Ukrainian — the Language of the Strong

On October 30, the Forum devoted to the Day of Ukrainian Writing and Language “Ukrainian — the Language of the Strong” was held in Kyiv. SBT Localization received an invitation from the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine to take part in this event. The participants included representatives of government bodies, state institutions, various businesses, IT-community, as well as linguists, opinion leaders, and media experts.

Forum members discussed key challenges and opportunities in the field of state language policy. Our main goal was to convey the importance of Ukrainian language in video games and their influence on youth.

The block with our performance starts at 4:26:43.

A full excerpt of our speech, including some parts that had to be cut due to time constraints, is provided below.

WHAT WAS THE SPEECH ABOUT?

WHY GAMES ARE SO IMPORTANT?

Games have long since stopped being just a source of mere entertainment. Thanks to the ample variety of genres, they became a powerful tool not only for recreation, but also for learning and self-development. Globalization and digitalization processes make children into active gamers from a very young age, because now they can play not only on consoles and PCs, but on smartphones as well. And it is crucial for them to be in a proper linguistic environment.

Let’s provide some numbers for a better understanding. The text part of a modern game such as Baldur’s Gate 3 has over 2 million words. And it is not just pallid and boring text, but a whole separate universe with its own rules, events, characters, choices, and consequences. That is easily the size of at least 15–20 novels. And this is a world where our young ones immerse themselves for dozens of hours every single day.

Therefore, the language this universe is going to respond to them with is of paramount importance. Especially now, in the active phase of war, where we fight every day, in order to continue the existence of our national identity.

WHAT IS LOCALIZATION?

When you hear the word localization, it is not just a simple translation. It is a process that aims to provide a total immersion in the game world, making it natural and understandable.

This process has several powerful, albeit not particularly obvious effects:

Education. By spending time gaming, young people unconsciously improve their Ukrainian language: vocabulary expansion, memorization of grammatical constructions and correct word spelling. They learn a complex vocabulary that is memorized more sufficiently than from a bleak textbook. Also, high-quality Ukrainian localization is a model of correct spelling, punctuation, and style.

Formation of thinking. Language shapes the way we think. Therefore, it is vital that Ukrainian language is used by youngsters not only in their digital everyday life, but that it becomes their language of thought.

Language “Normalization”. Probably the most essential. Proper localization erases the harmful division of Ukrainian into the language of “school and officialese” and the language of “everyday life”. When people are surrounded by language during their pastime, hobbies, it radically changes their attitude towards it. The language becomes native.

Cultural de-occupation. We can be straight: the aggressor country’s criminal narratives about the Ukrainian language are still carved deep in the minds of many. The only way to overcome this is the total presence of our language. We have often heard comments that video games were almost the only source of the Ukrainian language in someone’s environment.

FILLING A NICHE

To sum up, the Ukrainian language should be omnipresent. Video games contain modern pop culture that is absorbed by young people momentarily.

It is crucial to emphasize that all digital products should be localized. Even the ones that, at first glance, might not have much enlightening benefit. Why? Because if this particular niche does not have Ukrainian language, russian language will be there in a matter of seconds.

Nowadays, a lot of games are created for an 18+ audience, and it is important to understand that adults play those games and afterwards they write articles (on those games or related topics), shoot videos, make reviews, create tons of content that other people (including young people) would consume, and if the game does not have Ukrainian language, they are going to use the closest one they understand, just guess what language would that be. As a result, russian gaming terms and their content in general usually migrates to the Ukrainian informational field, because of the lack or complete absence of Ukrainian analogues.

So yes, even cussing and vulgar jokes should be preserved in the Ukrainian language, if it is present in the original, since language is a living breathing thing.

In addition, huge fan communities are formed around the video games. When they discuss plots, characters or mechanics, they should be able to choose Ukrainian terminology taken from a good translation.

ISSUES AND MARKET

What prevents the spread of Ukrainian language in games?

The first would be the lack of understanding from the majority of global publishers or developers. They still live in the paradigm of “what difference does it make”?

And here comes the paradox.

Let’s take a look at our book market. It is blooming, and a separate thanks here to the clear state regulation regarding the language publication.

But what about the gaming industry? On the one hand, we have a huge solvent market. There are more than 2.4 million players in Ukraine. On average, our market is estimated at 270 million dollars. Even in the wartime, it shows projected growth of almost 8%.

The numbers are there. The demand is there.

There is always a country behind each language, that is where the problem with Ukrainian game localization lies. And you can be the best professional in your field, but until others see the country with you, they won’t pay much attention to your attempts. We need the country to be interested in promoting the Ukrainian language in every aspect, including games. Sometimes ordinary meetings or at least assistance in organizing such meetings is enough. Whether it’s games from the studios that have existing offices in Ukraine (i.e. Ubisoft, Microsoft) or from corporations located overseas.

In our opinion, the gaming industry requires not regulation, but initiative.

And it is very important to encourage developers to add Ukrainian localization to games.

CONCLUSIONS

On the Day of Ukrainian Writing and Language, we must clearly realize that language is not a metaphor, but a weapon.

Game localization is not just a business, not a caprice that comes from a small community, and not for fun. This is a strategically vital part of our cultural front where we fight for our identity.

If we want all future generations of Ukrainians to think in Ukrainian, feel in Ukrainian, live in a  Ukrainian cultural space, we have to ensure that Ukrainian language comes to them not only from teachers in school, but also from their favourite characters in gaming worlds.

We would like to express our gratitude to the organizers of the Forum, as well as the Secretariat of the State Language Protection Commissioner, for their support and productive cooperation.

Ukrainization of the universe marches on!

November 3, 2025

Translated by Olha Khmelnytska and Oleksii Ivanov