Translation/Localization of Videogames: Mapping the Research Carried out in Brazilian Universities between 1998 and 2018

Abstract

Localization has gained momentum because of globalization and market needs to provide products that are more oriented to the target culture in different countries and, therefore, more easily embraced by the target audience. This article integrates the studies proposed by the research group Mapping in Translation (MapTrad), which has carried out research aiming to expand the studies originally reported in Pagano and Vasconcellos (2003) and Alves and Vasconcellos (2013). As a purely descriptive, function-oriented study within Translation Studies, it aims to report on a mapping of the academic production on the localization and translation of video games that is linked to Brazilian higher education institutions (HEI) in the period from 1998 through 2018. It is based on the methodology proposed by Pagano and Vasconcellos (2003) and replicated by Alves and Vasconcellos (2016), all of whom mapped the Translation Studies in Brazil. This study is relevant to understand the status of the Brazilian academic production on the subject at both master’s and doctorate levels, to identify research niches that have not been explored, and to promote a dialogue between the academia and the market. The results show a deficit of studies on the localization of videogames despite the increased number of studies on translation in general.