What Is a Game Localisation Kit? The Material Given to the Translator

The fate of a game translation is often settled on the very first day, by what the translator is handed. A translator working from nothing but a context-free list of strings and a translator who starts with a rich pack of material cannot produce the same quality. That pack is called the game localisation kit, and it is the invisible foundation of good localisation.

Contents

This article looks at what a game localisation kit is, which materials it contains, why it matters so much and what separates a good kit from a bad one. The aim is to show that translation quality begins before the translation does.

What is a game localisation kit?

A game localisation kit is the pack of material prepared so that the translator can localise the game correctly (Jiménez-Crespo, 2024). It is put together during the pre-localisation stage, before translation begins, and sets out to give the translator everything needed to get to know the game and understand its context.

The kit exists because game text is, by its very nature, cut off from context. Games are not linear; the text consists of independent strings that surface in different places depending on what the player does. By adding that missing context back from outside, the kit stops the translator from being left to guess.

Seen this way, the kit is not merely a pile of files but a frame of meaning. From it the translator can tell where a string appears, which character it belongs to and how much space it takes up. A good kit moves translation from guesswork to evidence.

What is in the kit?

A game localisation kit is made up of a few core components. The table below summarises the contents of a typical kit and the function of each component (Jiménez-Crespo, 2024).

Component	Contents	Function
Instructions and guides	Game mechanics, narrative, characters	Supplies context and register
Translatable assets	Text files, length limits	Provides the material to be translated
Translation technology	Translation memory, termbase	Secures consistency and speed
Screenshots	Images of scenes and interfaces	Offers visual context

These components complement one another. The instructions introduce the game, the assets supply the text to be translated, the technology secures consistency and the screenshots make the context visible. When one of them is missing, the translator’s job gets harder and the chance of error rises.

Instructions and style guides

The most valuable part of the kit is often the instructions and style guides. They contain the fullest account of how the game is played and a description of its narrative structure: the characters, the game world and, where there is one, details of the series. Thanks to these documents the translator can grasp the game’s world without playing it.

The style guide is the compass for register. How each character speaks, the overall tone of the game and the forms of address are all defined in this document. On large games where several translators work on the same project, the guide is what keeps a single voice intact.

Without these documents the translator can only try to capture the spirit of the game by guessing. Well-prepared instructions make that guesswork unnecessary and set the translation off in the right direction from the start. A large share of translation quality is decided in precisely these documents.

Translatable assets

Translatable assets are usually supplied as text files in spreadsheet, XLIFF or XML format (Jiménez-Crespo, 2024). These files also carry instructions on length limits; a maximum number of characters can be specified in advance for each line. That way the translator produces a rendering that fits on the first pass.

These assets are not limited to text. Art assets, video files, even part of the game code and the tools used to process the localisation may be included in the kit. The kit sets out to cover the whole surface of the game that is to be localised.

Assets that are well organised and clearly labelled speed the translation process up. Every string should have an identifier and, where possible, a context note. Scattered or context-free assets are the form that generates the most errors and demands the most rounds of correction.

Translation and game technology

Alongside the linguistic material, the kit carries technological tools. Earlier translation memories and termbases are the backbone of consistency; terminological unity is indispensable in series and in projects that have earlier games behind them (Jiménez-Crespo, 2024). These files ensure that the same concept is translated the same way everywhere.

The files should also include instructions on variables, placeholders, tags and string identifiers. It is from these instructions that the translator learns which elements must not be touched. A placeholder carried across incorrectly, or a broken string identifier, causes technical faults in the game.

This technological layer turns the kit from a translation package into a production system. A properly built termbase and memory make translation both faster and more consistent. You can find more about these tools in our knowledge centre.

Screenshots and context

Translators often have no access to the game itself, and that is exactly where screenshots become critical (Jiménez-Crespo, 2024). A screenshot shows which scene a string appears in, which interface it sits in and how much space it has. This visual context fills in what written instructions cannot convey.

A screenshot solves three problems at once: it clarifies the meaning of a word, its tone and its space limit. Seeing the string in place, the translator both picks the right rendering and judges whether the text will fit. Visual context is the strongest antidote there is to missing context.

A good kit therefore attaches a screenshot to as many strings as possible. The richer the visual context, the more accurate the translation. Supplying screenshots is the cheapest investment available for heading off later rounds of correction.

Good kits and bad kits

The difference between a good kit and a bad one shapes the whole course of a project. A good kit delivers context, instructions and technology in full, and the translator gets close to the right result on the first pass. A bad kit amounts to a context-free list of strings and forces the translator to guess.

That difference feeds straight into cost. A rich kit cuts the number of correction rounds, speeds up delivery and raises quality. A thin kit may look like a time-saver at first, but it comes back later as a multiplied correction cost.

Preparing a kit is therefore not a formality but an investment. The effort a publisher puts into the kit converts directly into translation quality and delivery speed. Projects that take the kit lightly usually pay the price as the work goes on.

Who prepares the kit, and when?

The game localisation kit is usually prepared by the publisher or the developer. The work is done at the pre-localisation stage, that is, before translation begins. Management and planning tasks are carried out at this point: briefs and estimates are drawn up, the level of localisation is decided, and the material to be translated is extracted and made ready for translation.

The timing of the kit matters as much as its quality. A kit put together after translation has started, or arriving piece by piece, keeps the translator waiting and guessing. Ideally all the material is ready in full before translation begins, which lets the process run without interruption from start to finish.

In games developed with agile workflows, the kit evolves along with the product. Translation carries on while the game is still changing, and keeping the kit current then becomes a discipline in its own right. Only a continuously updated kit can get every altered string to the translator with the right context attached.

The Türkiye context

Game localisation is growing in Türkiye, yet kit quality remains uneven. Some international publishers prepare rich kits for Turkish teams, while many smaller projects hand the translation over as context-free spreadsheets. That gap has a direct effect on the quality of the Turkish translation and increases the number of correction rounds.

The structure of Turkish makes a good kit all the more necessary. Its agglutinative morphology and flexible word order can mean that a string has to be inflected differently according to context. For the suffixes around a placeholder to come out correctly, the translator has to know what that variable will hold, and only a good kit supplies that knowledge.

A culture of termbases and style guides has yet to take hold in the local market either. Yet as Turkish game series and large projects multiply, a consistent terminological order is becoming ever more critical. Projects that take the kit seriously achieve a marked difference in quality in the Turkish version. A solid termbase created for the first game in a series saves time in the games that follow and keeps the terms players have grown used to; that continuity is becoming one of the most valuable assets in long-running projects.

What does this mean for you?

If you are bringing your game into Turkish, invest in the kit before you invest in the translation. What you give the translator directly determines the result you get back. A well-prepared kit raises quality and cuts later correction costs from the outset. A few days of preparation spent on the kit will often do away with weeks of correction and retranslation rounds; the kit, in other words, is insurance against delay.

1. Prepare an instruction document setting out the game’s mechanics and narrative.
2. Add a style guide covering character voices and tone.
3. Attach an identifier, a length limit and, where possible, a screenshot to every string.
4. Include the previous translation memory and termbase in the kit.

If you would like to talk about how to prepare your kit, or about whether the kit you have is good enough, take a look at our game localisation services and request a quotation for your project. A project that starts with a good kit is on the right track from the very beginning.

Frequently asked questions

What is a game localisation kit?

It is the pack of material prepared so that the translator can localise the game correctly. It contains instructions, style guides, translatable assets and technology files such as the translation memory.

What information does the kit contain?

The main items are explanations of the game’s mechanics and narrative structure, character details, length limits, screenshots, and instructions on variables and string identifiers.

Why does the kit matter so much?

Game text consists of strings cut off from their context. By giving that missing context back, the kit enables the translator to produce a translation with the right meaning, tone and length.

Who prepares the kit?

Usually the publisher or the developer. A good kit is ready before translation begins; an incomplete one drives up both correction rounds and cost.

References

• Jiménez-Crespo, M. A. (2024). Localization in Translation. Routledge (Ch. 10).
• Chandler, H. & Deming, S. (2012). The Game Localization Handbook. Jones & Bartlett.
• O’Hagan, M. & Mangiron, C. (2014). Game Localization. John Benjamins.