How to Choose the Right Chinese Locale Setup for Your Game, Audience, and Release Path
Atticus Lai, Mengru Tsai and Tang Wing Yan, linguists across Keywords Studios in Asia, discuss the intricacies behind localizing games into Chinese.
When teams say they are localizing into Chinese, they are often talking about several different decisions at once.
Script is one of them, locale is another, and so are player expectations. And if your release path includes mainland China, commercial and regulatory considerations come into play too.
So when you think about Chinese localization, don’t think of it as one language checkbox, but as a setup choice that affects player experience, production planning, and launch readiness.
Standards bodies like W3C distinguish between script tags such as zh-Hans and zh-Hant, and regional tags such as zh-Hant-HK, precisely because script and market are not the same thing.
The good news is that the basics are still clear. Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese remain the starting point. The short guide below will take you through the basics of choosing the right setup for your game, your audience, and your release path.
Understanding the differences between Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese
Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese refer to the different written character sets used among Chinese speakers. To make the right localization decisions, game developers need to understand the differences between them and how they relate to specific markets.
Simplified Chinese is most commonly used in mainland China, as well as in Singapore and Malaysia. As the name suggests, it uses a simplified set of characters developed through reforms in the 20th century. Simplified Chinese now consists of around 8,000 characters.
Traditional Chinese remains in common use in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, and is also used to different degrees in Chinese-speaking communities worldwide. The character set has been mostly untouched since its standardisation many centuries ago.
For many games, this is the first big decision. But it is not always the last one.
Choosing the right written subvariant
Traditional Chinese is not one single audience.
For example, Traditional Chinese can be adapted to better suit players in Taiwan or Hong Kong. Both use Traditional Chinese, but there are differences in some of their choice of words and colloquial phrases. These subvariants are often referred to as Traditional Chinese Taiwan (zh-TW) and Traditional Chinese Hong Kong (zh-HK).
Take the word “strawberry” as an example. In Traditional Chinese Taiwan, it is usually written as “草莓” (literally “grass berry”). This is also widely understood in Hong Kong and would often work well in games for both audiences. But in Hong Kong, it may also appear as “士多啤梨”, a transliteration based on Cantonese. Depending on the style, tone and context of the game, one option may feel more natural than the other.
This is where locale setup becomes important. A single Traditional Chinese version may be enough for some games. For others, especially those with strong character voice, humour or community-facing content, Taiwan and Hong Kong may need more tailored treatment.
Considering cultural and release-path differences
Choosing between Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese is not just a language decision. It is also a question of audience, expectations and release path. Some examples to bear in mind include:
- Character names are often transliterated for both Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese, but the best choice may still vary depending on market expectations and tone.
- Cultural adaptation can also differ by region. If your release path includes mainland China, bloody, violent and/or pornographic content is not allowed in games.
These cultural differences play a major role in the localization of games in China, and guidelines differ between Simplified and Traditional Chinese according to regulations set out by the National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA).
A simple example would be a phrase like “Kill the enemies”. In some mainland China contexts, a softer phrasing such as “Defeat the enemies” may be more appropriate, while no change may be needed for Taiwan or Hong Kong.
That does not mean every game needs heavy adaptation. It does mean teams should think early about where the game is launching, how it will be reviewed, and what that means for language choices across UI, narrative, store assets and live content.
Building teams for each variant
Chinese localization also needs to account for constantly evolving internet slang, market-specific language trends and language evolution over time. These can differ between Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese, and even within Traditional Chinese markets.
That is why it is best practice to work with linguists who specialise in the specific variant you need. A Simplified Chinese linguist should understand how players in mainland China actually speak about games today. A Traditional Chinese linguist working in Taiwan or Hong Kong should be able to reflect the right tone, word choice and local feel for that audience. Translators and linguists must be passionate about games and its adjacent culture to keep up with the trends impacting them.
This matters even more for live-service games, ongoing updates and community-facing content, where language needs to feel current and natural over time.
Deciding on the right locale setup for your game
For some projects, one Chinese version is enough. For others, two or more variants make more sense.
A practical way to think about it is this:
- If you are targeting mainland China, Simplified Chinese will usually be your starting point.
- If you are targeting Taiwan, Traditional Chinese for Taiwan is usually the strongest fit.
- If you are targeting Hong Kong, Traditional Chinese may still be the right base, but some content may benefit from Hong Kong-specific treatment.
- If you are launching across multiple Chinese-speaking markets, it may make sense to use one core version for some content and a more tailored approach for areas such as store text, live ops, or character-driven narrative.
Making that decision early can help protect tone, reduce rework and give players a much more natural experience from day one. It is also how large multilingual launches are delivered in practice. For Forza Horizon 6, Keywords Studios supported text localization in 23 languages and audio localization in 9, with both workstreams covering Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese, helping more players experience the journey through Japan naturally.
Playground Games are proud to have partnered with Keywords Studios for localisation services on Forza Horizon 6. Our projects are large and complex, and we were impressed with Keywords’ ability to manage the translation and QA across over 20 supported languages, hitting deadlines, and sourcing high-quality voice-actors where localised voiceover was required. No matter the challenge, we always felt there was a plan, and could trust the team to execute on it.
~Mike Bennett, Production Director on Forza Horizon at Playground Games
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