming language understanding since 

ordinary people will not understand the function of such terms in the newly produced 

games, especially the ones that have a huge fan base.  

Furthermore, localization isn’t only limited to the translation of textual materials within 

games, but it also extends to the non-textual material. In many cases, some games do not 

take these points into consideration, and this does not always necessarily meet with 

gamers beliefs thus making them react negatively to the game. For example, some non-

textual materials might seem offensive to some religious groups’ beliefs. This accordingly 

makes them react negatively to them.  

1.5 Significance of the Study 

Even though there’s an extensive use of oral and written English gaming terminology 

within the gaming community, the problems concerning the translation of the English 

video games language into Arabic have not been tackled properly yet due to the lack of 

dictionaries for the modern and newer gaming terms in Arabic.  



4 

In addition, this study can assist translators as well as localizers who are likely to be 

interested in such a field but lack the necessary knowledge of the English language.  

1.6 Methodology of the Study 

The study has used qualitative approaches to ease analysis and answer its questions. 

Therefore, the existing terms and their translations are used in the same manner as they 

appear in video games in order to interpret the findings. The study has also provided an 

outline of the different steps taken into consideration to implement the localization of 

video games for the Arab communities and fix the various linguistic errors and problems 

facing them.  

Data collection includes games that have a vast fan base such as CS: GO, PUBG, Call of 

Duty, and League of Legends. This is in addition to resources related to the topic and 

taken from translation books, and gaming community platforms such as Twitch, and 

Discord. Samples have been selected and compared between both the SL (English) and 

TL (Arabic). Textual materials have been included to make a suitable base for the thesis 

to elaborate more on it to benefit future researchers. 

The analysis of the material has highly depended on the comparative approach: That is, 

the analysis has been employed to break down the textual material collected from the 

games in its original ST within the community and its equivalent TT within the TL 

community.  

As stated earlier, this study has focused on the linguistic challenges and errors that face 

video game localization.  

1.7 Main Concepts: Technical Translation, Localization, Video Game Localization 

Localization 

Localization means “translating the language assets in a text into another language” 

(Chandler & Deming, 2011). The process of localization to gaming companies focuses 

on the process of transferring the linguistic assets of texts (Al-Batineh, 2021). Bernal-

Merino (Bernal-Merino, 2014) explains how the concept of the localization process does 

not only involve a translation since it also conveys other aspects: “The term “localization” 

as used in commercial translation, is the process of making a product linguistically, 

culturally, technically and legally appropriate to the target country and language.” 



5 

Successful localization of any software product, whether it is a computer program, a 

website, or a video game, relies on a continual process known as GILT (Globalization, 

Internationalization, Localization, and Translation). This will be discussed later. 

Videogames Localization 

Within the gaming industry, the demand for localizing games started to increase during 

the last two decades. The localization process includes taking a certain product and 

making it, both on the linguistic and cultural aspect, appropriate to the target locale 

(country/region, traditions, religion, culture, and language) where it will be used and sold 

(Fry, 2003).  

1.8 Structure of the Study 

This thesis falls into four chapters: 

Chapter One begins with the introductory section. Then it moves to the main problem of 

the study, its aims, significance and questions. 

Chapter Two is devoted to the review of literature and discussion of the video game 

translation and its progress.  

Chapter Three is devoted to the analysis of data and discussion of its results. It analyses 

the localization process of video game language and highlights the challenges and errors 

that face the translation of gaming. The chapter caps with some suggested translations 

and solutions. 

Chapter Four covers the findings of the study as well as recommendations for translation 

and localization of video gaming terms.  

 

  



6 

Chapter Two  

Review of Related Literature 

2.1 Introduction  

In the light of localizing video games, neither a lot of researchers nor a lot of scholars 

have given due attention to the translation of video games. Video game localization is a 

newly updated translation field that belongs to audio-visual translation. Video game 

localization is not only related to transferring a text from one language to another since 

several different agents need to perform an adaptation to give a completely appropriate 

translation but it is also related to both cultural and local matters (Al-Batineh & Alawneh, 

2021). 

Unlike all the entertainment products of literature and amusement, video games have a 

short history. For decades, entertainment products have given pleasure and delight to 

those who seek attention and interest in them. Video games are considered a tool of 

interactive entertainment with a vast market share. This success is connected to the story 

mode which is adapted within most video games. This proliferation has opened a new 

profession in the world of entertainment which has led in its turn to making video games 

more appropriate for a variety of linguistic, political, cultural, historical, and ethnic 

communities. This making of video games for these communities is known as 

localization. Many scholars, like Bernal-Merino (2007), Al-Batineh (2021), and Chandler 

(2014) have tackled video games as one area of research.  

Chapter Two traces the development of the video game localization history, including the 

first attempts, mistakes, and solutions found in terms of classification of video games and 

dealing with them.  

2.2 Birth of Video Games 

Gaming companies emerged in the last fifty years. Many gaming consoles have led to the 

creation of gaming community the likes of Atari, Gameboy, Nintendo, Xbox, PlayStation, 

and Gaming Pc.  

The history of video games goes back to October 1958, when William Higginbotham, a 

physicist at Brookhaven National Laboratory, created the very first electronic game. It 

was a very simple tennis game similar to the 1970s Pong game. During annual visitors’ 



7 

days, held in Brookhaven and attended by thousands of people touring around the lab, 

Higginbotham was in charge of creating an exhibit to show off the laboratory 

instrumentation division.  

Higginbotham had done some designs, drawings, and blueprints. He and Robert Dvorak 

spent two weeks on building this device. The game was called “Tennis for Two”. Two 

players with two adjustable knobs control the angle of the ball and push a button to hit 

the ball to the other player’s area (Brookhaven National Laboratory, 2008): 

Figure (1) 

First Video Game Ever 

 

The game was based on reduced limited function. In other words, this game only included 

little text materials compared to nowadays video games which are more developed with 

a more heroic storyline that includes rich graphics and conversations. These materials 

created the need for a fully acceptable product for the players to engage with, and an 

essential component for the success of a game.  

2.3 History of Video Game Localization  

Hasegawa (Hasegawa, 2009) proposed an advanced trace of video game localization 

development. He divided this development into five phases: early phase (the 1970s to 

mid-80s), the growth phase (the mid-80s to mid-90s), development phase (the mid-90s to 

late 90s), maturing phase (2000 to 2005), and the advancing phase (2005 to date).  



8 

According to Bernal-Merino (Bernal-Merino, 2006), in the early phase, the original video 

game industry was developed to be consumable by the US and Japanese communities. 

Many video games would in some cases reach other countries in their American English 

or Japanese versions.  

Later, the Japanese developers realized the need to expand their investment returns abroad 

by expanding their video game market (Bernal-Merino, 2014). It can be claimed that the 

first attempt at localization was established in Japan, but it was more complicated than 

nowadays due to the situation in Japan at that time after WWII.  

According to Kohler (Kohler, 2005), the 1970s gaming technology achieved better-

looking animations than the first ones. As a first attempt to localize video games, the 

Japanese started by considering the linguistic conversion. Then, U.S. English video game 

companies took real care of exporting their products and even took into consideration 

translation attempts of at least the user manual, but leaving the game software language 

as it is in the original game. For example, the Atari company, which was dominating the 

markets of gaming at the time, attended to localizing their user manual into many 

languages (1972):  

Figure (2) 

Atari’s Localized User Manual. 

 



9 

Another example of the earliest attempts to localize video games was the Pac-Man game 

(1981). The game contained a small number of words to be translated. The original 

Japanese game “Puck-Man” opted for the attention of the Americans but represented an 

unexpected challenge. The Americans thought that the original name was risky due to it 

being connected to their language puns. Instead, they applied a strategy of limiting the 

name making it three main characters instead of four by replacing “Puck” with “Pac” 

(Dodaro, 2014). The following is a comparison between the Arcade game flyers in both 

the original and its localized version:  

Figure (3) 

Comparison between the Original Japanese Puck Man and Its Localized Version 

 

According to Bernal-Merino (Bernal-Merino M. , 2014), the original version never 

displayed any Japanese text; it was programmed in English. In the original “Puck-Man”, 

the four ghosts had their names transliterated into Japanese words and phrases. Instead, 

American localizers decided to add their touch to the mixture to make it more open for 

US players to deal with. All the game characters had names of their own and nicknames 

describing their behaviors or colors. The following is a list of the transliterated Japanese 

character names and their English translation: 

  



10 

Figure (4) 

Puck Man Japanese Character Names and Their English Localization 

 

This localization procedure contains the essence of games as customizable entertainment 

products for foreign markets and matches perfectly with the development process of the 

global market. Dodaro (Dodaro, 2014) believes that it is important to notice how some 

particular solutions seem somewhat distant from the original sense, and how faithfulness 

to the text is sacrificed in a way to recreate a humorous effect as seen previously. 

During the growth phase, the establishment of the gaming industry paved the way for the 

game localization industry. By the end of the 1980s, the interactive entertainment industry 

was back strong and was making profits (Van Ettinger, 2014).The shift in video games 

brought with it an increased capacity for game consoles that could contain a larger amount 

of data, and, thereby, more content to translate (O'Hagan & Mangiron, 2013). 

With the emergence of the home consoles offered by Sega Genesis and the Nintendo 

Handheld Game Boy, there was a noticeable increase in quality (Bernal-Merino M. , 

2014). One of the very first attempts to localize video games into Arabic was on the NES 

(Nintendo Entertainment System). A game called Ninja Gaiden (1988-1991) was created 

by the Tecmo Theatre industry. According to Kohler (Kohler, 2005), the game was known 



11 

for its innovative use of a well-prepared storyline and a creative cinematic sequence. The 

following is an example of the translated text the game contained: 

Figure (5) 

A Comparison between Ninja Gaiden English and Its Arabic Version 

 

The game showed a newly formed connection set between the localization process of 

video games into Arabic and the translation of audiovisuals. The connection can be traced 

back to 2003. The video game sequence includes pixelated pictures in a 3x4 aspect ratio 

(Cassidy, 2023). The displayed dialogue in the original was in English. Even though the 

Audio does not include any verbal sounds, it still includes machine-written texts in a 

synchronized graphic.  

According to Karamitroglou (Karamitroglou, 1998), this example reveals that the text 

materials did not follow today’s subtitling treaties when it comes to fragmentation and 

the length of lines. As seen above, the text is extended to four lines instead of two 

according to modern AVD norms. The example also shows a clear mispronunciation. The 

word “Life Energy” was poorly translated into Arabic. When an Arab reads the translation 

"الحيا"  it will not be understood in the same manner as the original. The word ,"طاقة الحيا"

is missing the letter   المربوطة""ة/التاء . The word   "الحيا"in everyday Arabic means “Snake” 

which makes it far away from its original context.  



12 

The development phase started and with it came a massive drop in the localization quality 

(Dodaro, 2014). Despite companies starting to adopt partial or full localization models, 

both the development and the localization processes were still considered totally separate 

fields. Development teams, apart from localizers, were neither trained nor prepared to 

understand the localization process and its requirements. Translators found themselves 

technically vulnerable. According to Kohler (Kohler, 2005), the available text capacity 

was designed in US and Europe for native speakers of English. This forced them to 

decrease translations to other languages to the point of creating a considerable amount of 

meaning loss.  

To make things worse, English video games contained text files that needed replacement. 

Replacing the former with a translation, therefore, was impractical, owing to format 

incompatibility, and could only be rearranged by reprogramming the game entirely 

(Kohler, 2005).  

The concept of internationalization was yet to be developed. Internationalization refers to 

abstracting the functionality of a product away from any particular language so that 

language supports can be added back in simply, without worry that language-specific 

features would pose a problem when the product is localized (Fry, 2003). Furthermore, 

internationalization seemed to pave the way for localization at a technical level, getting 

the software ready to host other languages than the ones spoken by developers (Esselink, 

2000).  

Still, it was hard and would take a long time before programmers started to put plans for 

their work with the localization process in mind for future technical adequacy. Even when 

Sony’s Computer Entertainment system “PlayStation” was introduced, the situation did 

not improve.  

In 1994, Japan’s own Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) Inc. introduced the 

PlayStation (PS) Console. The console took advantage of the 640MB higher capacity of 

the CD-ROM and the 32-bit system at a price that suited the pocket. The added space was 

operated by better-looking graphics and high-quality soundtracks, but with no real 

advantage granted to translation.  



13 

Corliss (Corliss, 2007) says that due to technological and financial as well as the lack of 

proper localization process and professional talent involved in it, the growing pains of a 

nascent games industry were represented.  

Bernal-Merino (Bernal-Merino, 2006) stated that during that period of the early attempts 

to localize video games, the 80s-90s were known for producing a considerable amount of 

poorly translated games which were catastrophic. One of the most frequently cited 

examples is PlayStation’s Pepsi Man (1999). After its release, it became one of the most 

playable games in the Middle East. The following is an example taken from both the 

original game and its localized version:  

Figure (6) 

Pepsi Man Video Game and Its Arabic Localized Version 

 

The localization of many games, during this period, according to Langdell (Langdell, 

2006), achieved a high voltage for the terrible word choices throughout the game. That 

often can be noticeably hilarious. Pepsi Man (1999) showcases identically poor 

translations such as "بدء اللعب"/ "اختيارات"/ " تحميل"/ "حفظ"/"استارت".  

Next comes the maturing phase. The maturing phase was characterized by promising 

changes and effective technological advances. The 21st century was the start of PC 

evolution. Microsoft created Windows and companies, such as Intel, Compaq and IBM, 



14 

introduced computers with a higher speed and memory capacity for texts by installing 32-

bit increasing it by 100 megabytes (Britannica, 2020).  

Video gaming machines moved from CD-ROM to DVD-ROM with implicitly much 

bigger storage capacity for textual material. Despite this, textual fragments compacted in 

software (strings) were still affected by text length restrictions, graphics, and audio files 

which grew heavy in terms of memory occupied (O'Hagan & Mangiron, 2013).  

In addition, one of the most noticeable advances in game technology was the use of 

sounds and movies (cut-scenes) within the games (Dodaro, 2014). One example was the 

games produced by AAA video gaming companies, namely those titles with high 

production budgets involving substantial resources such as Rockstar Games (1998), 

Capcom (1979), and Konami (1969).  

Hasegawa (Hasegawa, 2009) says that closer attention became necessary during this 

period to achieve a more accurate localization of both the subtitling and the dubbing level 

of dialogues. The market, moreover, became wider with more small companies interested 

in the localization process of video games. This shed light on the possibility of making a 

profit out of it  with increased competition and small budgets. Characters were now 

portrayed in high facial expressions and appeared more detailed and dialogues were 

voiced by professional voice actors, triggering substantial progress for translators. Lip-

synching became something to work with, which led to more accurate translations.  

  



15 

The following is an example taken from Konami’s best-selling game Silent Hill 2 (2001): 

Figure (7) 

Silent Hill 2 Video Game and Its Arabic Localized Version 

 

 According to Al-Batineh (Al-Batineh M. , 2021), the lack of subtitling conventions is 

not only an issue in video game localization in Arabic but in other languages as well. 

However, the Arabic language nature makes this lack more critical. While English 

includes capital letters to denote proper names, Arabic does not. In the previous example, 

“Silent Hill” is a name of a place where the game actions take place. Localizers had 

problems while dealing with it and were confused about what to do. They later decided 

to keep proper names as "سايلنت هيل". They are in the SL aka transliteration. However, this 

was problematic for gamers who did not speak or read foreign languages.  

Finally, the advancing phase was introduced. It has confirmed the fact that the gaming 

industry is a profitable and thriving business of the 21st century. Hasegawa (Hasegawa, 

2009) admitted that this sector had flourished and seemed not to resent the economic 

crisis of the last ten years between 1999-2009. He added that it was enough to know that 

TLs classically exceeded more than 10 languages, including European, Middle-Eastern, 

and Asian Languages.  

The year 2005 saw the arrival of the newer 7th generation consoles such as Xbox, PSV, 

Nintendo Switch, and Wii. They became easier to be used and owned with the possibility 



16 

of being connected to the internet through entertainment. These generations compared to 

the previous ones offered more storage capacity with better graphics and even a great 

concept.  

Dodaro (Dodaro, 2014) reported, in a similar manner, that the teams working on a game 

project expanded and became larger involving several hundred experts. Experts included 

programmers, graphic designers, marketing experts, animators, producers, game 

designers, and localizers among many others.  

Thus, localization has walked up the ranks of gaming production and AAA titles in 

particular. However, tighter plans resulting from the pervasive application of sim-ship 

models have made it all more challenging for localizers to keep up with the aggressive 

pace.  

Dietz (Dietz, 2006) referred to the emergence of a new method of localization called Sim-

Ship. It deals with shipping games simultaneously with their original without mentioning 

that the game was still under development to the localizer to make him observe a strict 

deadline. The game shipments were sent out to numerous TL versions of the products and 

later led to a larger software publisher to adopt designing the global strategies to facilitate 

all aspects of the entire process.  

Dietz added that the localization process began with the first release of the Game’s beta 

version. This means that the work on the language started at that point and excessive 

effort and work were put in by the localization team who would usually work under great 

stress devoting their time to creating and fixing foreign-language versions suitable for the 

target-audience (Dunne , 2006). 

  



17 

The following example is taken for Play Station’s 2 game: Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune 

(2007): 

Figure (8) 

Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune Video Game and Its Arabic Localized Version 

 

In the previous example, a huge noticeable change happened. According to Van Ettinger 

(Van Ettinger, 2014), the enhanced hardware capacity of the 7th generation consoles also 

opened the way to an increased volume of game content, graphics, textual material, and 

audio. They all became part of the localization process. The game included rich 

storytelling and expressions and the subtitles followed the guidelines of subtitling video 

games. The subtitles took a professional type of translation and were displayed longer on 

the screen.  

Van Ettinger (Van Ettinger, 2014) added that the two versions were identical in their 

execution. The shift in the TT as seen above was the use of an ellipsis while ST used a 

hyphen instead. At the end of the sentence   "...ال الكاميرا"made no sense why it was used. 

The reason for that could be the difference in conventions concerning the symbols used 

at the end of sentences to indicate a cut-off sentence. Such examples were seen a lot 

during this period.  



18 

According to Bernal-Merino (Bernal-Merino M. , 2011), one of the most significant 

changes to the localization of video games was the success of online games at the end of 

the 20th century, and MMOs (Massively Multi-Player Online games) in particular. Players 

got attracted to interacting online with other people around the world by playing games 

in Player Vs Player games or Battle Royal mode. Bernal-Merino (Bernal-Merino M. , 

2011) added that the great advancement of MMOs was not that they allowed thousands 

of players to interact in a virtual world, but the fact that game creators had the ability to 

collect accurate information about the gaming style and language interactions between 

each other. 

 Dodaro (Dodaro, 2014) considered the accuracy of localization, as rendered in the TL, 

one of the main challenges in translating video games and MMOs in particular.  

According to Newmark (Newmark, 1981), accuracy in translation reflects a maximum 

degree of correspondence between both the referential and pragmatic aspects: the text as 

a whole including its various units of translation and on the extra-linguistic level as well.  

The first refers to the situation when both SL and TL words refer to the same thing in the 

real words, and it is also referred to as denotative meaning. The other refers to the SL and 

TL words having the same effect on their respective readers, and it is also referred to as 

dynamic meaning (Hatim, 2013). In other words, both referential and pragmatic meanings 

are connected to each other. If the first is missing, the other will not achieve its purpose 

and vice versa.  

In the gaming community, numerous games have many mistranslations. That is due to 

the wrong choice of equivalence chosen by the game localizer. Therefore, when many 

terms are being read in the TL, they won’t achieve the same equivalent meaning as it is 

in the SL. The following is a sample taken from Call of Duty: Mobile. The sample shows 

differences between both the SL (English) and its TL (Arabic) within the game settings 

translation:  

 

  



19 

Figure (9) 

Call of Duty: Mobile Settings Layout and Localization 

 

According to Khuddro (Khuddro, 2018), in many situations, audio-visuals include 

numerous mistranslations and a wrong choice of word equivalence. The previous example 

taken from the game settings list highlights the inaccuracy that one may encounter in in-

game text if the localizer missed out on the intended function of the user interface 

element. It also highlights the unnatural Arabic structure due to sticking to literal 

translation.  

Phrases such as “graphic quality” and “anti-aliasing” are poorly translated missing the 

intended function of the accuracy elements. It appears as if the localizer had little 

experience considering the translation of Arabic. The localizer took the closest meaning 

according to their understanding. Instead of translating it as   "الجودة التصويرية"and   صقل"

"جودة الرسوميات"   they chose words that were a little bit hard to be understood like ,الحواف"

and "تنعيم الحواف".  

Since 2011, the 8th generation of gaming console successors and video game evolution 

has been witnessed. Consoles like PlayStation 4 and Xbox One sprouted in the gaming 

markets with high sales in 2013. Sony later released a more updated version of its console, 



20 

called PlayStation 4 Pro in 2016. This console was the first of its own to feature a 4k 

video resolution making the gaming experience more realistic than ever. Microsoft later 

followed its  rival company and released its Xbox One X in 2017 (History Editors, 2017). 

With the emergence of more new and improved consoles, localization is even more 

needed. In order to introduce its new technologies, gaming companies started giving more 

attention to the localization of games in the Middle East in particular. Companies gave 

attention more to subtitling and lip-sync methods. The localization of audio-visuals 

depends not only on the inter-lingual (subtitling) and intra-lingual (subtitling for the deaf) 

but also on the inter-semiotic transfers (Chaume, 2018) 

Audio-visual translation shares many characteristics with game localization. Audio-

visual translation refers to the process of transferring a text from one language to another 

using the verbal components contained in audio-visual works and products like TV 

programs, films, and video games (Chiaro, 2012). 

In this respect, localized games are mostly either subtitled, dubbed, or both. Even though 

most gamers who hail from Arabic countries prefer dubbing for games, still developers 

see subtitling as a more attractive choice (Gambier, 2003). The following are examples 

taken from the famous award-winning game: Detroit: Become Human (2018):  

Figure (10) 

Detroit: Become Human Conversation Comparison 

 



21 

During the development process, The Studio Developers Quantic Dream’ applied the 

dubbing technique by giving a copy of the game to an Arabic localization company. 

According to Riaz (Riaz, 2017), David Cage, the writer and director of the game during 

his attendance at Gamers Day in Riyadh, revealed that the game would support the Arabic 

dialect. 

In partnership with Sony Entertainment Middle East, the dubbing technique took the 

Egyptian Arabic dialect. Dubbing is a technique used to translate foreign films, short 

videos, plays, and video games. A substitution of ST actors’ (English voice) voices in 

translation with a new TT voice (Arabic voice for example), was introduced in an attempt 

to synchronize the original lip movements with the TT sounds (Hatim & Munday, 2004).  

 

  



22 

Chapter Three 

Data Analysis 

3.1 Introduction 

This chapter is devoted to video game localization. The chapter begins with an analysis 

of the acronym GILT and its relationship to the video game process. This is followed by 

an explanation of video game localization features. After that, the chapter details the video 

game localization process and holds a comparison between localization and video game 

localization. The chapter concludes with a discussion of linguistic challenges and errors 

faced in localization, and suggestions for overcoming and fixing them respectively.  

3.2 GILT Business and Video Games 

In order to understand what video game localization is, it is important to understand what 

localization is in general. As mentioned in chapter one, localization involves taking a 

product and making it linguistically and culturally appropriate to the target audience 

where it will be marketed and sold (Fry, 2003).  

According to O’Hogan and Mangiron (O'Hagan & Mangiron, 2013), video game 

companies follow various procedures when exporting their products overseas. Publishers 

and developers follow the term GILT when processing it. The following terms will be 

discussed and analysed in terms of their relationship to the video game localization 

process.  

Bernal-Merino (Bernal-Merino M. , 2011) believes that localization goes side by side 

with globalization. Both terms were used long ago within the business and global world 

of economics. Al-Batineh (Al-Batineh & Alawneh, 2021) says that thanks to 

globalization and the internet, the video game developers and publishers are able to enter 

new markets by localizing their video games into other languages. 

In globalization, companies assess the chances of marketing and exporting their products 

beyond the local market. They take into account many aspects such as financial methods 

and target audience while studying both their perks and drawbacks. One big name that is 

most famous is the Assassin’s Creed franchise. It has a series of games which consider 

many factors such as the game history and places of its success. Companies take the 

cultural dimension as well. When localizing a video game within a community, cultural 



23 

issues, such as religion, and traditions are taken into consideration. Companies take these 

issues into account because they are culturally sensitive.  

For a successful localization process, video game developers are called on to associate 

themselves with an international approach. Internationalization is the next move in the 

GILT process. It occurs once the video game developer companies have agreed to export 

their product to one or more foreign countries.  

According to O’Hagan and Mangiron (O'Hagan & Mangiron, 2013), the ‘localization-

friendly game development process includes developing a video game with the aim of 

localizing it from the beginning. Fry (Fry, 2003) maintained that the process involves 

disarming the functional side of the product from any language so that it supports adding 

language-specific features simply without worrying whether the product would pose a 

problem or not when localized. 

In other words, internationalization is the process of creating a product that can be easily 

adjusted for publishing in other countries without the need to change the product's 

interior.  

Furthermore, O’Hagan and Mangiron (O'Hagan & Mangiron, 2013)pointed out that the 

process of internationalization is more concerned with socio-political and socio-cultural 

barriers in getting the original product ready for the localization process. People living in 

a specific region may be governed by a specific set of linguistic, political, cultural, and 

social rules. Companies must consider those rules while dealing with marketing games 

and so on.  

After both globalization and internationalization occur, editors advance to choose a 

suitable localization model to apply it to the video game. As one can see, the GILT 

process has four models of localization. These four models are the sim-ship model, the 

post-gold model, the outsourcing model and the in-house model. All of these models will 

be taken into detail.  

The first is the sim-ship model. This model deals with simultaneously shipping games 

with their original copies without informing the localization team that the game is 

currently still under development in order to make them set an exact deadline for their 

progress. That is, the game development process and localization usually occur in 



24 

correspondence with each other for the aim of realizing both the original and localized 

game at the same exact time.  

The average lifespan of a video game is extremely short. For a game title to end up being 

sold either at a discount or a giveaway after its release, it would take only a few months 

to be done. Still, this model has a troublesome consequence. The localizer has to deal 

with shaky content and information, which are always changeable throughout the duration 

of the game-making process. This involves synchronization between the game 

development team, localizers, and localization team to entail the translation process of 

the linguistic materials before it starts.  

Although this model would be good in many cases, the localizers would face excess 

pressure of having to perform the assignment without directly being able to inspect or 

experience the game atmosphere and have only to translate a group of sentences whose 

context is not necessarily always affordable. As a result, localizers repeatedly have to 

work with unfinished non-functional gaming materials.  

The second is the post-gold model. This model is the opposite of the sim-ship model. The 

process of localizing a game starts after the original version has been completed 

(Mangiron, 2020). This model allows the localizer to complete the localization after a 

year or less of its release in the market. The localizers work on a finished game. This 

gives them the chance to work/play to gain sufficient knowledge about the game structure, 

language, text, and atmosphere. It helps the localizer to deliver, without a doubt, fancier 

translations than the previous model.  

Though it is one of the best models, still it faces a problem. Foreign gamers need to wait 

over a longer time frame before the game becomes available in their own languages. 

Before that, gamers would lose their patience and start going after the original copy or 

even resort to buying it from black markets. After all, video games have a short life. That 

is why publishers would more and more go for the sim-ship release.  

According to O’Hagan and Mangiron (O'Hagan & Mangiron, 2013), the last two models 

in particular are related to the participants who perform the process of localization. To 

start with, the outsourcing model is assigned to an outside, professional supplier. The 

supplier is provided with the linguistic content of the video game in a text-only sample 



25 

without any experience with the gameplay itself. The localization process goes beyond 

simply converting linguistics. That supplier selects the localizers who will engage with 

the project. He also organizes the matching of the screenplay for the audio in a special 

production studio taking into consideration the quality of the game.  

The localizer still faces many challenges while working with an unstable text that 

undergoes changes during the localization process. This implies that translating game 

files would sooner or later not be used and in other cases, they would need reconstruction 

of the translation as a result of changes that occur at the last minute on the original video 

game.  

In such circumstances, the localizers ought to depend on their common sense to cope with 

their gaming culture. They are expected to make a smart guess of what the text is and the 

flexibility of translation according to different types of context imagined by the localizers. 

According to Dietz (Dietz, 2006), this process is described as “Blind Localization”. This 

situation is subject to improvement in case the authorized localization staff are familiar 

with the gameplay experience.  

Translators who usually work with small production companies are left all by themselves 

fumbling around in a situation that will profoundly lead to mistranslations, 

misunderstandings, and confusion all led by helpless attempts to include as many textual 

elements as possible. O’Hagan and Mangiron (O'Hagan & Mangiron, 2013) maintained 

that “when different translators are assigned to different parts of a game, they do not have 

any access to the other files, and cannot consult with one another, thus leading to an 

unfinished product”.  

In contrast, the in-house model gives localizers a chance to work alongside the game 

developers, who usually nominate localization supervisors responsible for the 

communication between the translators and the game development team. Companies such 

as RockStar and Ubisoft opt for the in-house model, in general, to have localization 

departments in their headquarters. As opposed to the other models, localizers have full 

access to the original game. They are readily familiar with the gaming experience, 

storyline, character traits, and the way the game mechanism works. In this case, localizers 

are less vulnerable to making translation mistakes since the video game context is already 

affordable.  



26 

As mentioned before, every two models align to work together. The sim-ship and the 

outsourcing models frequently work in pairs while the in-house harmonizes with the post-

gold model in those localization companies that deal with the high-quality of their video 

game material as a valuable element. They prefer to take their time before releasing their 

own creations for foreign players to enjoy. Despite this, different combinations nowadays 

are more flexible to achieve but still characterized by continuous trials and errors.  

3.3 Video Game and Software Localization 

Software localization includes the process where computer applications are analyzed and 

modified to meet the requirements or expectations of different markets. It has become an 

interest to international customers and different users of computers. They have come to 

look forward to understanding software in their own language in the same manner as they 

talk. This matter can relate to users’ productivity and performance. A fully adequate user, 

to take into consideration a software product, will have more skill and knowledge in 

dealing with it without encountering any problems. That is, software applications have 

become more preferable according to the users of language and culture.  

Video game localization along with software localization share similar characteristics. 

Both types of localization involve merging language, translation, IT, and software where 

a chain of translated sentences needs to be set within the game software. Another 

similarity lurks in sharing the Sim-Ship model objectives. Video games as well as 

software take a product that is usually in English and releases it on the same date as the 

localized versions. As mentioned before, this model is accepted in the localization field 

today but has consequences for translation. The translator still has to deal with an unstable 

material that could be  exposed to change during the process of localization. However, 

video games and software localization have a number of differences. Functionality is a 

main key priority of software localization. In contrast, video games can only be achieved 

by maintaining a high level of creativity while keeping it as original as possible.  

3.4 Video Games Localization and Audio-Visual Translation 

As mentioned earlier, video game localization and audio-visual translation share several 

characteristics. Nowadays, most localized games now are either dubbed, for example, 

“Detroit: Become Human” (2018), or subtitled, for example “Uncharted: Drake’s 

Fortune” (2007), or both like “God of War: Ragnarok” (2022). Most games are originally 



27 

released in English and are either dubbed or subtitled into other languages like European 

languages (French, German, Russian, etc…) or Known Asian Languages (Japanese, 

Chinese, Arabic, etc…). Most gamers nowadays prefer the dubbing technique as shown 

in movies and television dramas. However, developers seem to be more attracted to 

subtitling. They think that dubbing a game would take too much time, and effort, and 

would be a heavy financial burden. Regarding the dubbing process, it is pretty similar to 

dubbing a movie. When translating a script, many factors should be taken into account 

like the time limit in which each sentence is spoken in addition to the synchronization 

process of translation along with the lips movement which will later be professionally 

recorded over the movie by voice actors. 

From another perspective, subtitling games is on a whole different angle than audio-visual 

translation customs used for subtitling movies. For example, most dubbed games present 

intra-lingual subtitles while only those that have not been dubbed are presented with inter-

lingual subtitles and that gives the gamers the opportunity of controlling the subtitles by 

being able to pause or restart the subtitles while they are playing.  

In today’s games, gamers have the ability to access game manuals, instructions, and 

different dialogues from the main menu or the pause menu at any time during the 

gameplay. On the other hand, the semantic units in subtitling a game are not given as 

much attention as is the case with films. Character’s speech and dialogue are divided into 

two or even more rows of subtitles i.e. not certainly following the rules of the semantic 

units. Besides, the space of subtitles length available is maximized by measuring it by 

pixels instead of the number of characters. Therefore, localizers are supplied with custom-

built programs that enable them to inspect the length of subtitles on a gaming screen.  

3.5 Characteristics of Video Games Localization  

In the trade context, video game localization relates to every different process engaged in 

transferring a well-developed video game software into a fully-equipped video game for 

sale in the target region market (O'Hagan & Mangiron, 2013). These changes are a result 

of differences in linguistic, cultural, and technical effects that control the target player 

platform.  

Video game localization encountered its own set of challenges that video games are not 

merely considered functional but only considered as entertainment products for 



28 

amusement. Video game localization also goes beyond the translation of the user interface 

to include more textual and non-textual elements.  

The user interface (UI) in video game localization is very detailed with a packed main 

menu full of options for controlling the game feature. Those features include the game 

difficulty level, controls key panel, gameplay settings, graphics and display, and audio 

settings. Video game localization is a complicated quest. It includes text, graphics, video, 

and audio. The user interface, storyline, materials, and content are all added challenges 

that may need modification in order to meet cultural and legal criteria.  

3.6 Localizing Video Game Assets  

Any video game consists of various assets that need to be localized. The video game 

localization assets are divided into five categories: in-game text assets, cinematic assets, 

artistic assets, audio assets, and printed assets. All these assets are related to localization 

to be built and organized within the game in order for it to process smoothly without any 

problems that computer products usually encounter such as crashes or bugs.  

3.6.1 In-Game Text Assets 

The in-game text (On Screen Text – OST) refers to all text types that are included in the 

user interface system. It often consists of short text fragments game menus, tutorials, and 

help messages that are not narrated and are only displayed in written form. The UI text 

usually has an informative function for a smooth transition in gameplay. The following 

is an example of a translated user interface taken from Square Enix’s award-winning 

game The Shadow of the Tomb Raider (2018), see appendix (A). 

Every video game translation involves the translation of a video game manual. In some 

cases, video game companies take manuals to a second translation agency, which is 

logical in some way. At this phase, the video game is completed, and the manual is not 

as important as the rest of the textual materials relatively speaking. So, companies can, 

therefore, ask smaller and less expensive agencies to translate the texts using in-game text 

as a reference. The translation of such text is not easy. The text includes special 

terminologies (button functions, error messages, etc...) that need to be functional 

according to the console company system. The position here lies in having to explain the 

main UI function (same as in manuals) without having played the video game before. 



29 

Like in manuals, the UIs central idea is the explanation of information. Some of them 

mostly list things that one can and cannot do within a video game.  

The text follows the translation of this text is characterized by brevity. It is due to the 

space constraints put in the development of the game screen. It is also marked by the easy 

use of the text by users and its clarity. When translating such texts, it is advisable to take 

translation strategies into consideration. To address space constraints, pragmatic and 

functional choices need to be applied in order to come up with creative solutions to 

overcome these constraints and to almost reflect a tense feeling which is always 

characterized by lively in-game text in terms of expression and names of certain entries. 

As shown previously, the example takes good care of space constraints, and it gives a 

creative professional translation. 

The localization team took into consideration putting both effort and time to make the UI 

assets localization at their best. The text translation follows the word-for-word technique. 

The translation is clear while taking into consideration a balanced font size and colour 

but still, the localization includes foreign elements. The only thing that was left as it is by 

the localization team was the control panel icons which are universally used by all gamers 

of different identities. The localization team also made sure to colour the button icons the 

same as they are in the gaming console controllers and made changes whenever they are 

needed. The following pictures are examples, see appendix (A). 

Another text type of in-game asset is called the narrative text. The narrative text functions 

as an expressive/informative one. In other words, it is a type of text with the purpose of 

informing/expressing as its name says. Its function is to bring that certain information in 

order to create a backstory of the game. The narrative text usually comes as a prologue 

which is introduced before the start of the gameplay. The main feature which 

differentiates these narrative texts from other ones is that it refers only to the properties 

of the gameplay world story and it does not necessarily recognize that this gameplay 

world story is a part of the video game itself. That is, the player character is the one 

directly addressed, and not the players themselves. The following is an example taken 

from Dying Light 2: Stay Human (2022) contained in the narrated story of a mission, see 

appendix (A).  



30 

The example above is one of a narrative text. The storyline is set in Harran, a fictional 

city located in the Middle Eastern region. Mumbai and Istanbul were the major inspiration 

for the video game. As we can see, the text is often characterized by a formal style of 

texts. The writing style has a natural flow and a distinct rephrasing of words to add more 

information and make the style as understandable as possible. The translation usually 

needs fluency in TL priorities following both register and style conditions.  

It is sometimes necessary to fully understand the back story for a successful interaction 

in return in terms of the gameplay. The example narrates the backstory of a location 

related to the mission where an “Alder Wood Windmill” was built. The windmill is not 

literally built from Alder wood but was built using old furniture and scrapes. Due to the 

fact that the windmill was built in the middle of an Alder tree field, it was named after it, 

see appendix (A).  

Through the translation of this part, the localizers were clearly struggling between SL 

specifics and TL generalization. “Alder” trees are a type which belongs to the birch 

family. The localizers faced a huge challenge here in translating the word “Alder”. Instead 

of looking for the specific noun for “Alder” in Arabic, localizers did not put any effort 

and decided to just give the general term for the family the tree belongs to. The localizers 

decided to choose the term "البتوال" which is the equivalent meaning of the word “Birch”. 

This is due to the fact the localizers are low on dictionaries related to flora and want to 

just include the major known term. “Alder” can be replaced by its Arabic counterpart 

 which has the same meaning as these flora  (Kachaf Encyclopedia, 2020) "نغت او جار الماء"

species.  

Another example of in-game assets is the unvoiced interactions. These texts function as 

informative and include instructional commands. They mainly aim at providing 

instructions and trigger a specific action done by gamers. These interactions usually 

appear in written form and are commonly used for NPCs. It takes the literary passages 

used to merge the player into the game experience or as an accomplishment of finishing 

a certain level within the game. Those conversations usually take place with minor 

characters (Non-Playable Characters –NPC) that are controlled by the game system, not 

the player themselves. Here is an example taken from Ghostwire: Tokyo – Prelude (2022), 

see appendix (A). 



31 

As seen in the previous example, all these elements make the gameplay screen extremely 

full in comparison to typical software screens. Dialogue spaces are more restricted to give 

gamers the best game experience they would ask for. That can be avoided by not using 

any abbreviations whenever possible and using clear language. The text is characterized 

by speech expressions employed in written texts with a statement style. The NPC stated, 

“The main character should be aware” of a nearby event and stay safe after “receiving an 

alert”. The necessity to keep a natural flow of words in the same manner as the original 

is of great importance here. In translation, the conversational style is kept to reflect a 

fluency in TL generally with an ordinary form of register. 

The text follows a cautious and authoritative tone (warning) ruled by the manner the NPC 

“Rinko” speaks. A similar register tone is decided by the use of specific expressions to 

convey the meaning held by the tone. For example, the NPCs sent a warning to his 

teammate considering the situation in the location he was in. He said, “Hold off on 

pursuing until we’re able to send support” in comparison to its Arabic counterpart  أجل"

 As these examples demonstrate, the tone the register follows has .المالحقة حتى نرسل الدعم"

an effect on the listener. That is, both the ST and TT should follow the same tone in order 

to deliver the meaning intended by it and that can be noticed in the given example. In a 

more explanatory manner, the TL expression should follow a “cautionary state” that 

needs to be rendered the same way as the SL expression as close as possible to the original 

one.  

One final example is the system terminology text. This text functions as an informative 

text for useful pragmatic means. The system terminology includes messages generated 

by the system, such as platform-specific terminology, warning notifications, and 

instructions.  

Dietz (Dietz, 2006) argues that a game interface should not suspend the gamer’s will of 

faith in terms of a video game’s ‘reality’. The video game interface differs from the one 

of a normal application that is built into the programs, by existing as a semi-transparent 

layer between both the space of the game and the space of the gamer. In other words, it 

must keep a low profile and be fully functional in order to work the correct way.  

The terminology employed by different platforms, such as Sony’s PlayStation and 

Microsoft’s Xbox varies greatly. However, localizers need to have a common knowledge 



32 

of it and adjust their translations according to the terminology used in platforms that will 

embrace the release of the game process. The following table contains examples of the 

terms authorized for the PlayStation and Xbox consoles by their manufacturing 

companies in English and Arabic:  

Table (1) 

Comparison between PlayStatin’s Terminology with Its Xbox Counterpart 

PlayStation’s 

English Terminology 

PlayStation’s Arabic 

Terminology  

Xbox’s English 

Terminology 

Xbox’s Arabic 

Terminology 

Analog Stick  عصا التحكم Thumbstick عصا االبهام 

Memory Card  بطاقة الذاكرة Memory Unit وحدة الذاكرة 

R1 Button الزر األيمن األول RB Button    الزر األيمن العلوي 

The previous examples include some frequently used terms. For example, Sony refers to 

the top right button on the back of a controller as the “R1 Button” which usually allows 

the player to perform multiple actions based on the game type as well as move between 

sections on the game interface. When localized in Arabic, this button function is referred 

to as "الزر األيمن األول". On the other hand, Microsoft uses the term “RB Button” which has 

the same function as the previously mentioned button, and it is referred to as   الزر األيمن"

 .when localized into Arabic. That is, each platform has its own unique terminologyالعلوي"  

In case the wrong terminology is used, a video game could fail the submission process to 

the gaming platform owners. Furthermore, using the term “Memory Unit” in a game that 

is going to be released for Sony’s PlayStation would lead the game to be turned down, 

and it would have to revert back to the video game developer to make the necessary 

changes and resubmit it.  

3.6.2 Textual Graphics and Displayed Texts 

The art assets relate to the different graphics and images input within video games. They 

include textual graphics such as maps, signs, notices, warnings, writing on walls (graffiti), 

posters, billboards, and maps. These graphics efficiently play a role in how the video 

game world is characterized. In some cases, it may not need a translation, and it may 

appear in a different language from the SL. For example, many games which are 

originally in English show features from other languages such as drawings, and murals 

on buildings and walls which should be maintained as it is to create a distinctive 



33 

atmosphere. The following is an example taken from Battlefield 3 (2011), see appendix 

(A). 

Besides, texts in the art assets (as in the previous example) can neither be derived for 

translation use, nor can it be easy to reintegrate. Developers need to reprogram them in 

order to achieve a localized text. All in all, textual graphics may be left by localizers as it 

is in the original language in order to save plenty of time and effort. O’Hagan and 

Mangiron (O'Hagan & Mangiron, 2006) states that some texts in the SL are left as they 

are in the localized version to present a heterogeneous textual space.  

Commenting on this issue, the text will only wind up disturbing the players who are not 

acquainted with the SL which ends up in them breaking their integration into the video 

game experience. In addition, textual graphics may feature information that is related to 

the gameplay atmosphere. This means that gamers who do not have enough knowledge 

of the ST are potentially going to miss out on the information. The video game, like many 

others, has a mix of both Arabic and English languages which are considered unmatched 

due to the fact that the game is foreign but the events are in an Arab country that includes 

an eastern tone.  

The space here was set according to the Arabic space constraints. While Arabic depends 

on full meaningful sentences, English sometimes relies on the use of abbreviations. The 

Arabic used the sentence "للرجال  while taking into consideration giving "صالون اإلخالص 

enough space to write within. In contrast, the English translation of the sentence “Honesty 

Gents Salon” is abbreviated as “Gents”. This is a reference to “Gentlemen’s”. This was 

due to the limited space the text layout had.  

Another character used in the English text is the use of high-class terms. The term “Gents” 

gives the reader a feeling of royalty where the reader feels like he/she has a significance 

in the community they live in. In contrast, in Arabic, the developers choose to refer to 

men by only mentioning the gender they belong to in the language which is "رجال" known 

as “grown up men” in English without pointing out any royalty attributes. 

In conclusion, this could have a negative impact on gameplay performance. To solve this 

matter, it is recommended that textual graphics and programs be translated so that they 

can be extracted and modified easily.  



34 

3.6.3 Audio and Cinematic Assets  

Audio assets include all the elements with audio/voiceover which require translation. 

Audio assets usually come in the form of a song, script, or recording. In contrast, 

cinematic assets consist of video cut-scenes. It is the only element that cannot be 

interacted with. Gamers cannot control the cut-scenes sequence since they are required to 

watch it. Some advanced games include the option of skipping these cut-scenes according 

to their relevance to the story of the game.  

In-game cinematic clips change players into viewers for a short duration of time. Gamers 

have the option of skipping the video game cinematics, and that’s why the translation of 

these cut-scenes has been overlooked. Overall, many gamers do not keenly show interest 

in the sequence and give attention to quality of its translation.  

Nevertheless, many techniques have been used in game production the same as the ones 

used in the making of movies lately. This pattern is referred to as ‘cinematic video games’ 

which will probably have an impact on video game localization due to the fact that it 

consists of a playable movie with different choice selections.  

One of the main techniques used by localizers is the lip-synch voiceover. This translated 

text functions as an informative/expressive text. It provides a hint or a narrated story in a 

dramatized pattern. The following is an example of the lip-synching voice-over technique 

taken from Detroit: Become Human (2018), see appendix (A). 

In a conversation between the main character and a minor one, lip-synching has been 

perfectly matched. The translation is synced with the translated lines. These translated 

lines are usually done by voiceover experts in order to build characters in the video game 

with the same features of voice and appearance as if they were originally in the TL 

(Arabic) native language. The audio-visual spoken lines have to be compatible with the 

linked subtitles. The text is oral and is introduced with specific character features and the 

writing style is characterized by a natural flow. In some cases, dubbing experts and 

moderators may come up with changes to the translated scriptwriting. For example, in the 

original English version of Detroit: Become Human (2018), the woman in the previous 

gameplay video “Mrs. Caroline Philips” asked, “Why aren’t you sending a real person?”. 

For someone who barely started playing the video game, they wouldn’t understand the 

reason why she said “a real person”. This word can be translated literary as   "شخص حقيقي"



35 

contrary to the actual localization which contained "انسان بجد". The localized version gives 

the real purpose behind what she said. The truth is that the character isn’t a real human 

but an “android” aka “a robot”.  

In translating audio-visual assets, preference should be given to the lip-synch movement. 

Nowadays, the TL (Arabic) is either fluent or everyday spoken dialect. In this example, 

the video game included the everyday used Egyptian dialect. It is also characterized by 

the use of linguistic variations, and it may lead to rephrasing as seen previously.  

3.6.4 Printed and Hard-Copy Materials 

Printed materials (hard copies) include all those items that are printed with ink that 

gaming companies include with games. Examples of these printed materials are 

instruction manuals, game history, gameplay controls, and package covers. Hardcopies 

are not necessarily translated by the same translator or localizer who has worked on 

localizing the video game. The game may also include advertisements, legal 

documentation, promotional articles, videogame coverage, and gameplay guides.  

Printed materials are also the sole asset for which there is a high quality of flexibility. 

There are approximately no applied space restrictions. In some cases, video game 

publishers organize all localized printed materials bearing in mind the same outline as the 

original. However, it may occur that localizers are rather allowed to reorganize the 

structure of the page set  with respect to the TL norms according to the text type and 

market demands.  

However, a sudden change occurred in the market. ShackNews, a site interested in video 

gaming news, published a news article on April 19, 2010. The famous gaming company 

Ubisoft considered eliminating printed manuals to replace them with a digital copy within 

the video game itself due to the high costs of paper production and environmental effects 

that it would leave. This shift would have an effect on the classification of manuals as 

they are no longer part of printed materials, and they would be more felt like in-game 

texts (Faylor, 2010).  

Printed materials, such as user manuals, usually function as informative texts. A manual 

hard copy includes data and guidelines on how the game functions. Printed materials 

usually have various text types. The text types vary between informative, technical, and 



36 

promotional. Moreover, printed material may be translated by more than one localizer 

with different points of view. Here, the localizers need to be coherent in the translation of 

terminology with respect to the in-game text materials.  

3.7 Video Game Localization Process 

This section describes in detail the main stages of the video game localization process 

according to O’Hagan and Mangiron (O'Hagan & Mangiron, 2013). The process goes as 

follows: Pre-localization, Localization (Translation Process), and Post-localization. 

3.7.1 Pre-Localization Process 

Pre-localization is the preliminary process before the localization process starts. It seeks 

to make sure that the video game pattern will be executed with ease and with no real 

problems. This process goes through many preparations. In the beginning, the localization 

devices contain information related to the video game, in addition to the files and their 

assets to be localized. They are usually produced by the video game developer or the 

publishing house.  

Freelance translators here play an important role. They are usually appointed by the 

localizer-in-charge. They are responsible for coordinating and supervising the 

localization process regardless of whether it was done by a localization agent or a 

localization professional. The translator later works on preparing the localization process. 

The translator spends some quality time identifying and familiarizing him/herself with 

the video game environment. This can be done by playing the video game, surveying 

information about the structure and the plot of the story, previewing gameplays and 

walkthroughs, and selecting and specifying key terms.  

3.7.2 Localization Process (Translation, Editing, and Voice Recording) 

This stage is the center of the localization process. The tricky element of translating video 

games is that it calls for the same knowledge and storytelling skills that exist in literary 

works and screenplay innovation. According to Bernal-Merino (Bernal-Merino M. , 

2011), the quantity, quality, and heterogeneity of the translatable assets, resulting from 

video games, may be surprising to individuals who are used to literary and audio-visual 

translation and other fields that are related to it. Here, plenty of video games would call 

for the translation of tens of thousands of words that are input into video games. 



37 

 The volume of work increases significantly based on the number of languages into which 

a video game would be translated/localized as well as the challenges over many 

translation models. For example, the sim-ship model is often conducted simultaneously 

for all TLs while the original video game is still, already, under development. Thereby, 

the translator deals with a ST which is constantly changing. 

In contrast, the post-gold model, as mentioned before, helps the translator to publish the 

original game with complete items and a static text. In the case of English games localized 

using this model, they are commonly translated into Arabic for the Middle Eastern Arab 

market, and then into other languages such as Russian adapting the English language: the 

US (United States of America) or the UK (United Kingdom of Britain) English as a SL.  

After the first step is completed, the video game editing stage follows. The Editing stage 

includes a review of the translated text and its assets. For example, if the translation were 

performed based on the in-house model, the translators would reexamine the translated 

work for one another. Following this, the developers tend to assign this step to editors to 

run out a review in order to make sure that there are no translation problems and errors 

and that both the text and its translation are cohesive and homogenous.  

Moreover, editing in the outsourcing model is assigned to the translation/localization 

agency. Editors may make the necessary changes to unite the terminological style in the 

video game in order to ensure that the product has high quality with the recommended 

adjustment to the localizers, who will then make changes to the text.  

Later, the video game developers move on to the recording stage. Video game producers 

aim for realism. It can be achieved through the use of the voiceover technique which is 

an assignment that can only be achieved through a partnership between the 

translators/localizers and voice-over actors and experts. In this stage, 

translators/localizers should not expect the voiceover chains to be displayed in a linear 

fashion. In other words, all the fonts for each playable or non-playable character may be 

put together in a group instead of being displayed in their interactions.  

While the translation process is underway, voice-over specialists begin working on the 

translated text that needs to be recorded. As predicted, time differences grow when 



38 

adopting the post-gold model. In contrast, adopting the sim-ship model makes the 

recording and the translation process go head-to-head with each other simultaneously. 

In addition, voice-over performers are not usually informed about what happens in the 

video game and are only able to match their performance with the original recorded voice 

of the SL. As soon as the textual materials have been recorded, video game developers 

are not willing to make any changes to it. That is due to the high costs of editing voice 

records. The only possibility that it would be changed is that a major error is discovered. 

Still, in case of incompatibility between a translation and a voiceover, it is more possible 

that changes would be implemented to the localized records but with some financial 

charges. That is, the problematic lines may be highly vulnerable to be re-recorded.  

3.7.3 Post-Localization Process 

Post-Localization is the final stage that comes in the localization process after the Pre-

Localization, and Localization (translation, editing, reviewing, and recording) of video 

game textual files. According to O’Hagan and Mangiron (O'Hagan & Mangiron, 2013), 

this stage goes through the integration of the target versions (First Playable Alpha/ Beta 

Version) followed by quality assurance and debugging (error correction). In case of 

localization approval, a submission of the released candidate version is sent to the first 

parties to end up with production and distribution. If the localization process were not 

approved, the process would restart from the beginning.  

In the integration (First Playable Alpha) of the target version phase, a team of 

professionals work to achieve complementarity between the translated text, audio records, 

and artistic assets in the video game software to create an initial version that can function 

the same way as the localized product. The integration procedure is repeated a number of 

times. For example, developers proceed with writing and programming while the 

localizers are work on the text translation and the voice-over actors audio record them.  

The process goes as follows: Every time a new text is produced, the conversion between 

the ST and the TT is pursued, and it winds up with the text integration into the language 

textual database that contains the video game textual material and software. This process 

goes in the climax to update more and more new sets of localized texts, and it is referred 

to as ‘the text drop’ process. 



39 

The second phase goes through quality assurance and debugging. As soon as the first 

playable alpha version has been completed, a group of gamers plays the beta version to 

test it. They start by investigating everything in and out of video games. They start 

rummaging through it to identify any translational errors or bugs and start listing them all 

in an information base specialized for such purposes. Every time a bug is discovered, 

newer versions with updates are reintegrated and later would be released. This process 

continues until they come up with a stable definitive version of the video game.  

In this field, one of the main challenges and errors that faces the localization of video 

games is linguistic challenges and errors. Linguistic errors are mainly concerned with 

bugs and malfunctions related to translated texts. Those challenges and errors are detailed 

in the next section. 

3.8 Linguistic Challenges 

As mentioned above, linguistic challenges are generally concerned with problems that 

occur in the translated texts. These challenges usually include many aspects like 

transference, block letters (Disconnected Units of Characters), translating variables, 

wrong choices of translation, and lexical problems. The researcher tends to take them one 

by one in detail: 

3.8.1 Transferring Term Meanings/ Transference Errors 

According to Newmark (Newmark, 1981), transference is the process of transferring an 

SL word to the TL text as a translation procedure. He states that transference includes the 

process of transliteration, which is concerned with the process of converting different 

alphabets between two languages such as Arabic-English or English-Arabic. The 

definition is similar to what Harvey called “transcription”. In this field, the word is 

referred to as a “loaned word”.  

In other words, some deny the fact that transliteration is considered a procedure of 

translation. However, it is regarded that no other term can be implemented to use if the 

gamers decide to choose an SL term for their text. For example, the word “camping” is a 

word  used by gamers to refer to the process where a player sits in one place, especially in 

shooting games such as Call of Duty, PUBG, and the like of it instead of continually 

roaming around the game map. People who do this activity are referred to as ‘campers’. 



40 

However, this term in the TL (Arabic) is referred to as   "كمبرة"and a person who does this 

act is called "مكمبر". Even though the word “campers” has an equivalent in the TT which 

is "متعسكر او متمركز", the Arab localizers deal with the term as a foreign one by applying 

the process of transference. Transliteration here is justified due to the fact that Arab 

gamers identify the term مكمبر""  more than its equivalent while playing such video games. 

These usually focus on transferring linguistic terms and the like of it including the content 

of language. The term belongs to the USA military genre but it was transferred to the 

Arabic language due to the conflict between the two cultures which leads to a transition 

between both SL and TL thus making the Arab audience feel more comfortable dealing 

with it. Instead of finding an equivalent and transferring the meaning, the localizer decides 

to transfer the term sound the same way as it is in English.  

Table (2) 

Suggested Translation for the Term “Camping” in Arabic 

ST (English) TT (Arabic) TT (Suggested Arabic) 

Camping  تمركز  كمبرة 

In some cases, words can be considered as ‘undefinable’. That is, their meanings might 

not exist in the TL as they are in the SL. To know the origins of a word, the gamer should 

engage with the gaming community to gain a resourceful common sense of what it means. 

He/she needs to make the term clear by going back to the meaning it reflects within the 

SL. Such terms can be seen with a meaning on sites such as Discord. For example, the 

term “Bots” refers to non-human opponents (robots) in multiplayer games that are 

controlled by artificial intelligence. It is also commonly used as an insult when calling 

another player “a bot”. A gamer would say that to someone who also plays in an extremely 

poor manner. Such a term as “bot” doesn’t have any equivalent meaning but itself which 

leads to transferring/ transliterating it. Arab gamers use the term   "بوت"to refer to it. The 

TL community until now does not have an equivalent to such a term although meanings 

are clear and visible to gamers. The following is a suggested near translation for the term:  

Table (3) 

Suggested Translation for the Term “Bot” in Arabic 

ST (English) TT (Arabic) TT (Suggested Arabic Translation) 

Bot  العب افتراضي  بوت 



41 

Here, the sentence   "العب افتراضي"holds the same meaning as “Bot”. A “Bot” is short for 

the word “Robot” which is a software program that carries out automated, repetitive, 

predefined tasks.   "افتراضي  is a virtual player programmed by the video game"العب 

company to fill the empty numbers of players the server of the game has. Sometimes the 

match starts with a number of missing players, so the server is forced to automatically 

install those spaces with bots to complete the number in a single game.  

3.8.2 Disconnected Units of Characters/ Block Letters 

The Arabic language is marked by conjoined alphabet letters. That is, the letters are linked 

together to make a meaningful word characterized by a cursive stereotype. Arabic cursive 

font makes the letters flow together in a synchronized manner. The majority of letters are 

joined together in a functional manner to be used in everyday writing.  

In order to add a conjoined string of Arabic words, special