[CFP] Fun for All: 7th International Conference on Video Game Translation and Accessibility

Events

Shaping the Future of Game Accessibility and Localization

30th and 31st January 2025

TransMedia Catalonia Research Group

Theme of the conference

The video game industry has become a worldwide phenomenon, generating millions in revenue every year. Video games are increasingly becoming more elaborate and sophisticated, with advanced graphics and intricate story lines, and developers and publishers need to reach the widest possible audience in order to maximise their return on investment. Translating games into other languages and designing games that can be played for a wide spectrum of players, regardless of their (dis)ability, are two obvious ways to contribute to increasing the audience for the game industry. In addition, games are increasingly being used for “serious” purposes beyond entertainment, such as education, and such games should also be designed inclusively, to facilitate access to them by all types of players.

Research and industry practices on game translation/localisation and accessibility have been gaining momentum in recent years. We have recently seen sign language and audio description implemented in AAA games and The Last of Us II was considered the most accessible game ever. However, there is still a long way to go until video games can truly provide fun for all.

In addition, recently artificial intelligence has entered the scene, with many supporters and many detractors and posing many challenges to the theory and practice of translation and localisation.

The Fun for All: 7th International Conference on Game Translation and Accessibility  aims to bring together professionals, scholars, practitioners and other interested parties to explore the future challenges that lay ahead in the fields of game localisation and accessibility in theory and practice. We hope to discuss the linguistic and cultural dimensions of game localisation, to investigate the relevance and application of translation theory for this very specific and rapidly expanding translational genre, to analyse the impact machine translation and artificial intelligence are having in the field, and to analyse the challenges that game accessibility and game localization pose to the industry and how to overcome them. 

The successful previous editions of the Fun for All: International Conference on Translation and Accessibility in Video Games, held in 2010, 2012, 2014,  2016, 2018 and 2023 have become a meeting point for academic and professionals working in the game industry and the game localisation industry, as well as students and translators interested in this field.

The seventh edition of the Fun for All Conference aims to continue fostering the interdisciplinary debate in these fields, to consolidate them as academic areas of research and to contribute to the development of best practices.

For this F4ALL we have teamed up with the WEL project (From written to oral texts in Easy Language: easy audios in cultural visits and video games, ), led by TransMedia Catalonia, to study how easy language could improve accessibility for new audiences, including users with learning difficulties and neurodiverse users. 

Suggested topics

The Fun for All: 7th International Conference on Game Translation and Accessibility – New Trends and Future Challenges will cover the following topics. Proposals about related topics are also welcome: 

  • Game localisation process
  • Standardisation and quality issues
  • Game localisation best practices
  • The future of the localisation industry
  • Techology in game localisation
  • Machine translation and postediting in game localisation
  • Artificial intelligence and localisation/accessibility
  • Cultural adaptation in games
  • Transcreation
  • Humour in games
  • Gender issues in game localisation
  • Dubbing and subtitling for games
  • Localization of online, mobile phone and tablet games, social games
  • Localization of indie games
  • Localization of serious games
  • Video game fan translation
  • Crowdsourcing
  • Video games and Translation Studies
  • The language of gaming
  • Game accessibility
  • Accessible game design
  • Audio description in games
  • Reception studies
  • Training in accessibility/game localisation

Important deadlines

  • Abstract submission: until 30th September 2024
  • Notification of acceptance/rejection: until 4th November 2024
  • Early bird registration: until 30th November 2024
  • Standard registration: until 2nd January 2025
  • Conference: 30-31st January 2025

For more details, please visit: https://webs.uab.cat/videogamesaccess/