The French government has banned English gaming terms like ‘streaming’ and ‘e-sports’
Government workers must no longer use ‘English gaming jargon’
The French government has ordered its staff to no longer use English video game terms like ‘streaming’ and ‘e-sports’.
Agence France-Presse reports (via The Guardian) that the Journal officiel de la République française – the country’s governmental gazette which publishes major legal information – has overhauled the rules on using English tech jargon.
The decision has reportedly been made in an attempt to preserve the purity of the French language, and to ensure that game players in France don’t use anglicised terms for activities and concepts that can be explained in French.
According to the culture ministry, these English terms could be a “barrier to understanding” for people who don’t play games regularly, and the French terms are preferred because it lets the population communicate more easily.
Examples given include the replacement of the term ‘pro gamer’ with ‘joueur professionnel’, replacing ‘streamer’ with ‘joueur-animateur en direct’ (which roughly translates to ‘live player host’) and replacing ‘cloud gaming’ with ‘jeu video en nuage’.
The term ‘e-sports’, meanwhile should now be referred to in France as ‘jeu video de competition’, which simply translates to ‘video game competition’.
Although French language watchdog the Académie Française regularly warns that the French language is in danger of being diluted by English terms, the fact that these new game-related changes have been posted in the government’s official journal means they’re binding on French government workers.
This means that while it’s not illegal for French citizens to use the anglicised terms, government workers can now no longer use them in an official capacity.
