France’s language watchdog has told government officials to use French gaming terms instead of English ones, explaining that anglicisms were “a barrier to understanding”.
The Académie Française, the official custodian of the French language since 1635, says “jeu video de competition” should replace “e-sports”, and “streamer” should become “joueur-animateur en direct”.
On Twitter, one gamer opposed the latest ruling, writing: “I’m French and I find this absolutely ridiculous, nobody will ever use those terms. This type of ban is completely pointless.”
But several others in the same series of replies to a tweet by Eurogamer, posted memes suggesting they thought the French versions sounded rather more sophisticated than their English equivalents. Translations include “jeu video en nuage” for “cloud gaming” and “l’access sans fil à internet” for “wifi”.
If you see something out of place or would like to contribute to this story, check out our Ethics and Policy section.
