German Localization Specialist, Ubisoft

About the Position

Ubisoft is an international gaming studio, who are expanding to film, books, and other sources of media. Their company goal is to provide “original and memorable gaming experiences” to gamers. They’ve produced games such as Tom Clancy’s Rainbow 6 Siege, For Honor, and Far Cry 6. Ubisoft wants to continue to grow and expand, helping to develop games from various backgrounds, themes, and stories, and even thinking of different ways one could play. This company has grown internationally and strives to engage and incorporate an array of diversity and community.
As one of their Localization Specialists, you’d be responsible for reading and editing text, making sure that they’re clear, understandable, and culturally relevant to the target audience. Since this position is an entry-level job, it will be a great stepping stone towards a career path where someone could use their language skills in order to help others be able to play and find relevance in any game across the globe.

Question & Answer

What are the minimum qualifications for this position?

Ubisoft desires candidates who show proficiency and knowledge in the target language. Being team-oriented, you work to make sure the story and goals are communicated to the target audience. Beyond language skills, video game localization requires their specialist to be able to have communication skills, problem-solving, and critical thinking. Ability to report to and work with developers, guiding them to errors, explaining the problem, and offering solutions.

What are some other skills that would be helpful in this job?

This position only needs fluency with their target languages, certificates and BA’s being helpful. Knowledge of bug reporting, coding, and the use of Jira are beneficial, but not required.

What might be helpful to prepare for a language major to prepare for this field or position?

Proficiency in another language is required for the position, but it’s more than one-to-one translation. Knowing German culture, understanding how the language is evolving, and the subcommunities (specifically the gaming community) are important for this position. I would suggest to language majors interested in this job to research into the lingo and vocabulary and understand how they work within the language and its rules.

How is proficiency in another language important for this position?

As there will be with any translation job, one needs to have proficiency with the inner workings of the language they’re using. For this position, knowing the syntax, grammar, and general competency with the language is significantly important. At the very least, one should know enough to be able to research and apply to their translations.

How is the ability to communicate and work with people from different cultural backgrounds useful or important in this position?

Translation requires more than just proficiency within your language, but also the cultural understanding to make the intent of the message understandable and relatable. A healthy knowledge of the culture and backgrounds of who you’re translating for, however small the changes may be, could be the stepping stone to mutual understanding. There are tact, decorum, and values that one should keep in mind when they speak to one another.

About the author

name: Vanessa Folwell

institution: Boise State University

Vanessa is a German Secondary Education BA, aspiring to help others find a passion in the German language like she did. She hopes that by learning languages, we can build bridges toward bettering ourselves, our communities, and our world.