Peculiarities of Gambling Projects Localization

The global online casino and gambling market is thriving: in 2022, it increased by 26.3%, up to $261.8 billion.

Industry trends predict a constant flow of new players and “fresh” income due to that people turn to online platforms in an effort to change their usual pastime. A surge was noticeable during the whole COVID-19 pandemic, because of which completely new markets and audiences appeared.

The globalised audience requires more globalised products. That is you cannot do without targeted gambling localization.

Read also: Three popular mistakes during games localization process

Gabling Projects Translation and Localization

The gambling field includes not only online gambling directly, such as poker, tote, slots, online casinos, but also organizers of these entertainment and platforms, where everything takes place.

Popular gambling translation services include:

• Gambling news translation;
• Localization of gambling and online casino websites and applications;
• Localization of bookmaker websites with sports betting and gambling software;
• Translation of technical documents and manuals for players – website visitors and application users;
• Translation and adaptation of topic articles, videos and other content from the field.

Customers often need services for managing social network accounts, communicating in chats, chat-bots and messengers, online supporting visitors of online casino and other gambling resources.

Gambling localization is a process of content translation for an international audience. It goes beyond the simple text and dialogue translation, as it involves much more context, peculiarities and nuances.

The most important aspects of online casino and betting projects localization include:

1.      Translation

Playback the game content and features in other languages, in particular the interface, rules and all technical information.

2.      Editing

A process of detecting and correcting grammar, context and stylistic mistakes while preserving agreed messages.

3.      In-game integration

The translated content and elements are integrated into the project, including the code and content settings for optimal UI/UX and displaying.

4.      Cultural/regional adaptation

Each country and region has its own unique context and features, so localization should consider them to make the product acceptable and clear for the new audience.

5.      Linguistic quality assurance (LQA)

This is a process of the translated content accuracy and relevance prior to publication.

What to Look for in Gambling Localization

Localization has become a usual and continuous process simultaneously with the regular software updates for continuation of the project life cycle. As the iGaming rules and requirements are constantly updated in different countries, the online casino and gambling projects owners should keep the whole localized content up to date.

However, to complete localization does not mean just translating the game content with Google Translate. A professional context-relevant localization is a very laborious and complex process, which requires time. Localization requires an in-depth understanding of the target audience’s culture to ensure that the products comply with the target audience’s standards, experience, needs and values.

The game process, music and sound effects, interface and colour palette, text, design elements and visuals are subject to localization.

Let’s discuss the main aspects which should be considered when working on online casinos and gambling translation.

Project Name

Does the project name in the local language correspond to features of the market you are going to conquer? Cultural adaptation should consider all meanings and emotions evoked by the name in the local audience.

It is customary to use an original name in some markets so not to confuse the players. In other markets, the name is translated or adapted to the audience features.

Content

The regional platform or website content adaptation is the most effective way to satisfy the players’ tastes when they come to your website. It also demonstrates that the company knows and takes care of the region’s needs. For instance, it is focusing on cricket in India, or offering betting on popular local matches of Premier League in England or Series A in Italy.

However, it is important to know the audience’s “tastes” for sure, as there can be some surprises.

• As research shows, Spain’s La Liga is the most popular championship among football fans in Latin America. Perhaps that’s due to the Brazilian and Argentinean players and their close cultural and language affiliation. And this means that a Spanish tournament is mandatory for offering sports betting in this region.

• British and Irish bookmakers usually offer fractional coefficients (so called British or traditional ones). Continental Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Canada use decimal odds (called European, digital or continental). Therefore, the project’s popularity and profit will increase along with local trust, if you offer the certain region’s players familiar formats. Moreover, the availability of different coefficient formats ensures that your company satisfies each market’s needs.
• Speaking of online casinos, it is important to understand the players’ interest and needs in certain countries. For instance, the market in Asia is interested in games based on the skills and types of activities, such as hunting or fishing. And classic themed slots have gained a lot of popularity in post-Soviet countries.

Languages

Language is one of the most critical localization factors. This means that platforms should use local vocabulary and terms, taking into account the fact that they vary even in different English-speaking regions.

For instance, the British call casino slots fruit machines or one-armed bandits, and they are pokies in Australia.

Unique, rare languages are spoken in some countries, and the population usually doesn’t know English. So, to work in this market, the operators should adapt their websites to the regions and provide the players with the versions in their native language.

The projects are most commonly localized in Chinese, Indonesian, Thai, Korean, Hindi for the Asian market. For Europe, Spanish, Portuguese, German, French are used except for English.

It is important to understand that the support team should also communicate with players in any language mentioned on the website to build loyal relationships and trust.

Read also: Challenges in games localization and bringing to Chinese market

Supporting Content

Usually, gambling products have useful descriptions, instructions and key words that the players pay attention to. This content is mandatory for localization, as it helps the users to orient in gaming process, special functions, payments and betting limits.

Design Adaptation

Insufficient visual attractiveness is the first thing that prevents many online gambling platforms from achieving success. Unpleasant or “foreign” aesthetics deter the players even before they get to the catalog of games. Certain colours, logos, images, symbols and even figures can have deep ideas for representatives of different cultures. Therefore, their careless use can cause misunderstanding. Provide the resource visitors with something familiar for them and that can be enjoyed.

Your main page should be bright and attractive for the certain target audience. It’s best to be limited to a simple palette of three or four colour combination and use the same colours on each page.

Many big successful brands prefer a calm color scheme with cold blue and green tones with yellow and white text.

Terminology

The target language can have equivalent terms related to gambling or use general technical gaming terms in English. The main condition is to find the most relevant phrases in cases when direct translation is impossible, and ensure consistency of terminology throughout the project.

For instance, the word Win is used to refer to winning in some projects, Prize – in other ones. In this case, you should select one option and use it throughout the project so not to confuse the players.

UI/UX Localization

The goal of localization is to ultimately provide the players with the best UI/UX. Make UX adaptation a priority: the interest in local players’ convenience will result in their loyalty.

Regulatory Policy

It is important to follow each region’s official rules for safe project operation. Different jurisdictions have their requirements for hosting, liability, advertising and other industry features. For instance, Great Britain’s market is known for its tough regulatory policy related to gambling, with significant penalties and even placing companies which violate the rules on a blacklist.

Such processes as player support, account setting and verification may also differ depending on the industry infrastructure in your target market. For instance, the players should provide identity documents before the game in some countries. In other markets, the identity card is requested from the players only prior to withdrawal of money.

Payment Methods

Using local payment methods and systems is an important localization element. The players prefer familiar payment methods. Moreover, this service should have high payment security, which simultaneously satisfies the audience needs.

For instance, the African market has a relatively low level of different payment systems and card penetration. And in the UK, you cannot use credit cards for gambling. However, other payment methods are available – wallets, such as Skrill, Neteller and PayPal. Debit and prepaid cards are another popular option for British players, many of whom decide to replenish their accounts through their mobile devices.

Payment methods diversity facilitates access to more markets, provide additional convenience and make it easier to transfer funds. As the market conditions and requirements change, the business needs full flexibility for introducing new payment methods.

Internet Penetration

It is important to assess the technological development and internet coverage in each market. Study the devices most often used by your target audience to access the Internet and for online entertainment.

For instance, the African and some Latin American countries require light website versions that will help people with a slow Internet connection to quickly navigate between web pages. Most households don’t have computers in some regions, and mobile devices are a major means of access to the Internet. So, the operators should offer solutions for different devices: in addition to web pages, mobile versions and iOS, Android and Windows applications are required to satisfy the separate market needs.

Betting via SMS will be in demand in the markets where there are problems with stable coverage as it can be accessed without the Internet.

Mobile versions and applications are also important in the European market, as most players use their mobile devices for online gambling.

Regional Marketing

Develop a special marketing strategy for each region selected. Advertising should be culturally consistent, relevant and comply with the players’ experience.

Gambling development varies in different countries, as well as the residents’ attitude to it. The operators should explain to the players how to use an online platform in detail, where there is not yet a strong online betting culture. Moreover, the platform promotion should be localized as well.

But, there are universal tools able to operate everywhere. They are sign up bonuses contained in welcome packages, cashback and loyalty programs, for example.

Why you Need Gambling Localization

There are dozens of reasons why your product should be localized.

Localization is the business life force. Therefore, the products designed for the international audience should be localized, considering all cultural differences and regional features.

Localization makes the iGaming projects available for thousands of new players. But, people will not play games with rules which they don’t understand because of lack of language knowledge, low-quality or incomplete translation.

About 70% of the online gambling market is not English-speaking. For instance, South-East Asia is a successful developing market with more than 400 million Internet users, a digital economy and an increasingly mobile, young and dynamic population. There are almost a billion Internet users in China, and more than 120 million in Japan. This means that translation and localization into the target audience languages is a great investment for online gambling platforms and casinos to enter new markets.

Five Tips for Quality Gambling Localization

1. A major condition for quality gambling localization is the availability of a professional executor team and specialized translation experience in this area. The translators, editors, copywriters, that is all who are engaged to work on similar projects should understand gambling, totalizers and be addicted to a similar pastime. It’s the only way they will be able to tell about success secrets and these business details in a simple and clear manner.
2. When sending the source texts, provide the translators with as much context and stylistic requirements as possible. This will help to better adapt the project localization in accordance with the target group.
3. Collect and timely update the corporate glossary and term base throughout all your projects. Cooperate with contractors who use translation memory (TM) during the localization process. This will ensure terminology consistency and improve the translation accuracy.
4. Let the localization contractor check and edit the project after its uploading to your website or game. Thus, gambling localization specialists will be able to see the work performed in full context, which will help to detect and correct all shortcomings, optimize the resource style, accuracy and attractiveness for the certain audience.
5. To ensure your products’ quality and quick updates, discuss the possibility of professional software usage while working, even during the first meeting with the localization contractor. Such translation services as Crowdin or SmartCAT, due to the convenient integration, will help to perform continuous projects localization simultaneously with introducing changes and revisions to them.

Read also: How do national characteristics affect game localization and app software?