Far Cry 5 will be the first in Ubisoft’s flagship shooter series to have a full Arabic localisation, with menus and subtitles in that language.
Here’s everything we know about Far Cry 5.
Malek Teffaha, Ubisoft’s PR manager for the Middle East and North Africa, tweeted the news:
Monumental day today.We finally announced that, for the first time ever, the FC series will be localized in Arabic with menus and subtitles! pic.twitter.com/fdcVOUTvLP
— Bayek Teffaha (@malekawt) October 12, 2017
The announcement – and the accuracy of the localisation – was immediately hailed by indie dev Rami Ismail, who called it “amazing news.” Arabic gamers can also learn more about Far Cry 5 through its official Arabic language website.
Challenges related to piracy, language, and cultural values are mainly why Arabic-speaking countries have often been treated as an afterthought by the games industry; relatively innocuous titles like FIFA are among the few to have gotten decent localisations. It’s a muchbigger deal to seeFar Cry 5 join their ranks: the franchise typically features bloody violence, swearing, alcohol and drug use, and the odd bit of sex.
It’s great to see such a big publisher take Arabic gamers more seriously when it comes to their more challenging IP, but we doubt it’ll be long before we see more of it – the games market in the MENA region is projected to pass $2 billion in value this year.