Understanding (or lack thereof) of Quebec's Video Game Laws

As reported in the Toronto Star the province of Quebec has banned sales of English video games should a French version exist as of April 2009. Now unfortunately, the article is very poorly worded and should have been investigated further.

The law dates back to September 10th, 2007 (French version, although English versions of the press release exist) when it was first announced. Now what's interesting is that (at the time) it claims cooperation between L'Office québécois de la langue française (OLF) and the Electronic Software Association of Canada (ESA Canada). This isn't the first time that Quebec has cracked down on the lack of French being available in video games. This dates back to December 1999 when the OLF under the control of the hardline Parti Québécois, issued an ultimatum to both Sony and Nintendo to release French instructions and games within the province by year's end. Several other enforcement attempts have been made with varying success.

Initial attempts met with relative failure due to the fact that localization simply was not available. As a result many popular game stores (such as EBGames) were forced to literally pull their entire stock of games from shelves and many games were simply not released in the province. As time passed and localization was implemented games eventually made their way back to shelves and at a mimumum all game releases obey the rule of having French supporting documentation provided along with their box art.

But that is not to say that it was a total success. For example, the recent release of Street Fighter IV features 4 different pieces of artwork within the inner cover of the game. However, this is not true for the Quebec packaging where the inner cover is white (although it does feature French text in the game description section). While the larger companies have met the April deadline as early as last year, smaller companies (such as NIS America and Atlus) did not start providing proper packaging until late this year. Rock Band 2 (stand alone game) is still not available for sale within the province, although the untranslated Special Edition packages are.

Now this brings us to the tricky issue of localization. Localization of a video game is neither a cheap nor easy process. Making character limits, ensuring that audio matches set times and ensuring proper translation can greatly increase a game's budget. Factor in additional quality assurance test time and we're looking at a cost that some publishers may not be willing to foot. Now there is an issue with this, why not simply bring over the PAL French version of games when they are released? Unfortunately, once again, things are not that simple. French is Quebec varies greately from French in France. In fact hardline Quebec nationalists have called "France not French enough". The differences, especially in slang, are apparent and in some cases offensive or lost in translation.

So where does that leave the video game industry? With the larger movements in promoting region free play (at least by Sony and Microsoft) we are looking at the probability that hardcore gamers desperate enough will begin importing their games from outside the province. One solution I propose (while not ideal) is that game companies begin localization work earlier and simply release an 'international' edition of a game (such as what Sony did in Killzone 2 by providing support for multiple languages). Smaller publishers are best to wait until a PAL edition is created and use the translation provided.

Now my concern is this, the law is too vague in scope. While it does deal with boxed releases within stores, it discounts the digital distrubution networks. Within the next few years as broadband and cable internet usage increases we may reach a time where game consoles rely on means of digitial distribution for their games or even the levels promised by the OnLive service. Also, the law states that it only prohibits sale of a game in Quebec "if a French language version exists". PAL releases are notoriously late and therefore what is the case for games where a French language version will eventually exist? If a company were to declare that they will not provide a French localization of a game (but will include instructions as it the case now), will the game be allowed to be released?

Now I'm sure there are others who share my concerns, as Danielle Parr (Head of ESA Canada) released a very enthusiastic and hopeful statement in 2007 only to sound much more pessimestic in 2009 (hinting that publishers may factor cost and skip releasing games within the province). I used to work in the 3rd party video game quality assurance industry (curse you slowing economy!) and I can tell you that even as late as last year several game Producers had expressed concern over the lack of a clear definition within the law. However, without clear ways of knowing how it will be enforced will leave publishers, devlopers, retailers and consumers in the dark.

Last year Canadian video game sales accounted for $2.1 billion of games and consoles. We are in tough economic times right now and everyone is suffering. If full enfocement of this law becomes a reality, the Quebec government is only huritng its own revenues of the $2.1 billion pie. For now all we can do is wait and see. I'm sure a happy medium will be met in the future, but for now will the shelves be bare like the nightmare scenarios of the past? Or will the industry overcome this latest challenge and provide French to all those who demand it? C'est la vie...