Quantitative Analysis of Video Game Localization—A Case Study of Metro: Exodus
Download PDF

Keywords

Localization translation
Video game
Quantitative analysis
Metro: Exodus

DOI

10.26689/ssr.v8i6.15393

Submitted : 2026-06-15
Accepted : 2026-06-30
Published : 2026-07-15

Abstract

Video games are a multimodal cultural product, but localization research on them is still limited. This study takes Metro: Exodus as a case and examines Russian-to-Chinese localization with quantitative methods. Based on a self-built Russian-Chinese parallel corpus and grounded in Corpus-based Translation Studies and Translation Universals theory, it measures lexical richness, mean sentence length, part-of-speech distribution, sentiment, and dependency relations in the target text. The results show a clear tendency toward simplification in vocabulary and sentence structure, together with selective explicitation and emotional adjustment. Overall, the Chinese version keeps the text readable without weakening immersion.

References

O’Hagan M, Mangiron C, 2013, Game Localization. John Benjamins Publishing Company, Amsterdam.

Zhang W, 2013, Application of Transcreation in Game Localization Translation. Modern Communication (Journal of Communication University of China), 2013(12): 165–166.

Bai T, Yuan P, 2023, Analysis of Chinese Localization Translation Strategies for Video Games. Journal of Hubei University of Education, 2023(3): 92–96.

Morozov MD, Features of the Computer Game Localization Process. Bulletin of the Astrakhan State Technical University, 2019(68): 59–63.

Kotlyar YV, Popova NV, 2020, The Problem of Localization of Computer Games into Russian, thesis, Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University.

Kondratyeva AA, Seltsova AV, Difficulties in Localization of the Computer Game “The Witcher 3”. Bulletin of the Chuvash State Pedagogical University named after I.Y. Yakovlev.

Baker M, 1995, Corpora in Translation Studies. TARGET, 1995(7): 223–242.

Baker M, 1996, Corpus-based Translation Studies: The Challenges that Lie Ahead. Terminology, LSP and Translation, 1996(18): 175–186.

Guan X, Tao Y, 2017, Corpora and Translation. Fudan University Press, Shanghai.

Dai G, Liu S, 2023, Research Progress on Corpus-based Translation Teaching (2007—2022): A Comparative Analysis Based on Domestic and International Academic Papers. Foreign Language World, 2023(1): 40–48.

Dai G, 2008, A Corpus-based Study on English-Chinese Lexical Translation. Journal of Xiamen University of Technology, 2008(3): 94–98.

Yu L, 2024, A Study on Lexical Diversity and Syntactic Complexity of ChatGPT Translation. Foreign Language Teaching and Research, 2024(2): 297–307.

Blum-Kulka S, 1986, Shifts of Cohesion and Coherence in Translation. Narr, Tübingen.

Wang L, Developmental Stages and Characteristics of Readability Formula Research. Language Teaching and Linguistic Studies, 2022(2): 29–40.

Lei L, Jockers ML, Normalized Dependency Distance: Proposing a New Measure. Journal of Quantitative Linguistics, 2018(1): 1–18.