As the video game industry continues to grow, words related to the hobby have started to spread around the world, such as “streamer,” “cloud gaming,” and “esports.” According to a report from The Guardian, the French culture ministry is trying to push back against this, prohibiting government workers from using these anglicized terms in official documents. As a result, France wants terms like “joueur-animateur en direct” to replace “streamer,” “jeu video de competition” used in place of “esports,” and “jeu video en nuage” will replace “cloud gaming.” The culture ministry says that its goal is to make gaming more accessible to those less familiar with the hobby.
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It will be interesting to see if these French alternatives take off in the country, or if gamers there continue to use the same terms heard around the world. The internet has made global communication much easier, and universal terms could actually help make gaming more accessible, as opposed to region-specific options. Things are already confusing enough for newcomers to the industry as it is, which recently inspired PlayStation to release an online glossary of gaming-related terms. As The Guardian notes, French officials have long been fighting to keep the country’s language “pure,” so it’s possible this move by the culture ministry was actually made for that purpose, rather than the stated one.
Of course, these moves also highlight just how much the video game industry has grown in prominence over the last decade. The fact that the French government sees a need to create these specific terms showcases just how prevalent they’ve become in everyday life. It’s impossible to imagine that being the case just 10 years ago, or any of these terms being used on a global scale. It’s entirely possible that there might be an entirely different gaming lexicon another 10 years from now, with words used to describe industry practices that don’t even exist yet. For now, we’ll just have to wait and see how thing play out!
What do you think of this move by France? Are you surprised these terms are getting French translations? Let us know in thecomments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!
