Some games will "never be localised" to Arabic

ArabicGamers has learned that not all games will be a priority for localisation, according to two major distributors in the region.

Divya Sharma, marketing manager at Viva Entertainment and Rafed Salem, localisation manager at RED Distribution; both in Dubai, have both agreed that some games wouldn't be suitable for localisation due to the nature of the content and the strict censorship laws.

When asked if the distributors would advise against localisation to publishers, even with globally renowned titles such as GTA, both said yes.

"Yes, we do refrain from localising some games." Rafed said.

"Some of the games, even after extensively sanatising the game, it will not suit the local culture nor the religious beliefs."

Sharma also pointed that they practice self-censorship when it comes to localising games.

"We will never localise a game, if we know it will not pass the censorship in the region. It also depends on the game's genre, Middle Eastern prefer a stroy based game."