Localization Pros are Best Educated and Least Depressed, UK Gaming Industry Survey Finds

游戏本地化从业者:高学历!高幸福感!

2020-03-16 14:28 slator

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Localization Pros are Best Educated and Least Depressed, UK Gaming Industry Survey Finds The gaming industry’s localization workforce scored the highest marks in terms of gender balance, international or ethnic diversity, and number of postgrads. They are also the least anxious and depressed. This according to the UK Games Industry Census published on February 4, 2020. The study was the result of a joint effort by the University of Sheffield, the Arts and Humanities Research Council, and the UK Interactive Entertainment Association (Ukie), and delivers “the most extensive and authoritative analysis of the diversity of a national games industry’s workforce ever conducted,” according to Ukie CEO Jo Twist OBE. As Mark Taylor, Senior Lecturer at the Sheffield Methods Institute and author of the 60-page census report, wrote, “We know a lot about the diversity of people working in other sectors, such as the other screen industries, because of large, nationally-representative datasets run by the Office for National Statistics. This isn’t true for games,” it being a comparatively young, fast-moving industry. Conducted between September and October 2019, the study gathered data from 3,208 respondents working in the UK games industry, which represents a fifth of its overall workforce. The survey used “both open and targeted recruitment methods […] to ensure a truly representative sample of people working across the sector.” Most Gender-Balanced and Diverse While female representation in the UK games industry as a whole is ”considerably less than the national working average,” those working in games localization appeared to be bucking this trend. Localization proved to be foremost among the most evenly balanced, gender-wise, posting 46% female to 54% male. Localization could, of course, also be expected to have the most ethnically diverse workforce. This was borne out by the study’s section on ethnic groups that broke out a BAME group (Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic), White British, and White Other. As the report pointed out, “The fractions of people in the ‘White Other’ group are quite varied, with relatively few in business operations, writing, and audio, and (unsurprisingly) a large majority of people working in localization.” Equally unsurprising, localization jobs posted the largest percentage of people from outside the UK “by some distance.” A mere 18% of those working in games localization are UK nationals. Good news for the gaming industry because, as Ukie CEO Twist pointed out, games businesses across the UK recognize that “placing equality, inclusivity and diversity at the heart of their work is critical to their success.” Most Well-Educated…and Least Depressed! Localization had the largest percentage of people with postgraduate qualifications at 47%. It must be noted, however, that the majority of those working in core game production roles (e.g., QA, programming, art) held game-specific qualifications. And, finally, in what is perhaps the most heartening portion of the survey, localization professionals are doing very well in terms of mental health compared to the rest of the UK population. According to the report, while it is “difficult to get good estimates of overall rates of some of these conditions […] the rates of anxiety and depression in games are higher than in the general population, while the rates of PTSD, bipolar, and obsessive-compulsive disorder are similar in games to the equivalent figures in the general population. Not so in localization, where the rates for both anxiety and depression were the lowest at 14%, compared to the highest rates posted by those working as writers (anxiety: 44%; depression: 29%), although both writing and localization roles comprise 2% of the games industry workforce.
一项对英国游戏行业的调查显示,本地化从业人员的受教育程度最高,抑郁程度最低 游戏本地化从业者在性别比例、国籍或种族多元化,以及硕士学历占比方面得分最高。而且他们的幸福指数也是最高的。这是2020年2月4日公布的对英国游戏行业的调查结果。 这项调查是谢菲尔德大学、艺术与人文研究委员会和英国互动娱乐协会(Ukie)共同完成的。根据Ukie首席执行官Jo Twist OBE的说法,调查结果是“对英国游戏行业劳动力多元化的最广泛和最权威的分析”。 正如谢菲尔德实践研究所高级讲师、60页人口普查报告的作者Mark Taylor所写,“我们对其他行业,特别是其他电子行业员工多元化的了解很深入,因为国家统计局收集了大量有全国代表性的数据。而游戏行业并非如此,“它是一个相对年轻且发展迅速的行业”。 这项研究于2019年9月至10月进行,收集了3208名在英国游戏行业工作的受访者的数据。该行业劳动力占英国总劳动力的五分之一。这项调查使用了“公开且有针对性的招募方法…… 以确保研究对象是在游戏行业中有代表性的员工。” 性别比平衡与多元化 虽然女性在整个英国游戏行业的比例“大大低于全国行业性别比的平均值”,但在游戏本地化领域工作的女性似乎正在改变这一现象。本地化行业的调查结果显示,该行业的性别比是最平衡的,女性占46%,男性占54%。 而且,本地化有望成为劳动力最多元的行业。这项研究中关于种族群体的调查证实了这一点。这部分调查把人群大致分为BAME群体(即黑人、亚洲人或少数人种)、英国本国白人和外国白人。正如报告所指出的那样,“在‘外国白人群体’中,大多数人和预测一样在本地化行业工作,而相对较少的人从事商业运作、写作和录音等方面的工作。 同样不足为奇的是,本地化领域中外来人口的占比最大,其中仅有18%的从业者是英国本国人。 这对游戏行业来说是个好消息,因为正如Ukie的首席执行官Twist说的那样,英国的游戏公司意识到,“将平等、包容和多元化置于他们企业文化的核心是他们成功的关键。” 高学历!高幸福感! 对行业员工硕士学历占比的调查中,本地化行业最高,为47%。然而,必须注意的是,在游戏制作核心岗位(如:质量保证、编程、艺术指导)工作的大部分员工都拥有特定的游戏资质。 最后,或许是调查中最振奋人心的部分,本地化从业人员比其他英国国民的心理更健康。 该调查报告表明,虽然“很难很好地估计这一情况的总体比率,……,但游戏从业者的焦虑和抑郁率都高于普通人。游戏从业者中,患有创伤后应激障碍、躁郁症和强迫症的比例与普通人群相似。 本地化行业中的情况则与之不同。焦虑和抑郁的发生率最低,为14%。相比之下,其在创作人群中的发生率最高:焦虑率为44%,抑郁率为29%。尽管内容创作和本地化翻译都占游戏行业劳动力的2%。 译后编辑:洪晔(中山大学)

以上中文文本为机器翻译,存在不同程度偏差和错误,请理解并参考英文原文阅读。

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