A game localization checklist for MENA and Türkiye covers four things: technical readiness for Arabic and Turkish text, a clear decision on language variants, a culturalization review and in-build LQA with native testers. Publishers and producers who settle these points before translation starts avoid most late fixes. El Turco localizes games into Turkish, Arabic and Persian with native linguists who play the genre, under ISO 17100, from its production office in Istanbul and headquarters in London.
This guide is for game publishers and producers planning a release in Arabic-speaking markets, Türkiye or both. It works as a checklist: what to prepare in the build, which decisions to make with your localization partner, how to plan testing and how to decide scope when budget or time is limited.
What does game localization for MENA and Türkiye include?
Game localization is the adaptation of a game's text, interface, store presence and cultural references so players in a market experience the game as if it had been made for them. Translation is one part of it. Culturalization is the review of names, symbols, humor and references that may not land or may cause offense in a given market. LQA (linguistic quality assurance) is testing the localized build in context, played by native speakers.
MENA is not one market. Arabic is the shared written language across most of the region, but players in the Gulf, the Levant, Egypt and the Maghreb use different everyday dialects. Persian is the main language of Iran and Kurdish is spoken across several countries. Türkiye is a separate market with its own language, store pages and player community.
- In-game text and UI: menus, HUD labels, tooltips, tutorial prompts, item descriptions and system messages.
- Narrative and dialogue: quests, lore and character lines, plus subtitle text for cutscenes that already have audio.
- Store pages and launch copy: App Store, Google Play, Steam and console store listings, patch notes and social posts.
- Culturalization review: a note on each name, symbol or mechanic that may need a change per market.
- In-build LQA: native testers play the build and log text issues with screenshots.
Which languages and variants should you plan for?
Decide the target locales before the first string is translated. The variant choice shapes the glossary, the style guide and the testers you need, so changing it late means rework.
Should Arabic game text use Modern Standard Arabic or a dialect?
Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) is the shared written standard taught across the Arabic-speaking world. One MSA version can serve the whole region, which is why fantasy, strategy and narrative-driven games usually choose it. Gulf or Egyptian wording can make casual, social and esports content feel closer to home, but that wording speaks most directly to one part of the audience. Many publishers ship MSA in the game and add lighter regional wording to marketing copy.
What should be decided for Turkish?
Turkish needs one decision on tone and one on English terms. Informal "sen" is the usual form of address in gameplay, while formal "siz" tends to stay on account and payment screens. Turkish gaming communities borrow many English terms, so the glossary should mark each term as kept in English or replaced with a Turkish equivalent.
When should Persian or Kurdish be on the list?
Persian and Kurdish make sense when your player data or publishing partners point to those audiences. Persian is written right to left in Perso-Arabic script, so most Arabic technical checks apply. Persian also has its own digit forms and the Solar Hijri calendar, which matter for event dates and timers. Kurdish script depends on the dialect: Kurmanji is usually written in Latin script and Sorani in Arabic script. Confirm the dialect and script before you scope.
What should the build support before translation starts?
Many late fixes in Arabic and Turkish releases trace back to the build rather than the translation. Run these checks on an early build, using a small set of test strings, before full translation starts.
| Check | Arabic | Turkish | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Text rendering | Letters join and run right to left; mixed lines with Latin names and numbers stay in order | İ, ı, ğ and ş display correctly in every font | Many engine text systems and stylized fonts do not handle these out of the box |
| Fonts and line height | Every font has full Arabic glyph coverage, including ligatures such as lam-alif; text boxes leave room for taller lines | Fonts cover every Turkish letter in all weights used | Missing glyphs show as boxes or blank text in the build |
| Letter case | No letter case in Arabic | Locale-aware casing so i becomes İ and ı becomes I | All-caps menus otherwise show the wrong letter |
| Variables and placeholders | Gender and number agreement around the variable | Case suffixes after player names, items and numbers | Sentences assembled from fragments cannot be translated correctly |
| Plurals | All six CLDR plural categories: zero, one, two, few, many and other | Nouns stay singular after a number | A single English plural rule produces wrong item counts |
| Layout direction | Menus and inventory mirror; the game world and minimap usually do not | Left to right, with flexible buttons and tabs for long words | Fixed layouts truncate or misalign localized text |
| Numbers, dates and prices | Western or Eastern Arabic digits agreed per locale | Decimal comma, day.month.year dates and prices in Turkish lira | Scores, timers and store prices must match local conventions |
What should a culturalization review cover?
A culturalization review looks at the whole content rather than only the text. The review flags anything that may not land or may need a change for a market. The output is a list of items with a recommendation for each. The publisher decides what to change.
Publishers should also check the age rating and content rules of each platform and market they release in, since requirements differ and change over time.
- Religious references, symbols and imagery, including the names of in-game places and items.
- Alcohol, gambling-style mechanics such as loot boxes and the way rewards are presented.
- Maps, flags and territory names, which can be sensitive across the region.
- Character names, humor and wordplay that do not work in Arabic or Turkish.
- Clothing, gestures and colors in key art and store screenshots.
- Event timing for live ops, such as Ramadan in Arabic-speaking markets and national holidays in Türkiye.
How should LQA be planned for Arabic and Turkish builds?
LQA is where right-to-left layout, shaping, truncation and suffix errors become visible. Plan LQA as part of the schedule, not as a final check after the translation is locked.
- Give testers a build with a debug menu or save files that reach late-game content.
- Agree the bug categories up front: truncation, rendering, mirroring, context, consistency and terminology.
- Require a screenshot and a proposed correction for every logged issue.
- Book a regression pass so testers verify each fix in the next build.
- Include store pages and in-app purchase names, which players see before they install.
How do you decide scope, order and workflow?
When budget or time is limited, decide scope with concrete criteria instead of localizing everything at once. Use the checklist below for each title.
- Player data: launch first in the locale where wishlists, store traffic or your community already show demand.
- Engine readiness: if the build cannot render Arabic yet, start with Turkish and fix right-to-left support in parallel.
- Genre and register: story-driven titles favor MSA, while casual and social titles may justify dialect wording in marketing copy.
- Content type: use human translation for dialogue, UI and store copy. Consider MTPE only for large item databases or repetitive descriptions after a test.
- Live ops: if the game updates often, set up translation memory, a glossary and a connection to your TMS before launch.
- Risk: settle every item flagged in the culturalization review before marketing assets are produced.
How El Turco handles this
El Turco localizes games into Turkish, Arabic and Persian with native linguists who play the genres they work on. A project starts with scoping: string count, engine, file formats, platforms, target markets and release date. We then check the first build for rendering and agree the glossary and style guide, including variant, tone and digit style. Translation then follows TEP under ISO 17100, working in RWS Trados, memoQ, Phrase, XTM or the localization platform your studio already uses.
What's Wrong?, our own QA tool, screens every delivery for broken placeholders and tags, length overruns, terminology slips and number errors. Native testers then play the build and log issues with screenshots. Unreleased builds and scripts stay under NDA and inside our ISO/IEC 27001 certified information security management system. Patches and events move through your TMS or through Hub, our middleware. We do not record voice-over. Pilots are free. Pricing is per-word, hourly or project-based, quoted after scoping. Turnaround is agreed at scoping, with a 24-hour option for small urgent updates.