Online Worlds and Offline Worldviews - Managing Geocultural Expectations in Game Content

Lecturer: Tom Edwards, Englobe Inc.

The game industry is exhibiting remarkable global growth, with revenues reaching or exceeding an average 50% from non-U.S. markets and projections through 2011 that the non-U.S. portion will only increase. This increasingly global focus puts a greater emphasis on delivering game content to customers who may not fit the typical model perceived by many U.S.- or Europe-based game developers. To date, one of the key areas of content localization and globalization that often goes unnoticed during game development is that of the geographic and cultural (i.e., geocultural) dimensions of the content elements in the game, i.e., those content elements that represent the game’s milieu with symbols, maps, systems of religion, government, social order, and so forth. Many game developers tend to relegate this consideration to the localization phase of game development, but the deep-level nature of the reactions to such content, which can be severe and swift from a local market – and even more so with the model of instantaneous online distribution, demand that such issues be considered far more proactively and as an integrated aspect of the game’s total quality. Unlike many businesses which may have only a few areas of potential content risk, games often incorporate a wide range of content types in a visually stimulating and media-loaded environment. This confluence of content types to which I refer includes fictitious and actual socio-historical scenarios, new cultures (including religions) derived from actual ones, and very generous uses of symbols, flags, maps and other content known to have higher propensity for sensitivity.

The basic goal in managing the geocultural expectations of end-users is to keep the game content within its intended range of entertainment for the broadest possible audience, which implies a careful consideration of all types of audiences for each specific game title and target locales. This isn’t an attempt to be “PC” or dilute a game’s intended focus. Rather this is a process of more effectively designing and managing content that may be perilously close to breaking the intended context of the game environment and thus put the game developers at risk - including provoking certain audiences to backlash and negatively impacting company image and revenue. To this end, a high-level, proactive methodology will be described which involves the careful discernment and consideration of key aspects of game content through the ample use of real game examples and clear recommendations for the online game developer.

Intended Audience: This lecture is appropriate for all audiences, both in level of experience and in development function. However, it is most directly applicable to game designers, writers, artists, audio designers, editors and other content developers who conceive, create and/or manage game content. The talk is also appropriate for business management and legal personnel who must deal with local customer feedback.

Prerequisites: Rudimentary knowledge of a typical game development cycle and/or basic understanding of content localization are helpful, but not required.

Format: Lecture

Track: Globalization

Date/Time: Tuesday, 3:30 PM

Room: Salon B

Edwards - Online Worlds and Offline Worldviews.ppt