A recent report shared by Nordic Game has made even more evident a problem that specifically affects the Italian gaming community, that is, the lack of translation and the absence of Italian dubbing in the majority of modern games.
The data revealed by the latest analysis conducted by Nordic Game depicts a truly discouraging situation for Italian video game fans who want to enjoy fully dubbed and translated interactive experiences: while Steam users who speak English and Chinese represent over 50% of the total number of players who visit Valve’s digital platform on a daily basis, the Italian community accounts for less than 5% of the total, a percentage that, among other things, does not specifically indicate the language of the Bel Paese but includes Italian in the much larger group of ‘other languages’ spoken by players on Steam.
From the analysis in question it is therefore clear that Italy, at least from the point of view of the videogame industry, is on the margins of the sector and threatens to be increasingly so in the coming years, given the growing costs of development and the ever-widening demographic gap that divides our country from other international realities.
Expanding the discussion to the crisis of the AAA video game model, there seems to be only one alternative on the horizon to a decline in Italian translations that seems inevitable, namely the use of generative Artificial Intelligence. The use of AI, in fact, could reverse the trend and reduce the development costs required (among other things) to create localizations in Italian. However, the more than probable repercussions on the entire production and economic chain of Italian dubbing (considered one of the world’s best) must be considered, and this is to say nothing of the poor quality and numerous typos of a localization managed exclusively by artificial intelligence.
On the other hand, AI has already put video game voice actors in crisis, pushing them to declare a strike with unpredictable consequences: the doubts that have emerged in the use of artificial intelligence as a substitute for the work of actors, voice actors, developers and industry workers, therefore, could make life even more difficult for those who hope to be able to have fun in the future playing titles completely translated and dubbed in Italian. But now it’s your turn to speak: let us know with a comment what you think about it, but first we invite you to read our in-depth analysis on the best Italian dubbing in video games.
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