A fan translation, or 'fanslation', is an unofficial translation of a computer game or video game, sometimes into a language that it was never marketed in.

The fan translation practice grew with the rise of video game console emulation in the late 1990s. A community of people developed that were interested in replaying and modifying the games they played in their youth. The knowledge and tools that came out of this community allowed them to work with translators to localize titles that had never been available outside of their original country of origin.

Fan translations of video game console games are usually accomplished by modifying a single binary ROM image of the game. Fan translations of PC games, on the other hand, can involve translation of many binary files throughout the game's directory. In dealing with translations of console games, a console emulator is generally utilized to play the final product, although game copiers or similar devices can be used to run the translated ROM image on its native hardware. The central focus of the fan translation community was of Japanese-exclusive computer and video games being made playable in English for the first time, and sometimes of games recently released in Japan that are import-worthy and have seemingly slim chances of being localized to English speaking countries. It has since expanded to include other languages as well. Fan translations to English have provided a starting point for translations to many other languages.

The fan translation community was at its most popular, and attracted the most media attention, when certain popular game titles were still being worked on. These were usually parts of popular series such as SquareEnix's Final Fantasy. Some consider the peak was reached with the translation of Seiken Densetsu 3, a title that was highly desirable to RPG players and also very difficult to translate on a technical basis.

A revival began in 1996 when a group calling themselves Kowasu Ku formed under the lead of one "Hazama". The group states plans to translate Final Fantasy V, but their efforts became vaporware. Later that summer, a user called Demi announced work on a Final Fantasy V translation and founded Multiple Demiforce. It was eventually dropped in favor of Final Fantasy II (NES), a more manageable goal at that time. Demi and Som2Freak used Pasofami to post four screenshots of their work to Archaic Ruins, and emulation website. Shortly after, the translation stalled and the group disbanded.

Shadow and David Timko both saw the Archaic Ruins website and contacted Som2Freak expressing interest in translating Final Fantasy V. He provided each with some primative tools, and for the next few months, Shadow and Timko worked against each other. Both projects generated renewed interest in fan translation.

After months of working against each other, Shadow and Timko began cooperating. RPGe, the first major translation group was established around 8:43 PM EST on July 8 in the

ff5e channel, on the EsperNet IRC network by Shadow, Timko, Hooie and Thermopyle. The start of RPGe sparked many other efforts to unify and within months, Translation Corporation, DeJap and Starsoft Translations had formed.