The Difficulties of Profanity and Slang Localization in Video Games From Russian Into English (Based on the Video Game Atomic Heart)

Over the past few decades, the popularity of computer games has grown, accompanied by an increase in the number of annual releases. English remains the predominant language of the industry due to its influence worldwide. Video games are released with English as their primary language and then localized into other languages. Considerably less common is the opposite process which underlines the relevance of the research. Atomic Heart is a game developed by Russian-Cypriot gaming studio with Russian as its primary language. The game abounds both in Soviet and Russian realia, as well as profanity and slang which allows players to fully immerse themselves in the gameplay. Taboo of profanity predisposed it being outside the scope of academic inquiry for a long time. Therefore, adapting obscenities and slang from Russian into English might preserve a potential challenge for localizers. Based on the gathered materials from the video game Atomic Heart and DLC Atomic Heart: Annihilation Instinct, an analysis was conducted to assess the quality of profanity, slang and insults localization. The study identified several aspects that affect the quality of translation. The criteria went beyond literal translation and included such aspects as consideration of context and linguistic creativity.