'Streamer' is now 'un joueur en direct' and 'eSports' is 'jeu video de competition'Steve DentS. Dent|05.31.22
French production of gaming software attends at the Porte de Versailles exhibition center during the 10th edition of Paris Games Week 2019 fair - November 01, 2019, Paris. (Photo by Daniel Pier/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
NurPhoto via Getty Images

A trade fair popular with politicians during election season is called "Made in France" because of the English jargon. Despite widespread usage in business and elsewhere, the government has decided to pick on gaming, banning terms like streamer and cloud gaming. The terms joueur-animateur en direct and joueur video en nuage must be used for government communications.

The Ministry of Culture in France has in the past promoted the gaming industry as a French economic success story. It is concerned that English terms could become a barrier to understanding for non-gamers. Many French non-gamers wouldn't have a clue what a term like "streaming" means. France's language keepers have expressed concern about English jargon in gaming, having published a lexicon of alternate French terms.

The changes are binding on all government workers because they were issued in the official journal. It is hard to see them catching on on French websites or newspapers. The attempt to get people to use the internet instead of anglicisms has not gone well.

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