Insights / Gaming

Arabic Game Localization Checklist for Saudi, UAE and Egypt

A practical checklist for launching a game in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt: RTL UI, Arabic fonts, voice dialect, cultural review, store pages and ratings.

Quick Answer

Arabic game localization for Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt covers seven areas: right-to-left (RTL) UI, Arabic fonts and text fit, the right dialect for voice, cultural review, localized store pages, age ratings and in-market testing. Build RTL support into the engine early, because it touches every screen. Then translate, voice and test.

Why Does Arabic Game Localization Matter in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt?

These three markets combine a large player base with high spending, and Arabic is the dominant language. Niko Partners estimates the MENA-3 games market (Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt) at $2 billion in 2024, with 72 million gamers. It forecasts $2.8 billion and 84.3 million gamers by 2029. Women make up more than 37% of that player base.

Spending is uneven. Saudi Arabia generated 59.1% of 2024 revenue, the UAE 33.7% and Egypt 7.2%, according to Game World Observer’s summary of the Niko data. Average revenue per user was $84.60 in the UAE, $54.89 in Saudi Arabia and $3.39 in Egypt. Egypt spends less per player. The Gulf drives revenue.

Saudi Arabia is also investing at scale. In September 2022, Savvy Games Group announced a SAR 142 billion strategy that targets 250 game companies and 39,000 jobs in the Kingdom by 2030.

Niko Partners also notes that Arabic is the dominant language in MENA-3 and that the right-to-left script demands close attention. The checklist below turns that into tasks.

What Should an Arabic Game Localization Checklist Include?

A complete checklist covers engineering, language, voice, culture, store presence and compliance. Use this table to assign owners before translation starts.

Area	What to check	Owner
RTL UI	Mirrored layouts, navigation, progress bars, mixed Arabic and Latin text	UI and engineering
Fonts and text fit	Arabic glyph coverage, letter shaping, line height, string length	Engineering and art
Numerals	Western or Eastern Arabic digits, chosen per market and kept consistent	Localization lead
Voice	Dialect per market, casting, lip-sync, audio file naming	Audio and localization
Cultural review	Symbols, maps, gestures, clothing, in-game text and art	Localization and publishing
Store pages	Arabic title, description, keywords, screenshots with Arabic UI	Marketing
Age ratings	Saudi and UAE classification, rating art on store pages and packaging	Publishing and legal
Testing	Linguistic QA on device, RTL bug pass, local player review	QA

How Do you Prepare the UI for Right-to-Left Arabic?

Mirror the interface so it reads right to left, but keep anything that points to a real direction. Apple’s right-to-left design guidelines give a clear rule set:

Flip back buttons, next and previous controls, sliders and progress bars to match reading order.
Never reverse the digits inside a number, such as a score or a phone number.
Avoid flipping photos, illustrations and general artwork, since flipping can change their meaning.
Increase Arabic font size by about 2 points when it sits next to uppercase Latin text, because Arabic has no capital letters and can look too small.

Microsoft’s mirroring guidance adds that some icons, such as fast-forward and rewind in media players, keep the same orientation in both directions.

Numerals need a decision, too. Apple notes that Arabic text can use either Western or Eastern Arabic numerals, and usage varies by country. Pick one convention per market and apply it across the HUD, store and patch notes.

Free Test Translation

Test us on 300 Words, Free

Send us 300 words of UI strings, dialogue or store copy. We return them in Arabic, reviewed by a second native linguist, with notes on right-to-left fit and text length.

How Do you Handle Arabic Fonts and Text Fit?

Use a font with full Arabic glyph coverage and an engine that shapes connected letters correctly. Arabic letters join and change form depending on their position in a word. If the engine does not support Arabic shaping, text renders as broken, disconnected letters, often in the wrong order.

Plan for space as well. The W3C points out that Arabic words are built from compact roots with prefixes and suffixes, which makes them hard to abbreviate. It also notes that many non-Latin scripts need more vertical space between lines than Latin text. Avoid fixed-width buttons and single-line labels in menus. Leave room for diacritics so marks above and below letters do not clip.

Which Arabic Dialect Should you Use for Game Voice-Over?

Choose the voice dialect by market and genre. MSA suits fantasy, historical and story-driven games that need a formal, timeless tone. It also works as one version for every Arabic market. Gulf Arabic fits Saudi and UAE-first releases, sports titles and social games where players expect familiar speech. Egyptian Arabic suits comedy and casual games aimed at Egyptian players.

Many teams use MSA for UI text and a dialect for selected voice lines, such as commentary or character banter. Decide this early, because it affects casting, recording budgets and the glossary.

What Cultural Review Do Players in These Markets Expect?

Run a cultural review of art, text and audio before you lock content. Players notice. Niko Partners’ 2025 survey of 1,580 gamers found that 57% of MENA-3 gamers would consider whether to stop playing a game if it included content they deemed religiously or culturally offensive.

Common review points include religious text and symbols, maps and borders, hand gestures, clothing, and names that carry unintended meanings in Arabic. Review in-game art, not only strings. A background poster or a character emote can create a problem that translation never sees.

How Do Age Ratings Work in Saudi Arabia and the UAE?

Both countries rate games locally, and a 21+ category now sits above PEGI’s 18. Saudi Arabia introduced local age ratings in 2016, replacing reliance on PEGI. In July 2025, Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Media Regulation and the UAE Media Council cleared Grand Theft Auto V for release with a 21+ rating.

The UAE announced its classification system in 2018. It rates games 3, 7, 12, 16, 18 and 21 and covers console, PC, online and mobile games.

This section is informational only. Rating rules change, so confirm current requirements for each country with the regulator or qualified counsel before submission. Do the same for Egypt.

How Should you Localize Store Pages?

Add full Arabic store metadata, because the default store language may not be Arabic. In Apple’s App Store localization table, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt list English (U.K.) as the default language, with Arabic as an additional language. Egypt also lists French. If you skip Arabic metadata, Arabic-speaking players may see your English listing.

Localize the title, subtitle, description and keywords. Capture screenshots from the Arabic build so players see the RTL interface they will get.

How Do you Run an Arabic Launch Step by Step?

Follow this order to avoid rework:

Audit the engine for RTL and Arabic shaping support.
Build a glossary and style guide that sets terms, tone, numerals and dialect per market.
Translate UI, narrative and store text with context and screenshots.
Record voice in the chosen dialect with native talent.
Run cultural review on text, art and audio.
Submit for age ratings in each target country.
Run linguistic and functional QA on real devices.
Launch, then review player feedback and patch.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I Need Separate Arabic Versions for Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt?

Usually not for text. One well-written Arabic version can serve all three, with market-specific store pages. Voice is different: dialect choices can justify separate recordings for Gulf and Egyptian players.

Should Game Text Use MSA or a Dialect?

Most games use MSA for UI and system text, since it reads the same in every market. Dialect works for voice lines, chat-style dialogue and marketing aimed at one country. Keep the split consistent across the game.

What Breaks Most Often in Arabic Builds?

Text rendering and layout. Unshaped letters, reversed strings, clipped diacritics and unmirrored menus are common. Test early builds with native speakers so these issues surface before content lock.

Are Arabic Numerals the Same as Western Numerals?

Not always. Arabic text can use Western digits (1, 2, 3) or Eastern Arabic digits, and usage varies by country. Choose one style per market and apply it everywhere.

How Afrasia Trans Can Help

Afrasia Trans handles text, voice and data in one team. For Arabic game localization, we translate UI, narrative and store copy, record voice-over and dubbing, and run linguistic QA. We work in MSA, Egyptian, Gulf and Levantine Arabic, so each market gets the right voice. Our team also covers 150+ languages across Europe, Scandinavia, Asia, Africa and the Middle East if Arabic is one stop on a wider launch. See our media and gaming solutions and our full range of solutions. Then contact our team to plan your Arabic launch.

About the Author

Mohamed Salah

Mohamed Salah writes the Afrasia Trans industry guides on media, gaming, AI data, life sciences, legal and travel localization.

Sources

This article is for general information only. It is not legal, regulatory or medical advice.

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