Key takeaways
- Steam lets developers declare Interface, Subtitles or Full Audio support separately for each language.
- Xbox Accessibility Guideline 104 advises subtitle lines of no more than 40 characters and no more than two lines on screen at once.
- The same guideline asks for subtitles to be on by default or adjustable before the game starts, and scalable to at least 200% of the default size.
- Subtitles cover speech; captions also describe important non-speech sounds such as music cues and footsteps.
- Voice-over localisation needs a locked script, character references and timing constraints for every line before recording starts.
This article is for producers and audio leads deciding how to handle spoken content in a localised game. It compares the main options, explains how a voice-over localisation project is organised, and sets out the subtitle standards that apply in every language.
Audio is usually the most expensive part of localising a game, and the hardest to change late. The decision between subtitles and dubbing therefore needs to be made early, language by language.
What are the options for localising game audio?
Game audio can be localised at three main levels, and a fourth, partial option is common. Valve's Steamworks documentation notes that, for in-game language support, "There are options for Subtitles, Interface, or Full Audio for each language", and players see these on the store page.
| Option | What the player gets | Typical use | Main cost drivers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interface only | Translated menus and text; original voices with no subtitles | Games with little or no dialogue | Word count |
| Subtitles | Original voices with translated subtitles | Indie, text-led and most mid-sized games | Dialogue word count, spotting and timing checks |
| Partial voice-over | Dubbed cinematics or key characters; subtitles elsewhere | Story games with limited budgets | Lines recorded, casting, studio time |
| Full audio | All spoken content recorded in the target language | Large narrative titles in major markets | Script size, cast size, lip-sync, direction and integration |
When is full voice-over worth the cost?
Full voice-over is worth the cost when dialogue is central to the experience, the market is large enough to repay it, and players are used to dubbed entertainment. In other cases, high-quality subtitles give most of the benefit for a fraction of the budget.
Ask these questions for each language:
- Is spoken dialogue heard during gameplay, when players cannot read subtitles easily?
- How many lines and characters does the game have?
- Does the market's sales potential justify the cost of a cast, studio and director?
- Will future updates and downloadable content also need recording?
- Do you have the original audio files, scripts and timing data to support recording?
Language choice comes first; our guide to which languages to localise a game into first helps you rank markets, and how much game localisation costs explains the budget lines.
How does a game voice-over localisation project work?
A game voice-over localisation project turns a translated script into recorded, edited and integrated audio for each language. A typical project runs in this order:
- Lock the source script and export every line with its ID, character, context and file name.
- Add timing constraints to each line, so translators know how long the recording may be.
- Prepare character references: age, personality, voice samples and pronunciation of names.
- Translate and adapt the script for speech, matching length and, where needed, mouth movements.
- Cast the actors for each language and approve the voices.
- Record with a director who understands the game and the language.
- Edit and process the audio, then name files exactly as the game expects.
- Integrate and test in context, checking that every line plays, fits and matches its subtitle; see LQA in game localisation.
What do the timing constraints mean?
Lines are usually tagged by how strictly they must match the original. Wild lines have no timing limit. Time-constrained lines must fit within a set duration, often close to the original. Sound-sync lines must match the length of the original closely. Lip-sync lines must also follow the character's visible mouth movements, which is the most demanding and expensive case.
What makes a good game subtitle?
A good game subtitle is easy to read quickly, identifies the speaker and never hides important information. Microsoft's Xbox Accessibility Guideline 104 sets out widely used standards:
- Line length: "Avoid long lines of text (more than 40 characters), especially when the dialogue is fast."
- Number of lines: "Show no more than two lines of subtitles on screen at a time (three can be used in exceptional cases)."
- Speaker names: identify the speaker each time a new speaker begins talking.
- Size: text should be scalable to at least 200% of the default minimum size.
- Background: players should be able to add a solid background and adjust its opacity from 0 to 100%.
- Line breaks: enter them manually where possible, so they fall at sensible points.
- Default setting: "Players can adjust the option before starting the game, or subtitles are enabled by default."
Translations are often longer than English, so a subtitle that fits in English may break the 40-character guide in German, French or Spanish. Translators should condense where needed rather than squeeze the text, and every language should be checked in the build.
What is the difference between subtitles and captions in games?
Subtitles show what characters say, while captions also describe other important sounds. The Xbox guideline puts it this way: "Subtitles are text equivalents for the speech or dialogue of a character, while captions are text equivalents for all audio."
Captions such as "music intensifies" or "footsteps, left" help d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing players, and players with the sound off. They need translating like any other text, with the same care over length. The same guideline notes that sign language also "requires localization, just like spoken languages do", because British, American and Japanese sign languages differ.
For how subtitles differ from transcripts in other media, see our article on subtitles vs transcripts.
Common mistakes in game voice-over and subtitling
Most audio localisation problems come from missing information at the start of the project. Avoid these:
- Sending scripts without character notes, so actors and translators guess at tone.
- Changing English lines after foreign recordings have started.
- Burning subtitles into video files, which forces new video for every language.
- Forgetting barks, background chatter and tutorial voice lines.
- Letting translated subtitles run longer than the line is on screen.
- Naming audio files inconsistently, so the wrong line plays in game.
Audio is one part of the wider process covered in our complete guide to video game localisation.
How TranslationWorks can help
TranslationWorks is a UK-based translation agency that translates and adapts game scripts and subtitles into 150+ languages, using native-speaking linguists. Our IT and gaming translation team handles dialogue, subtitles and captions; our transcreation service adapts jokes, names and trailer lines; and our transcription services can turn existing audio into a script when no up-to-date text exists.
For recorded voice-over, tell us your languages, line count and timing requirements, and we will confirm in your quote what we can provide through our custom language services. We are ISO 17100 certified, ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 registered and Cyber Essentials certified. Request a free quote within 24 hours.
