Translation Expertise in Game Localization: Interviewing the Translator and the Project Manager of Black Myth: Wukong
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70036/cltls.v2i4.190Keywords:
Black Myth: Wukong, Game Localization, Translation Expertise, Interview, Distributed Cognition, audiovisual translationAbstract
Background: The 2024 release of Black Myth: Wukong marked a milestone in Chinese game development, with localization playing a pivotal role in its international reception. Aims: While previous research has primarily focused on textual and cultural analysis, this study offers an insider perspective by drawing on interviews with the game’s Chinese-English translator and project manager. Methods: Employing Distributed Cognition Theory as the analytical lens, the study investigates how translation expertise is enacted, negotiated, and dynamically constructed within a real-world localization project. Result: Findings reveal that translator decision-making is not solely an individual cognitive act but a distributed process involving tools, collaborative editing, and multimodal coordination. The project manager’s account further highlights how institutional support and workflow design shape the development of translator expertise. The study also discusses emerging trends in Chinese-English game localization, opening further discussion on culturally marked strategies in global game localization. Implication: By bridging theoretical perspectives and industry practice, this research contributes to a deeper understanding of how translation expertise is constructed in game localization and offers practical insights for translator training.
References
Aixelá, J. F. (1996). Culture-specific items in translation. Translation, power, subversion, 8, 52-78.
Alač, M., & Hutchins, E. (2004). I see what you are saying: Action as cognition in fMRI brain mapping practice. Journal of cognition and culture, 4(3-4), 629-661.
Albir, A. H. (2017). Translation and translation competence. In Researching translation competence by PACTE Group (pp. 3-34). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Alves, F., & da Silva, I. A. L. (2021). Bridging paradigms to approach expertise in Cognitive Translation Studies. Advances in Cognitive Translation Studies, 89-108.
Angelone, E., & Marín García, Á. (2017). Expertise acquisition through deliberate practice: Gauging perceptions and behaviors of translators and project managers. Translation Spaces, 6(1), 122-158.
Bernal-Merino, M. Á. (2008). Training translators for the video game industry. In The didactics of audiovisual translation (pp. 141-155). John Benjamins.
Carlson, R., & Corliss, J. (2011). Imagined commodities: Video game localization and mythologies of cultural difference. Games and Culture, 6(1), 61-82.
Chuang, J. (2025). A Study on Translation Strategies for Localization of Chinese Elements in Black Myth: Wukong Based on Cultural Adaptation Theory. International Linguistics Research, 8(2), p10-p10.
Clark, A. (1998). Being there: Putting brain, body, and world together again. MIT press.
Czech, D. (2013). Challenges in video game localization: An integrated perspective. Explorations: A Journal of Language and Literature(1), 3-25.
En, M., & En, B. (2019). “Coming out”… as a translator? Expertise, identities and knowledge practices in an LGBTIQ* migrant community translation project. Translation Studies, 12(2), 213-230.
Ericsson, K. A., Krampe, R. T., & Tesch-Römer, C. (1993). The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance. Psychological review, 100(3), 363.
Fontolan, M., Costa, J. P. d., & Malazita, J. W. (2024). The Cake is a Lie: On video games, localization and authenticity. Digital Translation.
Fontolan, M., Malazita, J. W., & da Costa, J. P. (2022). Language, Identity and Games: Discussing the Role of Players in Videogame Localization. Game Studies, 22(3).
Fraser, J. (2011). The broader view: How freelance translators define translation competence. In Developing translation competence (pp. 51-62). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Gonçalves, H. (2022). A localization tale: localization of a videogame named Sofia and the Barbarian-A Kid's Tale. Translation Matters, 4(1).
Goodwin, C. (2000). Action and embodiment within situated human interaction. Journal of pragmatics, 32(10), 1489-1522.
Granell, X. (2011). Teaching video game localisation in audiovisual translation courses at university.
Hadzinsky, C. (2014). A look into the industry of video games past, present, and yet to come.
Hambrick, D. Z., Oswald, F. L., Altmann, E. M., Meinz, E. J., Gobet, F., & Campitelli, G. (2014). Deliberate practice: Is that all it takes to become an expert? Intelligence, 45, 34-45.
Heersmink, R. (2017). Distributed cognition and distributed morality: Agency, artifacts and systems. Science and engineering ethics, 23(2), 431-448.
Hu, M., & Zhao, X. (2025). Game as a medium strategies and implications of the international communication of ‘Black Myth Wukong’in the perspective of transcultural communication. International Communication of Chinese Culture, 1-23.
Hutchins, E. (1991). The social organization of distributed cognition.
Jayemanne, D. (2009). Generations and Game Localization. Eludamos: Journal for Computer Game Culture, 3(2), 135-147.
Jin, C. (2025). A Study on Multimodal Translation Strategies from the Perspective of Eco-Translatology: The English Localization of Portraits in Black Myth: Wukong. 2025 11th International Conference on Humanities and Social Science Research (ICHSSR 2025),
Jones, H. (2018). Wikipedia, Translation and the Collaborative Production of Spatial Knowledge (s): A socio-narrative analysis. Alif: Journal of Comparative Poetics, 38, 264-297.
Lei, Y., & Wang, W. (2024). Beyond ‘Black Myth: Wukong’itself: the construction of identity from an intercultural communication perspective. Journal of Multicultural Discourses, 19(1-2), 29-46.
Mangiron, C. (2017). Research in game localisation: An overview. The Journal of Internationalization and Localization, 4(2), 74-99.
Mangiron, C. (2021a). Found in translation: evolving approaches for the localization of japanese video games. Arts,
Mangiron, C. (2021b). Training game localisers online: teaching methods, translation competence and curricular design. The Interpreter and Translator Trainer, 15(1), 34-50.
Mangiron, C., & O’Hagan, M. (2006). Video Games Localisation: Unleashing Imagination with Restricted Translation. Journal of Specialised Translation(6), 10-21.
Mangiron, C., O'Hagan, M., & OrerO, P. (2014). Fun for all: translation and accessibility practices in video games. Peter Lang Bern.
Mejías-Climent, L. (2021). Game Localization: Stages and Particularities. In Enhancing Video Game Localization Through Dubbing (pp. 79-116). Springer.
Moreno García, L. D. (2024a). Exploring the official and unofficial paratexts of Chinese indie video games on Steam Pages: Paratextual functions and cross-interactions. Digital Translation, 11(2), 116-139.
Moreno García, L. D. (2024b). Recontextualizing disassembled texts: Exploring the concept of the “Web of Texts” in mobile game “Blind” localization from Chinese into foreign languages. Babel, 70(1-2), 64-88.
Muñoz Martín, R. (2016). Reembedding translation process research. Reembedding translation process research, 1-224.
O’hagan, M., & Mangiron, C. (2013). Game localization. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Onar, B. C., & Çatak, G. (2022). Translation and localization of video games: An analysis of uncharted 4 in Turkish. Connectist: Istanbul University Journal of Communication Sciences(62), 91-122.
Pym, A. (2003). Redefining translation competence in an electronic age. In defence of a minimalist approach. Meta, 48(4), 481-497.
Reddit.com. (2025). I'm sure I'm not the first to say this, but this guy rips. https://www.reddit.com/r/BlackMythWukong/comments/1lkr3r9/im_sure_im_not_the_first_to_say_this_but_this_guy/
Risku, H. (2010). A cognitive scientific view on technical communication and translation: Do embodiment and situatedness really make a difference? Target. International Journal of Translation Studies, 22(1), 94-111.
Risku, H., & Rogl, R. (2022). Praxis and process meet halfway: The convergence of sociological and cognitive approaches in translation studies. Translation & Interpreting: The International Journal of Translation and Interpreting Research, 14(2), 32-49.
Schlager, D., & Risku, H. (2023). Contextualising translation expertise: Lived practice and social construction. Translation, Cognition & Behavior, 6(2), 230-251.
Schlager, D., & Risku, H. (2024). What does it take to be a good in-house translator? Constructs of expertise in the workplace. The Journal of Specialised Translation(42), 2-19.
Serge. (2024). "Unfinished" English cover ver. from "Black Myth: Wukong". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPBlFxqErXw&list=RDGPBlFxqErXw&start_radio=1&ab_channel=SergeS
Shaun. (2024). 勿听 Listen Not | Black Myth: Wukong | Bajie & Violet Spider Love Song（中英版 Chinese & English Version).
Shreve, G. M. (2006). The deliberate practice: Translation and expertise. Journal of translation studies, 9(1), 27-42.
Shreve, G. M. (2020). Translation as a complex adaptive system. The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Cognition.
Stafford, J. L. (2024). Janky or non-fluent? A small-scale practitioner survey on Chinese-English videogame localisation approaches. Digital Translation, 11(2), 140-161.
Wang, D., & Zhang, X. (2017). Fansubbing in China. Target. International Journal of Translation Studies, 29(2), 301-318. https://doi.org/10.1075/target.29.2.06wan
Wang, Y. (2025). A Study on Game Localization Translation from the Perspective of Communicative Translation Theory: A Case Study of Black Myth: Wukong. Journal of Linguistics and Communication Studies, 4(2), 65-71.
Wu, Z., & Chen, Z. (2020). Localizing Chinese games for Southeast Asian markets: A multidimensional perspective. The Journal of Internationalization and Localization, 7(1-2), 49-68.
Zhang, L. (2013). Productive vs. pathological: The contested space of video games in post-reform China (1980s–2012). International Journal of Communication, 7, 21.
Zhang, X. (2012). Censorship and digital games localisation in China. Meta, 57(2), 338-350.
Zhang, X., & O'Hagan, M. (2019). Transcreation in game localization in China: A contemporary functionalist approach to digital interactive entertainment. In Diverse voices in translation studies in East Asia. Peter Lang International Academic Publishers.
Zitong, W., Bing, Z., Yiming, Z., & Shiyi, D. (2025). A three-dimensional study on the international communication of Black Myth: Wukong. International Communication of Chinese Culture, 1-20.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Citation Check
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Dawei Zeng
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright
Authors who publish with Comparative Linguistics Translation and Literary Studies agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
License
This work is licensed under CC BY 4.0
