Esperanto in video games: the GTA car, Minecraft and more

The Esperanto in Grand Theft Auto is a car. It is a big two-door coupé in GTA III (2001), Vice City, San Andreas and three more games up to 2006, and a four-door Albany sedan in GTA IV (2008). It shares its name with Esperanto, the international language published in 1887. Rockstar Games has never explained the choice of name.

The language also turns up in games in its own right. Minecraft: Java Edition has offered an Esperanto interface since 2012, Final Fantasy XI opens with a choral song in Esperanto, and a Japanese visual novel makes you learn Esperanto to finish the story.

#What is the Esperanto car in GTA?

The name has belonged to two different cars. In the six games of the "3D universe" (2001–2006) it is a large 1970s-style personal luxury coupé. In GTA IV it became a mid-size four-door sedan in an early-1980s style.

The coupé is modelled on the ninth-generation Cadillac Eldorado (1971–1978); fans point to the taillights of the 1975–1976 models. It is heavy, reasonably fast and known for weak brakes. During the development of GTA III its name was spelled "Esparanto".

The GTA IV sedan mixes early-1980s American designs. Fan databases see the Lincoln Continental Mark VII in its profile, the 1982 Chevrolet Malibu in its front and the Pontiac Bonneville in its taillights. Roman Bellic's taxi firm drives a taxi version of it.

GTA V (2013) has no ordinary Esperanto. Its only relative is the Police Roadcruiser, a snow-covered police version of the GTA IV sedan, seen in the North Yankton prologue.

#Is the GTA car named after the language?

Rockstar has not said. The GTA Wiki only notes that Esperanto is also the name of an international language; we found no interview or official statement explaining the choice.

The word itself has a clear meaning. Esperanto means "one who hopes": esper- "hope" + -ant- "-ing" + -o (noun ending). L. L. Zamenhof signed his first textbook in 1887 as Doktoro Esperanto, "Doctor One-who-hopes", and readers began calling the language by his pen name. Read the full history of Esperanto.

#What is Esperanto, the language?

Esperanto is a planned language made for international communication. Its grammar has no irregular verbs, every letter has one sound, and new words are built from roots with a small set of prefixes and suffixes. Estimates of speakers range from about 60,000 to 2 million, and many well-known people have learned it – see famous Esperanto speakers.

Mi ŝatas ludi videoludojn. – "I like playing video games."

If the GTA car brought you here, you can start today with our free Esperanto course or the overview of how to learn Esperanto.

#Which games can you play in Esperanto?

Dozens. Some big commercial titles ship an official Esperanto translation, and many open-source games have one made by volunteers:

Esperanto Wikipedia's list of games counts about 70 titles, roughly 30 with official translations and 40 with fan translations, including patched classics such as Super Mario Bros. The Steam curator group Ludoj en Esperanto ("Games in Esperanto") reviews Steam games with Esperanto content.

#How do you switch Minecraft to Esperanto?

It takes four clicks in the PC version:

1. Start Minecraft: Java Edition.
2. On the title screen click Options…, then Language… (the small globe button next to Options… opens the same menu).
3. Scroll down and click Esperanto (Esperantujo).
4. Click Done. Menus and item names switch to Esperanto at once.

Esperantujo means "Esperanto-land" – the worldwide community of speakers. Bedrock Edition (consoles, phones, tablets and the Microsoft Store version for Windows) does not offer Esperanto. The free game Luanti can be switched to Esperanto in its settings menu.

Words you will meet in almost any game menu:

The same roots keep coming back, which is how Esperanto word building works: once you know lud-, you can read ludo, ludi, ludanto and videoludo.

#Where does Esperanto appear inside games?

Final Fantasy XI (2002) opens with a theme whose choral section, "Memoro de la Ŝtono" ("Memory of the Stone"), is sung in Esperanto. Nobuo Uematsu composed the music, and Masato Kato wrote the lyrics, which were then put into Esperanto. The piece has been performed at the Distant Worlds concerts of Final Fantasy music – more Esperanto songs are on music and film.

The Elder Scrolls series includes a mysterious necromancer's book, N'Gasta! Kvata! Kvakis!, in Morrowind (2002), Oblivion (2006) and Skyrim (2011). Its "arcane" text is slightly altered Esperanto. Decoded, it describes Kva! Kvak!, the newsletter of La Ranetoj, an Esperanto club in Stockholm.

The Expression Amrilato (2017) is a Japanese visual novel in which the heroine, Rin, finds herself in a world where everyone speaks "Juliamo" – in fact Esperanto. The player learns the language with her to move the story forward. The Japanese Esperanto Institute helped with the Esperanto text. An English version followed in 2019, and a sequel, Distant Memoraĵo, in 2019 in Japan and 2021 in English. Even the developer's name, SukeraSparo, is Esperanto: "sugary sea bream", a nod to the Japanese fish-shaped cake taiyaki.

#Who translates games into Esperanto?

Mostly volunteers. Open-source games collect translations on platforms such as Weblate and Transifex, where Esperanto speakers translate the game's text line by line. Some commercial games credit volunteer translators too: VVVVVV names its Esperanto translator, Reese Rivers, and Shattered Pixel Dungeon lists its Esperanto translators and reviewer.

Fan groups also patch older games that never had an official version. Esperanto Wikipedia's list includes fan translations of Nintendo Entertainment System classics, Rayman and Resident Evil.

#Can video games help you learn Esperanto?

Yes, as practice alongside a course. In a game you already know, you understand what each menu does, so you pick up the Esperanto words from context. The Expression Amrilato was designed to teach basic Esperanto as you play. For a structured start, try the free course.

#Common questions

#What car is the Esperanto in GTA based on?

In GTA III, Vice City, San Andreas and the two Stories games it is modelled on the 1970s Cadillac Eldorado. The GTA IV Albany Esperanto is a four-door sedan that mixes early-1980s American designs such as the Lincoln Continental Mark VII.

#Is the Esperanto in GTA V?

Not as a normal car. GTA V only has the Police Roadcruiser, a police version of the GTA IV Esperanto, in the snowy North Yankton prologue.

#Why is the GTA car called Esperanto?

Rockstar has not explained it. The name is the same as that of the international language published in 1887, which means "one who hopes".

#Can you play Minecraft in Esperanto?

Yes, in Minecraft: Java Edition: Options → Language → "Esperanto (Esperantujo)". It has been available since 2012. Bedrock Edition does not offer Esperanto.

#Which Final Fantasy song is in Esperanto?

"Memoro de la Ŝtono" ("Memory of the Stone"), the choral part of the Final Fantasy XI opening theme (2002), composed by Nobuo Uematsu.

#Sources

• GTA Wiki, Esperanto (3D Universe), Esperanto (HD Universe), Roman's Taxi and Police Roadcruiser; GTABase, Albany Esperanto
• Wikipedia, Esperanto in popular culture
• Minecraft Wiki, Language and Java Edition 1.2.1
• PCGamingWiki, Minecraft: Java Edition, Slay the Spire, Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, Mini Metro, VVVVVV, Tooth and Tail, OpenRCT2, SuperTuxKart and The Battle for Wesnoth
• Steam curator Ludoj en Esperanto; Vikipedio, Listo de videoludoj en Esperanto
• Source code: Shattered Pixel Dungeon, Languages.java; VVVVVV, lang/eo/meta.xml; The Battle for Wesnoth, eo_XX.cfg; Luanti, po/eo; OpenTTD, esperanto.txt
• Final Fantasy Wiki, Memoro de la Ŝtono; Wikipedia, Final Fantasy XI
• UESP, N'Gasta! Kvata! Kvakis! and Morrowind: Easter Eggs
• Wikipedia, The Expression Amrilato
• Lichess (interface language settings)