{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,1]],"date-time":"2026-05-01T14:36:45Z","timestamp":1777646205212,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,11,26]],"date-time":"2023-11-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1700956800000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,11,26]],"date-time":"2023-11-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1700956800000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Games and Culture"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,9]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    This article investigates the impact of using pivot language on the quality of game localization via a case study on the Japanese game\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Dark Souls 3<\/jats:italic>\n                    . It first discusses the indirectness of the source text and the complexity of the target text in game localization by highlighting the \u201cborn translated\u201d nature of the game narrative design. It then explicates the intricacy of having game audio voiced over in English only and including both direct and indirect translations in the localization workflow. It demonstrates the complication in evaluating localization quality from players\u2019 perspectives and suggests that using English as a pivot language has certain advantages in ensuring multimodal cohesiveness in game localization. The rationale behind the localization approach is then explored through the lens of the\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">mukokuseki<\/jats:italic>\n                    strategy, which suggests that the application of pivot translation is driven by market globalization and, ultimately, the pursuit of economic gain.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/15554120231216545","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,11,27]],"date-time":"2023-11-27T02:39:40Z","timestamp":1701052780000},"page":"671-688","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["The Mukokuseki Strategy and the Application of Pivot Translation in the Localization of Japanese Games"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"20","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6334-6525","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Xiaochun","family":"Zhang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University College London"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Huawei","family":"Song","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Independent researcher, Tianjin, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,11,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_3_4_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/14781700.2017.1285247"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/1461444806059921"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4324\/9781315674278"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_5_1","unstructured":"Digixart. (2021). On the Road 96 - Documentary Steam. https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/1786220\/On_the_Road_96__Documentary\/"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1075\/ata.xiii.01dun"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_7_1","first-page":"47","volume-title":"Speaking in tongues: Language across contexts and users","author":"Gambier Y.","year":"2003","unstructured":"Gambier Y. (2003). Working with relay: An old story and a new challenge. In P\u00e9rez-Gonz\u00e1lez L. (Ed.), Speaking in tongues: Language across contexts and users (pp. 47\u201366). University of Valencia Press."},{"key":"e_1_3_4_8_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4324\/9780429025006"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_9_1","unstructured":"IGDA. (2012). Best Practices for Game Localization. https:\/\/igda-website.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/09142137\/Best-Practices-for-Game-Localization-v22.pdf"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_10_1","volume-title":"Recentering globalisation: Power culture and Japanese transnationalism","author":"Iwabuchi K.","year":"2002","unstructured":"Iwabuchi K. (2002). Recentering globalisation: Power culture and Japanese transnationalism. Duke University Press."},{"key":"e_1_3_4_11_1","volume-title":"Switching languages: Translingual writers reflect on their craft","author":"Kellman S. G.","year":"2003","unstructured":"Kellman S. G. (2003). Switching languages: Translingual writers reflect on their craft. University of Nebraska Press."},{"key":"e_1_3_4_12_1","unstructured":"Killingsworth J. (2022). Hidetaka Miyazaki interview: FromSoftware's president explores the unknowns of Elden Ring. Edge Magazine https:\/\/www.gamesradar.com\/elden-ring-fromsoftware-hidetaka-miyazaki-interview\/"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_13_1","unstructured":"Kim J. Y. (2022). Actors networks and skopos of mobile game localization [Unpublished PhD dissertation]. University of Roehampton."},{"key":"e_1_3_4_14_1","unstructured":"LocalizeDirect. (2021). Game Localization Report: The Most Popular Languages for Game Translation and LQA 2021. https:\/\/www.localizedirect.com\/ebook\/report"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_15_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3390\/arts10010009"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_16_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"O\u2019Hagan M. (2022). Indirect translation in game localization as a method of global circulation of digital artefacts: A socio-economic perspective. Target 34(3) 441\u2013464 https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1075\/target.00007.oha.","DOI":"10.1075\/target.00007.oha"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_17_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1075\/btl.106"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_18_1","unstructured":"Olivares V. (2021). How a Japanese Myth Inspired Dark Souls\u2019 Most Iconic Gameplay Mechanic. https:\/\/www.cbr.com\/dark-souls-weapons-tails-yamato-no-orochi\/"},{"issue":"3","key":"e_1_3_4_19_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"432","DOI":"10.1080\/0907676X.2020.1791919","article-title":"The quality of templates in subtitling. A survey on current market practices and changing subtitler competences","volume":"30","author":"Oziemblewska M.","year":"2020","unstructured":"Oziemblewska M., Szarkowska A. (2020). The quality of templates in subtitling. A survey on current market practices and changing subtitler competences. 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