France bans English gaming words esports and streamer in effort to preserve language purity

French government offically bans English gaming words “esports” and “streamer” (Image via- Unsplash)
French government offically bans English gaming words “esports” and “streamer” (Image via- Unsplash)

Earlier this week, France officially banned the English gaming words "esports" and "streamer" in an effort to preserve language purity. As per the official Culture Ministry, English words in the gaming sector could be a "barrier to understanding" for normal people (non-gamers).

The overall idea, as per the French Ministry, is to allow the entire population, including non-gamers as well as gamers, to communicate more easily.

Moving forward, these words have now been replaced with French alternatives. From now onwards, "pro-gamer” becomes “joueur professionnel”, "cloud gaming” is changed to “jeu video en nuage,” and "esports" is now translated as "jeu video de competition.”

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However, something worth noting here is that all of these changes were made after proper research on video game websites and magazines.

Read on to learn everything you need to know about this official notice.


France bans English gaming words including "streamer," French alternatives to be used instead

As per the report from the Guardian, French officials continued their centuries-long battle to preserve the purity of their native language, overhauling the use of English gaming words, including "esports", "streamer", "cloud gaming", and "pro gamer".

The entire idea behind this change is to break the "barrier to understanding" for non-gamers. This includes a community that is uninterested or oblivious in the field of gaming. However, more interestingly, there may be other motives for replacing the usual vernacular.

In the past, one of the most prominent organisations in Académie française insisted that the common everyday use of English words is leading to the degradation of France’s native language and culture.

Although the decree is an official order, it does not restrict the use of these gaming terms for regular citizens or any publications for that matter. This means that the above mentioned terms will not be used in official work but will be prominent among regular citizens.


Notably, this is not the first time the French government has replaced english words from everyday use. The French gaming industry is one of the biggest in Europe, with over 36 million gamers and over 300 video gaming companies. Above all, way back in 2021, the gaming sector in France alone made over €5.65 billion, 40% increase from 2020.


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Edited by Sijo Samuel Paul
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