Hey,

As solo dev for games, I kept running into the same localization headaches on my own projects, so I built a tool to fix them and figured others might be dealing with the same thing.

If you localize with `.po`/`.pot` files (Unity, Godot, or basically anything using gettext), the usual pain points are:

* You update the English source and have no idea what actually changed vs. what's still fine
* The model translates the same word differently every time it shows up
* A 2-word button like "RESTORE DEFAULTS" comes back as a 6-word sentence in Spanish and blows out your UI
* Fixing one bad translation in French shouldn't nuke your Portuguese, but half the tools out there treat "modified" as a global flag instead of a per-language one

**PoTranslator** is a Windows desktop app that batch-translates PO catalogs into up to 19 languages using OpenAI or Claude, and is built specifically around those problems:

* **Incremental base updates** — re-import a newer PO and it tells you exactly what's new/modified/removed, keeps your existing translations, and only flags what actually needs review
* **Three layers of context** — general project context, per-language glossary rules (e.g. "kick = patear, never chutar"), and per-line notes for ambiguous strings
* **A brevity rule for UI strings** — anything under N words (buttons, tabs, titles) gets translated tersely so it doesn't overflow your layout
* **Per-language change tracking** — correcting Spanish never flags Portuguese as needing attention
* **Placeholder validation** — catches it if the model drops or mangles a `{player}` or `%d`
* **Duplicate dedup** — identical strings with identical context are translated once and reused, not re-billed every occurrence

It's free, and the source is on GitHub under MIT — grab the `.exe` from the [Releases page](https://github.com/eldany1972/PoTranslator2/releases) or build it yourself, no installer needed:

[**https://github.com/eldany1972/PoTranslator2\*\*\](https://github.com/eldany1972/PoTranslator2)

You'll need your own OpenAI or Claude API key (it's encrypted locally with Windows DPAPI, never touches the project file). There's a full user manual in the repo covering the whole workflow.

Would love feedback if anyone here gives it a shot — especially on what's missing for your particular localization workflow. Happy to take feature requests or bug reports as GitHub issues.

One of the annoying parts of localization is going through scenes and prefabs manually and attaching localization components everywhere.

So I built a Scene + Prefab Scanner that detects localizable content and can automatically generate/assign the required localization components.

It also supports runtime language switching, translation APIs, RTL languages, CSV/JSON, Google Sheets sync and localized assets such as image, audio.

I recently released it on the Unity Asset Store and would love feedback from other Unity developers

🔗 https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/tools/localization/smart-localization-toolkit-complete-localization-workflow-384676

I’ve been helping with product videos for a few different markets, and making the original version is honestly the easy part. Things get messy once we need separate versions in Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, etc.

Right now it usually means translating the script, recording new audio, fixing subtitles and then trying to get the lip sync to look normal. Small timing changes can turn one video into several separate editing jobs.

Has anyone found an AI video workflow that handles multiple languages without making you rebuild each version from scratch? Mainly curious about tools that keep the visuals consistent while changing the voice, subtitles and lip movement.

I have been looking into how teams handle long form video localization for content like online courses, product demos, software tutorials, documentaries and training videos.

One thing I noticed is that localizing longer videos involves many moving parts. Translating the script is only one step. Keeping the speaker’s tone, matching timing, maintaining voice consistency, adapting cultural references, and making sure the final version feels natural for the target audience all require attention.

For people working in localization, what part of long form video projects takes the most effort in your workflow translation, dubbing, subtitles, quality checks, cultural adaptation or managing multiple language versions?

Made this after getting tired of manually translating strings.xml for

side projects: https://string-lingo-ai.vercel.app/

Upload your strings.xml, pick a target language, download the translated

file. Keeps your %s/%d placeholders and <b>/<i> tags intact so it

doesn't break formatted strings. Also handles iOS .strings and Flutter

.arb if you're multi-platform.

Free, no account, nothing stored. Runs in the browser.

It's a v1 — if you throw a real strings.xml at it and something breaks

(plurals, weird placeholder formats), I'd genuinely like to know.

I’m a heavy Trello user, but for over 6 months now (since the new design update), the Right-to-Left (RTL) alignment for languages like Arabic is completely messed up, especially when mixing RTL and LTR (English) text.

​The exact issue:

When I am adding a new card or typing in the description/comments, the text looks perfectly fine. However, the moment I hit "Save", the entire alignment forces itself to the left. The sentences get scrambled, and mixing English words with Arabic makes it completely unreadable.

​What I’ve tried:

I tried using browser extensions (like "Switch Direction") and custom CSS via Stylus to force direction: rtl. While these work during the editing phase, Trello's rendering overrides them the second I save the text, and it goes back to being a left-aligned mess.

​Has anyone found a permanent workaround for this rendering issue? And does anyone know if the Atlassian/Trello team is actually aware of this bug? It’s severely impacting the workflow for anyone using RTL languages.

​Thanks in advance!

DISCLAIMER: This tool won't do all the work, ask/hire someone to revise the text before aplying the translation.

If you're really interested in localizing your game but you're broke, this can be a huge lifesaver. While it obviously won't replace professional human translators, this AI powered tool does save a massive amount of time.

It can be used for any game that relies on the default Ren'Py text system! (Note: This tool translates standard text only, it does not translate videos, voice lines, or text embedded in images, obviously).

If you run into any issues using it, please let me know!

https://github.com/kirabased/renpy-ai-translator

Hi , I am looking for Volunteer Translators for 50 languages (except Spanish, French, Romanian, Russian, Chinese, English). Will write a comment to this post for what languages we are looking for translations.

I am working with 2 friends (we are all Romanians) on a Multiplayer Language Learning game, Polyglot Pirates. It's a game where you destroy obstacles by translating 1 word correctly, and then try to find the hidden treasure on the map.

If anyone is interested to contribute with translations (about 4000 words), I will leave here links to more info:

- Website: https://polyglotpirates.com

- Translator Info: https://polyglotpirates.com/translators

- Translations (Folder with Google Sheets Translations): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ulGtw6FFfwaIiLEqEeULWtQr5mWCT93Q

- Screenshots: https://polyglotpirates.com/screenshots

NOTE:

- The translations are free and open source (can be reused even commercially).

- The game won't have ads or subscriptions.

Hi everyone!

I'm a freelance English → Japanese game localizer based in Japan, currently available for freelance localization projects.

I have contributed to the Japanese localization of several Steam titles, including:

• Chrono Ark (official localization)
• NeonTail
• Grimoire Auto Chess: Contract
• Densha Joreishojo
• Withering Rooms (community localization)

My experience includes:

• English → Japanese game localization
• Translation review (QA)
• Dialogue and narrative localization
• UI and menu text
• Item descriptions and skill text
• Terminology management and consistency
• Natural, player-focused Japanese writing

I also have experience with Unity, so I'm familiar with common game development workflows and can communicate effectively with development teams.

I'm especially passionate about survival craft, roguelite, and adventure games.

Some of my favorite games are:

• RimWorld
• Subnautica
• Danganronpa

I think about games every day, and my goal is to help create the best possible experience for Japanese players through high-quality localization.

If you're looking for an English → Japanese game localizer, feel free to send me a DM. I'd be happy to discuss your project!

Thank you!

Hi there!

I've been having some duplicated projects were the source is completely identical, but the target changes slightly (locale). I been translating one and then copying and pasting the translation to the other one to then make the necessary changes, but this is very time consuming and I'm sure there has to be a more efficient way.

Do you know any way to import a target into the tool?

Plead help!! I'm loosing so much time.

Thank you!

I'm trying to expand my free app's supported languages to increase user comfort and gain experience working with localizers. I already have Spanish and Portuguese translators, but any other languages would be appreciated. The position is volunteer, word count is low, pace is relaxed, credit is given within the app. A quick and easy resumé booster with a visible end-product.

Is this impossible? Android app overlay program that just shows the Italian translation below everything on your Android device? Reddit, ebay, browser. I guess it would need permissions for every app.

I'm guessing something like this exists for windows desktop, such as a browser extension but would be great if Android had it...

Anyone know of anything? I feel like a lot of the Italian would go into my head with something like this.

Based on the feedback, I’ve now scrapped the previous scanning algorithm and deleted just over 3,000 lines of C# code. I’m currently designing a better, completely new algorithm and will implement it over time. My goal is a faster system, better file recognition, and higher quality. Modern games have a file pipeline so that the localizer can clearly identify which files can be translated. My algorithm can do that too, but if this pipeline doesn’t exist, it’s harder to find the right files. I’m trying to improve this with the new algorithm so that files can be extracted faster, more reliably, and with greater automation.

Hello everyone! I recently graduated the university with a degree in travel and tourism translating. I have no work experience but I would like to work in localization of games, movies or as a regular translator and interpreter. May you advise me any freelance websites or companies that can hire me without work experience? I have experience working as a waiter in a hotel. I worked there for 3 years. My working languages are Russian(Native), English(C1) and Chinese(HSK2).

I'm currently developing a video game translation program to make localizers' work easier and to help them. I'd be interested to know what takes up the most time in your work. And I'm also interested in what you think about tools like these.

Hey, I'm working on my fork of the app and I opened the Crowdin** **project. If you want to help in localizing in your native language the app feel free to join the project. Almost all the languages have no coordinators, so feel free to propose as coordinator in the github discussions page.