Quick Take
- Virtuos CEO suggests making variant versions of games for different regions and player types
- Idea builds on decades of localization but expands into deeper cultural and content shifts
- Distributed development models may allow more flexible, regionally tailored production cycles
A New Approach to Globalization
The idea of customizing games for different markets isn’t new. Developers have localized content for decades, from translating text to adjusting artwork and storylines. What Virtuos CEO Gilles Langourieux is suggesting goes a step further: build region-specific versions of games that reflect deeper cultural expectations, gameplay preferences, or social norms.
Langourieux shared the pitch at DICE 2025, following Virtuos’ acquisitions of Umanaïa, Pipeworks, and Abstraction. With its international studio network, Virtuos sees an opportunity to let local teams rework core elements of a game to better suit local audiences.
“It’s like we’ve kept the bad from the movie industry and ignored the good,” he said. “In games, we have the luxury to make different games for different people, and too few studios and publishers are fully leveraging that.”
Beyond Localization
Historically, region-specific content has often been reactive. A game gets banned, then re-released in a lighter version. Character costumes or dialogue lines are adjusted to meet cultural norms. But Langourieux says the industry is positioned to get proactive, especially with rising install bases in places like Southeast Asia and South America.
He pointed to developers in Asia like Garena and Nexon, who’ve already leaned into the approach more than many studios in the West. His proposal involves making the idea of regional variants part of the core development process, not a post-launch fix.
Examples from the past include:
- Alternate character models in Japanese vs. Western versions of MechWarrior
- PUBG Mobile’s relaunch in India as Battlegrounds Mobile India after government restrictions
- Costume and dialogue edits in World of Warcraft or Tokyo Mirage Sessions based on local content laws
Langourieux wants studios to go even further and to rethink core game design decisions with regional needs in mind.
Live Service Games as a Test Case
The model may be most viable for live service games, where content pipelines are already in place and games are expected to evolve. Langourieux said he doesn’t expect every game to follow this path, but believes many could.
Single-player titles with modular updates, like Vampire Survivors or 9 Kings, show how live features and DLC can blur into regional variants. With remote development now normalized, the argument is that studios can afford to build flexibility into production cycles, allowing for adding new content or features that align with regional tastes without overhauling a full game.
Risks and Realities
The approach isn’t without pitfalls. Developing regional variants without involving local talent can come off as tone-deaf. And developers still need to decide how far they’re willing to go in countries with restrictive cultural policies or authoritarian oversight.
Still, Langourieux believes the upside is worth exploring. Game assets are digital. Updates are downloadable. And content pipelines can now move faster than ever.
In his view, the game industry has a level of creative and technical flexibility that film and TV can’t match. The only question is whether more developers will start using it.
