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IGDB_Admin_M edited this page Mar 17, 2023 · 19 revisions

A title is one of a video game's primary identifiers, describing a word or sentence that is related to the overall game.

On IGDB, we will go with the following:

  • The North American Title
  • Full title when available (i.e. Tom Clancy's The Division and not just The Division)
  • Capital casing
  • No years or platforms in the title (unless it's part of the actual title)
  • No ™ or ®
  • Please refrain from adding the title in all caps (unless it's an acronym)
  • No emojis
  • For subtitles, we always go with : before -

The best method is to always use the same title as the NA cover.

Titles containing foreign words and letters

For region-specific releases, we allow titles with roman letters that do not exist in English (such as Brazil, Spain, France etc.). This also applies to worldwide releases if the title includes special letters or words from specific alphabets (Nordic, Latin, Greek, Hebrew etc.). Please keep in mind that this is not the same as Stylized or Localized titles. All of these edge cases must still adhere to our preceding list.

Examples of titles we allow:

For titles containing foreign words or letters, please make sure to include a 'Alternative Spelling' version in Alternative Titles that excludes these specific letters so that users can search for the game in multiple ways.

Examples:

  • The alternative spelling for God of War: Ragnarök is God of War: Ragnarok.
  • Bibi & Tina: Das große Unwetter can also be written as Bibi & Tina: Das Grosse Unwetter.
  • You can add Naica as the alternative spelling for Naïca.

If a title contains symbols that do not belong to a specific alphabet and you are unable to find an alternative spelling for that stylistic choice, please contact us as these will be handled on a case-by-case basis.

For guidelines regarding localized titles, visit our Localization guidelines.

Examples:

Pathfinder: Kingmaker - Definitive Edition
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege - Operation Grim Sky
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Heart of Stone

⚠️ If you find a game that has a title that doesn't follow our guidelines (like Kards - The WWII Card Game) we still want that to follow our standard. You can add the original title as an 'alternative spelling' or 'stylized title' in our Alternative titles field (found in the general tab). That way users will be able to find the game easier in search!

Exceptions:

Some titles can cause duplicates. Games including numbers, odd spelling, stylization etc. can cause issues:

Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s This is a good example of how spelling can cause duplicates.

The title can end up like:

  • Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the '80s
  • Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80's

Edge Cases

There are times when a game series or franchise has multiple title variations that are not a result of localization, acronyms, or abbreviations. We may prefer one variation (or alternative title) over the other depending on the game in order to accurately document and sort the game data.

Example: Both the Tex Murphy and James Bond video games have multiple title variations. On IGDB, we decided to include Tex Murphy and 007 as part of these titles.

These kinds of edge cases are handled and validated on a case-by-case basis.

Disney Games

Disney games have a lot of titles under their belt and sometimes it can be hard to know if 'Disney' should be part of the full game title or not.

On IGDB, we do the following:

  • If the title says "Disney's", then it should be included in the full title.

Examples:

Disney's Hercules Action Game

Disney's Lilo & Stitch 2: Hämsterviel Havoc

  • If the title contains the words "Disney" or "Disney/Pixar," it should not be included. Typically, this is just an indication that the game is a Disney or Pixar property, and it does not have to be part of the game title. Most of the time, you can see this on the cover, where the logo is usually smaller than the game title (*some exceptions apply).

Examples:

Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two

Fantasia: Music Evolved

Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue!

  • Unfortunately, not all Disney games follow the same set of rules. Some titles should include Disney because it is a part of the title and the property. These games are usually well known by their titles and should not cause any confusion.

Examples:

Disney Dreamlight Valley

Disney Infinity

Disney Golf

Disney Princess: Enchanting Storybooks

Disney Classic Games: Aladdin and The Lion King

If you're not sure whether a game title should include Disney or not, feel free to ask us in Discord for advice!

Should I use the original title as the main title for foreign games?

If a game has been released in multiple regions, including the United States, please use NA as the main title. If the game was only released in one country/a few regions and no English title is available, it is acceptable to use the original title. Please use romanization so that anyone, regardless of language ability, can read the title.

Please do not use fan translations or google translations as main titles.

What about game versions for big franchises that has a different title depending on region? What title should I use then?

If a game version was only released in Japan, use the Japanese title even if it is more commonly known in the West as something else. This is done to match the consistency of the cover and release region. It is encouraged to add additional titles in our "Alternative title" field.

Example: Resident Evil is famous worldwide for its name/franchise. But some bundles and editions were only ever released in Japan. For those games, we will go with the Japanese title "Biohazard", with "Resident Evil" as an alternative title.

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