MMOs often don’t get localised, and those that are often offer very few languages. Compared to almost all other video games with a budget in the same range, an MMO will be featured in 10x fewer languages.

Why is that?

The main reason is probably player expectations. The moment a game is announced to be available in [X] language, a seed is planted within that player community about the kind of experience they can expect to have. Since an MMO is much more a service than a product (and we can go on about that for days!), it’s not unreasonable for players to expect that the service will include thorough, good quality localisation. It’s very important for developers and publishers not to be daunted by these expectations, but to grasp and manage them thoughtfully from the beginning. Read the rest of this entry »