Core Values

1. Open: Accessible to all audiences
2. Free: No part of the event monetized or promotional
3. Independent: Entirely self-managed and financed
4. Collaborative: Emphasis on creativity over competition

The past

The LocJAM translation contest was born out of a single ambition: giving everyone the chance to translate a video-game.

For that, we reprogrammed free, non-commercial games to make them easy to translate and shared them on our site. For ten days, anyone would then be able to submit their translation to a professional jury.

It was a roaring success, with over 2000 pro and amateur translators across ten languages and five editions.

A real community gathered around the event, sharing tips and ideas online and through a network of volunteer workshops held around the world (from Madrid to Minsk, from Montevideo to Milan).

Milestones

1. April 2014 - LocJAM1 (Republia Times) - 6 languages - 7 workshops - 511 entries
2. February 2015 - LocJAM2 (Grandpa) - 8 languages - 19 workshops - 620 entries
3. February 2015 - Approved as an IGDA program (IGDA Foundation)
4. October 2015 - Guest speakers at the European Commission (Translating Europe Forum)
5. March 2016 - LocJAM3 (Hotel of Madness) - 9 languages - 19 workshops - 391 entries
6. December 2016 - LocJAM Japan (Ikinari Maou) - Japanese only - 2 workshops - 118 entries
7. April 2017 - LocJAM4 (Ikinari Maou) - 10 languages - 15 workshops - 421 entries
8. July 2021 - LocJAM RPG (Adventures from Another World) - 17 languages - 105 entries
9. October 2021 - LocJAM World Mental Health (Script Change Replay) - 13 languages - 43 entries

The future

After two editions based on pen-and-paper games, we are looking forward to hosting a full videogame jam.

As you can imagine, there are a few technical hurdles to get through before doing that, so we will update you as soon as things pick up speed.

Please give us a shout here if you  want to suggest a game for future events or share your experience with development jams.