Question about translation strategy

[Romain-Ayme]

Hi,

I’m working on the English → French translations and would like to clarify the expected approach.
Some terms used in the game (e.g., Kill, ADR, HE, smoke, headshot etc.) are widely used globally and aren’t always translated literally.

To ensure consistency, I’d like to clarify the direction we want to take.
Here are the possible approaches:

1. Literal translation of all English terms into each target language.

2. Community-based translation, adapting to the terminology actually used by players and keeping common esports terms unchanged.

3. Create two language variants:

   • a literal version for strict translations,
   • a gaming version that reflects the vocabulary used by players.

Defining this will help keep all upcoming translations aligned.

Looking forward to your feedback!

[akiver]

I speak French, and yeah I also thought about it when translating the app.
My preference (at least for French, not sure for other languages) is your 2nd option - in my experience, French gamers tend to use English terms, and it would (at least for me) sound weird to say, for example, "manche" instead of "round" or "grenade assourdissante" instead of "flash".