France bans gaming words and phrases for bizarre reasons
It’s not difficult to see that the games industry is filled with confusing terms. You can quickly tell someone what a gamer looks like, and some fewer people confuse the concept of us dang young gamers and our vidya gaming. But, if you ask anyone who hasn’t played video games what DLC is, things will quickly fall apart.
It is not surprising that some people believe there are more options for gamers than the one offered by the French government. They’ve chosen to do this in the most bizarre way possible. The Guardian reported that French officials have decided that government employees cannot use English terms like Esports and instead must use new, more complicated French translations. According to The Guardian, this is part of a “centuries-long struggle to preserve the purity of the French language,” according to The Guardian.
French news agency Agence France-Presse received a message from the culture ministry stating that the games industry was full of English speakers, which could be a “barrier to understanding” for non-gamers. This is why they decided to make a shift. Experts looked through video games magazines and websites to find any French translations.
Some of these work well. progamer is one example. Google says it means ‘professional player’. We also have the transformation of Esports into “jeu video de concurrence” (‘competitive game’) and “streamer” into “joueur-animateur direct’ (‘live host’), but these don’t quite translate well. Google has translated these. We apologise for any errors.
Although it may seem strange, the law only affects French government employees. You won’t be arrested if you go to France and shout “Esports”, but I don’t take responsibility if you do.
