CJK — Chinese, Japanese, Korean — are the three East Asian languages that present the most distinct technical localization challenges for game developers. CJK languages use non-Latin writing systems requiring specific font support, text rendering approaches, and LocQA methods that differ from European language localization. Games that localize into CJK languages for the first time frequently encounter technical issues that do not appear with European languages. This guide explains the technical requirements of CJK localization and how to prepare your game for East Asian language support.

CJK Font Requirements

CJK languages require fonts with large character sets. A typical Latin font contains a few hundred to a few thousand characters. A Japanese font must contain approximately 2,000 kanji plus hiragana (46 characters), katakana (46 characters), and punctuation. A Simplified Chinese font must contain the approximately 6,700 characters in the GB2312 standard (plus thousands more in the full GB18030 standard for complete coverage). Traditional Chinese requires the full Traditional character set, which differs from Simplified Chinese. Korean fonts must contain the Hangul syllable blocks (11,172 possible combinations) plus Korean punctuation. The practical implication: a Latin font of 50KB may be 2–10MB for CJK. File size impact on loading times must be considered, particularly for mobile games.

Japanese — Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji

Japanese uses three writing systems simultaneously: hiragana (phonetic syllabary), katakana (phonetic syllabary used for foreign words and emphasis), and kanji (logographic Chinese-derived characters). Modern Japanese text mixes all three freely. Japanese text in games also uses specific typographic conventions: ruby text (small furigana characters showing kanji pronunciation, used in games targeting younger audiences or for uncommon kanji); vertical text orientation (traditional Japanese text reads vertically; some games use vertical orientation for specific aesthetic contexts); and Japanese punctuation characters (。「」など) that differ from Western punctuation. Japanese game localization requires translators who produce idiomatic game Japanese, not just technically correct Japanese.

Chinese — Simplified vs. Traditional

Chinese has two major written forms for game localization: Simplified Chinese (ZH-CN) used in mainland China and most overseas Chinese communities; and Traditional Chinese (ZH-TW or ZH-HK) used in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and parts of Southeast Asia. These are distinct localization targets — they use different character sets, have different vocabulary conventions, and target different cultural markets. A Simplified Chinese font renders Simplified characters; Traditional Chinese requires a Traditional font. Automated conversion tools can produce readable Traditional Chinese from Simplified source, but the vocabulary and cultural references will be Mainland-oriented rather than Taiwan/Hong Kong-oriented. Dedicated localization for each market is the professional standard.

Korean — Hangul and CJK Technical Requirements

Korean uses Hangul — a phonetic alphabet where characters are arranged into syllable blocks. Hangul is technically more regular than Chinese or Japanese and easier to render correctly than Arabic, but Korean fonts still require the full 11,172 Hangul syllable block range for complete text support. Korean text does not use Chinese characters (hanja) in modern game content except for very specific historical contexts. Korean game localization is technically less complex than Japanese or Chinese for font rendering, but still requires CJK-capable fonts and CJK-aware text rendering settings in game engines.

Frequently Asked Questions