Open world games present a localization challenge of scale: thousands of NPC dialogue lines, hundreds of quest descriptions, item names, location names, environmental storytelling text, and procedural content — all requiring consistent terminology across a world the player can explore non-linearly. SandVox has localized open world games from sub-10,000-word indie explorations to 200,000-word RPG worlds. The challenges are volume management, terminology consistency across a large glossary, and LocQA in an engine where text appears in dozens of different UI contexts and camera distances.

Unique Localization Challenges

• Volume management — open world games often have 50,000–300,000+ source words requiring pipeline organization and phased delivery
• Terminology consistency across thousands of strings — NPC names, location names, item names, faction names must be consistent throughout
• Procedural content — dynamically generated quest titles, item descriptions, and NPC lines require template translation rather than string-by-string work
• Non-linear context — strings may appear in unpredictable order; translators cannot assume players have seen earlier dialogue
• UI text at varying distances — map labels, HUD text, and subtitles have different character constraints depending on camera distance and UI size
• Update cadence — live-service open world games require ongoing translation for DLC, patches, and seasonal content
• Cultural adaptation — location names, faction names, and lore terms often require per-language adaptation decisions

What We Localize

• Full open world game translation in all major language pairs
• Volume-tiered pricing with Translation Memory leverage on repeated strings and similar content
• Glossary development for all proper nouns (NPC names, location names, item names, faction names)
• Procedural content template translation for dynamically generated strings
• In-engine LocQA across map, HUD, dialogue, inventory, and quest UI contexts
• Phased delivery for games releasing in early access or chapters
• Ongoing patch and DLC translation with TM leverage reducing per-word cost

Our Process

1. String extraction audit — identify all text surfaces across the game world, including dynamically generated content
2. Glossary build — develop comprehensive proper noun glossary before translation begins
3. Phased translation by content priority — critical UI and quest text first, environmental text second
4. TM leverage analysis — identify repeated strings and similar content for volume reduction
5. Translation and terminology review by professional game translators
6. In-engine LocQA across all UI contexts — map, HUD, dialogue boxes, inventory, quest log
7. TM delivery — complete Translation Memory in TMX format for future updates

Languages Available

German · French · Spanish · Italian · Portuguese (BR) · Russian · Polish · Japanese · Simplified Chinese · Traditional Chinese · Korean

Frequently Asked Questions