Hi GoG-Team,

i wondered because so many games are only availible in english. I am from germany. I can read english but if i play a game i want to play it in my native language. Is there a reason for it? Some games are normally in german too, but not the gog-version :(

All comes down to rights to sell various versions. Sometimes GOPG can't get the rights to sell other language versions. Weird, but that's what I understand to be the case with games that come with other language options that aren't available here.

Sometimes we get language packs of existing games, so options keep increasing. You may want to check again after a while. Unfortunately, IIRC there have also been cases of languages being removed, too.

*looks lovingly at the Spanish version of Commandos*

That's life man.

It's mostly an issue with the publishers. If they don't allow GOG to distribute a given game with additional languages, there's not much that can be done. For example, the version of Theme Hospital sold here actually includes about five different languages (it can be changed by editing a single entry in the game's config file), but due to the licensing contract with EA, they are only able to sell it with the English configuration.
This isn't an issue exclusive to GOG, however. Not that long ago, Square-Enix re-released the "Thief/Dark Project" games in a box called "Thief Trilogy". Despite being a German release of games that were fully localized in previous versions, it's in English only (they're essentially the same as the ones found on GOG).

I'm not entirely sure about this, but sometimes, it could also have other licensing issues. For example, the rights to a particular localization of a game may be owned by some third party, making it even harder to reach a distribution agreement. Again, though, don't take my word on this one.

That said, however, the number of games with additional languages such as German has been increasing steadily in recent times.

I wonder if they make any games in Esperanto?

Last time I make a smart ass comment about that. :P

I think Klingon or Elvish would be more fitting for the audience. ;)

GOG currently has almost 300 games with German language support:
[url=http://www.an-ovel.com/cgi-bin/magog.cgi?ver=365&scp=gdsp&dsp=ipgfsorlcmbah4&ord=&flt=lan~Ger~&opt=&myf=SatDec132047432014_cVrxnJUYVBW7o]http://www.an-ovel.com/cgi-bin/magog.cgi?ver=365&scp=gdsp&dsp=ipgfsorlcmbah4&ord=&flt=lan~Ger~&opt=&myf=SatDec132047432014_cVrxnJUYVBW7o[/url]

Personally, I prefer games in English over games in my mother tongue. Having said that, I have been musing for a while now about using games to help me learn other languages. I am considering purchasing a French version of a game I haven't played yet (perhaps the Witcher 1) and playing that to combine gaming fun with the utility of language learning.

Why do I have a hard time believing that?

Anyway, I like to think that this company was inspired by William Shatner.

I have experience on that front, so let me give you some tips: try it with games natively written in that language (if any) as that gives and additional motivational boost to wanting to play it in that language. Also, try not picking something you already know well/played, as it typically kills motivation to persevere with it. Unless you're already quite decent with the language, don't pick something with fast talking: if you can't watch a movie on the language in question, you won't follow a cutscene. And above all, remember that the game will not be as fun because you're using it for learning, so don't pick something you've been dying to try and looks like your perfect game. It may ruin it, and that's a shame.

Judas of the GOG team is always working on bringing more language versions to GOG games, so hopefully there'll be more German (and other) versions available here in the future. :-)

Thanks for the advice. I would like to learn French. A fair number of games seems to be translated to French, but it might be somewhat difficult to pick a game originally designed in French, as it seems that French-owned publishers/game studios (if I remember correctly Ubisoft, for example, is French-owned) tend to produce games originally in English. Plus of course, it has to be a game I enjoy, lest it kill the motivation, which limits the pool of games further.

You make a good point about the comparison with movies. I certainly cannot at this stage watch a movie in French with a sufficient degree of understanding to make it comfortable. It might mean that I am not ready to take the plunge into French-language gaming, though many games have the option to turn on subtitles, which could lower the barrier substantially, as reading is easier than listening. Hmm, an alternative could be to have say French voiceover and English subtitles or vice versa, but that might defeat the purpose, as the temptation to rely on the English mode would simply be too great.