Which Languages Should I Localize My Game Into?
The Ultimate Game Localization Guide

Why Game Localization Matters

In today’s global gaming market, language accessibility isn’t just a “nice to have”—it’s essential. With powerful and affordable translation technologies, making your game available in multiple languages is easier than ever.

Here’s why it matters (via CSR):

• 76% of gamers prefer to play in their native language—even if they understand English or another supported language.
• 52% won’t play a game at all if their native language isn’t available.
• 65% are happy regardless of the machine translation quality, so long as it’s in their native language.

Translation is no longer a major barrier—so let’s explore how to maximize your game’s global reach.

Prioritize Localization Relevant to Your Game

Is your game set in ancient Greece or medieval Japan? Start with the languages most relevant to your game's story, inspiration, and target audience.

Pro Tip: If your game’s lore, setting, or mythology is rooted in a particular culture, localization in those languages shows respect and can generate strong local buzz.

Level 1: Noto Sans Languages—The Quickest Way to Cover Most Gamers

Font support makes all the difference when localizing. Google’s Noto Sans font is a game developer’s dream: it seamlessly supports the world’s most common scripts—Latin, Cyrillic, Devanagari, and Greek. All of these scripts are also tied to langauges with similar text lengths and font sizes. This means you can cover 65–70% of the global population with a single free font. Of course, other fonts can be used, but here we'll use Noto Sans as an example of a multi-script font.

Latin Script Languages

The “EFIGS” group—English, French, Italian, German, and Spanish—is the industry’s baseline for localization. This is followed by Portuguese (particularly Brazilian Portuguese), and if you’re targeting South-East Asia; Indonesian.

However, given how easy it is to make games accessible in every language, there is no reason not to support every latin script language.

Cyrillic Script Languages

The Cyrillic script unlocks major Eastern European and Central Asian markets:

• Russian: The largest language in Europe by area and a massive gaming audience
• Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Serbian (Cyrillic), Kazakh, Belarusian: Key regional gaming markets

Cyrillic script unlocks millions of additional players.

Devanagari Script Languages

Hindi is the world’s third most spoken language—and is the biggest gaming market in India alongside Marathi. The Devanagari script essentially unlocks the Indian subcontinent and international Indian markets.

Reach 65–70% of the World with a Single Font

Multi-script fonts like Google Noto Sans support all languages written in Latin, Cyrillic, Devanagari, and Greek scripts. With the ease of translation these days, there is no reason why a game shouldn’t be accessible and playable in the 160+ languages written in these scripts. Remember: 65% of players prefer gaming in their native tongue, regardless of translation quality. Never let perfectionism get in the way of accessibility.

Level 2: Arabic & CJK—High-Value Markets with Special Font and UI Considerations

After Noto Sans languages (languages with Latin, Cyrillic, Devanagari, or Greek scripts), all other languages require more font and UI considerations. The largest markets here are the Arabic and CJK language script markets.

Korean and Japanese

Korean and Japanese are the easiest CJK languages to support.

• Korean (e.g. Noto Sans KR): Easy to support, with similar text lengths to Latin script languages.
• Japanese (e.g. Noto Sans JP): Easy to support. Requires slightly larger font size for legible Kanji (tip: use Traditional Chinese Script font size as a base).

Chinese Script Languages

There are multiple non-mutually intelligible Chinese languages; from Cantonese to Mandarin. Each Chinese langaugage is often found written in both Chinese scripts:

• Traditional Chinese Script (e.g. Noto Sans TC): A useful visual and technical baseline.
• Simplified Chinese Script (e.g. Noto Sans SC): Convertible from TC.

To ensure your Chinese game localizations are scalable, we recommend starting with Traditional Chinese Scripts to ensure optimal base-line font sizes, audio and character coverage (with Cantonese), and optimal text-lengths (with Mandarin). Note: It is possible to convert Traditional characters to Simplified characters, but not the other way around (e.g. “crème brûlée” → “creme brulee”).

Arabic Script Languages

Arabic script markets are huge, and are the most popular market after the Noto Sans (Latin, Cyrillic, Devanagari scripts) market. The Arabic script (e.g. Noto Sans Arabic) covers multiple languages; including Arabic, Persian, Urdu, and Pashto. The main UI consideration here is that this is a Right-to-Left (RTL) script.

It’s important to note that written and spoken forms of these languages can often differ. Using Arabic as an example; most people can read Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) but will never speak it out loud (think Shakespearean English). People often prefer to read and listen to an Arabic language variety such as Egyptian Arabic or Moroccan Arabic.

Regardless of a user’s preferred language or script, Omnilingual Access makes it super easy to translate game content, and generate relevant audio tracks, in multiple languages.

Level 3: Individual Scripts—For Maximum Reach & Accessibility

After Noto Sans, CJK, and Arabic, the remaining languages use predominantly stand-alone scripts and fonts. Each of these have their own specific Google Noto font.

The remaining languages and their scripts:

Check out tools like Omnilingual Access’ Language Scripts & Fonts Tool to quickly identify fonts needed for any language set.

Game Localization Tips: Global Font & UI First, Premium Translations Second

• Translation is easy—font/UI is the real hurdle. Use 1-2 robust fonts like Google Noto Sans to reach the majority of the world, before starting to significantly introduce new fonts and UI considerations.
• Start with quick and affordable machine translation; ensuring a wide reach that makes your game accessible and playable to everyone, before investing in professional translations in top-performing markets.
• Generate Audio and Spoken Content; to drastically increase immersion and access for multiple spoken language markets.

Conclusion: Every Language Is an Opportunity

Making your game accessible in the world’s languages is easier, more affordable, and more rewarding than ever. With the right script and font strategies, you can reach millions of new gamers and build a truly global community.

Get started today with Omnilingual Access.