Sparkling Dutch localization

The year is almost over and it was a fun year indeed. We completed more full audio game localization, such as a charming pet simulation game with Dutch voiceovers for the puppies that kids can take on their adventures, and the next installments of a PlayStation franchise where players collect and battle hidden creatures.

We also worked on PlayStation versions of the renowned block building games and took on more soccer and racing, providing Dutch localizations for FIFA World Cup 2014 and the mobile racing game Need for Speed: No Limits.  At the same time, we managed a huge project that presented all new linguistic challenges: a game building environment that allows gamers to create their own games and storylines or play community games

Dutch games for kids and more

Another localization wrap for two acclaimed game series: FIFA 2014, and NFS Rivals. We have worked on these major EA franchises for 10 years in a row, providing topnotch Dutch translations for these genre defining games. By now, we live and breathe soccer terminology and recognize every car we see on the streets - and on the tracks. But there was plenty of room for us to localize lots of other fun games for the Netherlands: we worked on a competitive Xbox One game called Kinect Sport Rivals, and travelled to an alternate version of Rome for the hack and slash game Ryse: Son of Rome.

While sports and hardcore games get our adrenaline pumping, we simply love localizing games for younger audiences. One of the kid games we enjoyed translating this year was an augmented reality adventure for PS3. We provided full Dutch audio and it was a blast to cast the right voices so Dutch kids could truly enjoy this detective game in film noir style.  At the same time, we worked on yet another kids game with Dutch voices: a stunning adventure set in a puppet theater. This challenging platformer has over 50 ingame characters, including a witch, a few monsters, and a talking cat. Needless to say, this was huge fun for the voice actors… and it definitely shows.

Games madness in 2012

Most of the games we localized in 2012 have now been released and we finally had our chance to grab the controllers and play the games we worked on for many months. We get to see all our translated texts in action and hear the embedded Dutch audio. Often, we have limited reference material during the translation phase, so we're always excited to experience the end result. And there sure was a lot to experience. 

In 2012, we completed new versions of FIFA and NFS, but we also localized other fantastic games that we're not allowed to mention by name. Amongst them were a Kinect fitness program, a Kinect spin-off of a popular adventure franchise, an award winning sequel of a racing series, an innovative brain training game, a stunning episodic puzzle-adventure game for Windows platforms, and an artistic PS Move controlled 'paint'-adventure. 

Last but not least, we worked on Halo 4, the first version of this flagship franchise that was localized into Dutch. Translating a sequel of a well-know FPS is a notoriously difficult job for the Dutch market. Hardcore gamers are used to the English gameplay, so we try to keep them happy by leaving key terms in English. However, the publisher also wants to open the game to new audiences that want to play in Dutch. It's a precarious balance, but we are proud to have worked on this amazing shooter.