Transcreaction Strategies in Video Game Localisation (based on "Team Fortress 2")

The article studies transcreation in video game localisation within the modern discursive paradigm, with its focus on Team Fortress 2. The subjects studied are the original (i.e. English) and Russian localisations of the game. The objects of analysis are cases of transcreation, the specifics of transcreation as a phenomenon as well as its patterns with regard to English-Russian localisation. The article analyses and describes examples of cultural adaptation via transcreation, defines and describes the strategies of transcreation, and also seeks to determine the relevance of transcreation regarding video game localisation. As of today, there is a great number of localisation specialists, yet both phenomena of localisation (as whole) and transcreation (in particular, as one of the methods for game content adaptation) lack comprehensive linguistic research. In this respect, the study is novel since it addresses the emerging phenomenon of localisation, thus appealing to new content and introducing new discourse into translation studies. Specifically, the article addresses transcreation as one of the localisation techniques that offers unique requirements to translation both as a process and as a result that differ from the conventional ones in the practice.

video games, internationalisation, video game localisation, translation, translation studies, transcreation, language localisation, translation strategies, globalisation, cultural adaptation