README.md

June 11, 2026 · View on GitHub

GameStringer Logo

GameStringer

Desktop app that translates video games into any language using AI.
Pick a game from your library, choose a language, click translate — done.

Website Version Platform License Tauri Next.js Rust

Website · What is it · Download · How it works · P.T. · Engines · Features · Build

⚠️ Upgrading from v1.8.x? v1.9.0 migrated from Tauri v1 to Tauri v2 — auto-updater won't work for this jump. Download v1.9.1 manually: GameStringer_1.9.1_x64-setup.exe. Future updates (v1.9.1 → v1.9.x) will work automatically.

🌍 Read in your language:
🇮🇹 Italiano · 🇪🇸 Español · 🇫🇷 Français · 🇩🇪 Deutsch · 🇧🇷 Português · 🇯🇵 日本語 · 🇨🇳 中文 · 🇰🇷 한국어 · 🇷🇺 Русский · 🇵🇱 Polski

Demo

GameStringer Library Demo

🎮 Game Library — auto-detect Steam, Epic, GOG, Origin, Ubisoft, Amazon, itch.io

GameStringer AI Translator Demo

🤖 AI Translator — 20+ providers, Quality Badges 0-100, Translation Memory

GameStringer Game Patcher Demo

🔧 One-Click Patcher — BepInEx, XUnity, UnrealLocres, Bethesda BSA/BA2, CRI CPK, auto-backup

GameStringer Community Chat Demo

💬 Community Chat — Supabase Realtime, custom rooms, online presence

GameStringer Tray Icon Demo

🖥️ System Tray — quick actions, live Ollama status, tools submenu

🎮 What is GameStringer?

GameStringer is a desktop application (Windows & Linux) that lets you translate video games that don't have your language.

Most games store their text in files — JSON, XML, CSV, .locres, .rpy, BSA/BA2, CPK, Unity Localization StringTables, and many other formats. GameStringer scans your game folder, finds those files, sends the text through an AI translation provider of your choice (OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek, Ollama, 20+ more), and patches the translated text back into the game. One click, no technical knowledge needed.

For Unity games that lock text inside compiled assets, GameStringer automatically installs BepInEx + XUnity.AutoTranslator — no manual setup. For Bethesda games (Skyrim, Fallout, Starfield) it parses BSA/BA2/ESP natively. For CRI Middleware games (Persona, Yakuza) it handles CPK/CRILAYLA/MSG/BMD. For Unreal Engine it edits .locres directly.

It's not a machine translation website. It's a full pipeline: analyze with P.T. → detect engine → extract text → translate with AI → quality check → patch back → play.

📥 Download

Get the latest release from GitHub Releases:

PlatformFileNotes
WindowsGameStringer_1.9.1_x64-setup.exeInstaller (recommended)
WindowsGameStringer_1.9.1_x64-portable.zipNo install needed
WindowsGameStringer_1.9.1_x64_en-US.msiMSI alternative
macOSGameStringer_1.9.1_x64.dmgIntel Mac
macOSGameStringer_aarch64.app.tar.gzApple Silicon
LinuxGameStringer.AppImageUniversal (recommended)
LinuxGameStringer.debDebian / Ubuntu

Requirements: Windows 10+, macOS 10.15+, or Linux (Ubuntu 22.04+, Fedora 38+). 4 GB RAM (8 GB+ for local AI), 500 MB disk. Releases are code-signed and auto-updated via Tauri Updater.

🚀 How it works

  1. Install GameStringer and launch it
  2. Your game library loads automatically — Steam, Epic, GOG, Origin, Ubisoft, Amazon, itch.io (800+ games detected in seconds)
  3. Pick a game → optionally run P.T. (Prediction Tool) to see difficulty, estimated time, best LLM chain
  4. Click "String it!" — GameStringer scans, extracts, translates, and patches automatically
  5. Play in your language — backups are always created before patching

That's it. No command line, no manual file editing, no modding experience needed.

🧠 The Prediction Tool (P.T.)

The most powerful feature in GameStringer. Don't start a translation blind — analyze first.

P.T. is a deep analysis engine that runs before any translation. It scans your game folder, detects the engine, estimates the volume of translatable text, and tells you:

  • Difficulty Score 0–100 — combined weight of string volume, engine complexity, DRM, encoding, linguistic challenges
  • Estimated time across 18 LLM models — Ollama (Gemma 4, Qwen 3, Llama), OpenAI GPT-4/4o, Claude 3.5, Gemini, DeepL, DeepSeek, Groq
  • 5 recommended LLM chains: Local (privacy), Cloud (quality), Hybrid (balanced), Budget, Premium — each with cost and quality score
  • DRM detection: Denuvo, VMProtect, Steam DRM, EAC, BattlEye — warns before you try
  • Encoding analysis: Shift-JIS, UTF-8, UTF-16, Big5, EUC-KR detected per-file
  • Translation complexity: honorifics, gender agreement, RTL, ruby/furigana, CJK-specific handling
  • Confidence score and workflow plan — the exact steps that will run when you click "String it!"
  • Export report (JSON + Markdown) for sharing or archiving

P.T.Rank — Quick Ranking

After running P.T. on multiple games, open P.T.Rank to see all analyzed titles sorted by difficulty. Perfect for planning your translation queue: start from the easy wins, save the 800k-string RPGs for last.

Dry Run Scanner

Don't want to analyze one game at a time? Run Dry Run from the Library page to scan your entire Steam library (800+ games) in batch, with zero file modification. You get a JSON report categorizing every game as Ready (engine supported + strings extractable), Errors (manifest issues / DRM blocker), or Unsupported (unknown engine / no text). Progress is real-time, and no backup is needed because nothing gets touched.

String it! Smart Gate

The "String it!" button on the game detail page is smart: if the game has already been analyzed by P.T. within the last 24h, it launches the translation wizard directly. Otherwise it suggests running P.T. first (with a one-click "Run P.T. first" / "String it! anyway" choice). No more wasted runs on games that turn out to be DRM-locked or 5-minute affairs.

🎯 Supported Game Engines

GameStringer supports 20+ engines with varying levels of depth:

EngineSupportHow it works
Unity✅ FullAuto-installs BepInEx + XUnity.AutoTranslator + Unity Localization Package pipeline (StringTable, SharedTableData, Addressables, Smart Strings)
Unreal Engine✅ Full.locres extraction and patching with UnrealLocres
Unreal _P.pak✅ FullMod packaging as <GameStringer>_P.pak loaded via Paks folder
Godot✅ FullNative .translation file support
RPG Maker✅ FullMV/MZ JSON, VX/Ace via Trans, XP via RMXP
Ren'Py✅ FullNative .rpy script parsing with dialogue detection
GameMaker⚡ PartialVia UndertaleModTool integration
Telltale✅ Full.langdb / .dlog support
Wolf RPG✅ FullWolfTrans integration
Kirikiri✅ Full.ks / .scn parsing
TyranoScript✅ FullFast-path extractor with JSON patching
Electron✅ FullASAR unpacking + i18n JSON detection
Bethesda (Skyrim/Fallout/Oblivion/Starfield)✅ NEW v1.9.0BSA v103-105 + BA2 GNRL/DX10 + ESP/ESM (FULL/DESC/NAM1) parser, STRINGS/DLSTRINGS/ILSTRINGS
CRI Middleware (Persona/Yakuza/Tales of/Dragon Ball)✅ NEW v1.9.0CPK + CRILAYLA + MSG/BMD/FTD with Shift-JIS/UTF-8/UTF-16 auto-detection
Visionaire Studio✅ FullDaedalic adventures (Deponia, Edna, etc.)
Danganronpa WAD✅ FullWAD archive parser + STX dialogue patching

Unity games get special treatment: if no translatable files are found, GameStringer detects it's a Unity game and offers to automatically install BepInEx + XUnity.AutoTranslator with one click. Just launch the game once after install, then re-scan — all text becomes translatable.

⚠️ Anti-Cheat Warning: BepInEx (DLL injection) can trigger anti-cheat systems (EAC, BattlEye, Vanguard). GameStringer includes anti-cheat detection and will warn you. Only use on single-player / offline games. P.T. detects DRM before any modification.

✨ Features

🆕 New in v1.9.1

  • Fix CSP blocking Supabase — Community Chat was silently blocked by Tauri v2's strict Content Security Policy. Added https://*.supabase.co and wss://*.supabase.co to connect-src
  • Fix chat auto-connect — Coordinated auth between main-layout and persistent-chat via custom events, eliminating race conditions
  • Fix timeout error — Stale closure in max-timeout caused false "Tempo di caricamento troppo lungo" even when chat loaded successfully
  • macOS builds — DMG (Intel) and .app.tar.gz (Apple Silicon) now available

🆕 New in v1.9.0

  • Unified Online Presence — Supabase Realtime + DB fallback, auto-away/auto-online, heartbeat every 30s
  • System Tray Notifications — Native OS notifications for chat, translations, errors, updates, games, friends, news with configurable quiet hours
  • Error Boundaries + Crash Recovery — WidgetErrorBoundary (auto-retry 5s, max 3), AppErrorBoundary with reload
  • Network Resilience / Offline Mode — Network monitor, status bar (red/amber/green), exponential backoff retry, offline queue
  • Character Voice Profiles (Voice Cloning) — Auto-extract character style from dialogue, 16 tones, prompt injection for consistent translation
  • Fine-Tuning Infrastructure — Datasets from human corrections (Adaptive MT), 4 export formats, per-game model management with Ollama
  • Code Splitting / Lazy Loading — 8 heavy components converted to React.lazy + Suspense for faster startup
  • Bug Fixes — NetworkResilience double-init + listener leak, Supabase 400 user_profiles, tray version strings, quiet hours bypass for critical notifications

🤖 AI Translation

  • 20+ providers: OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek, Mistral, Groq, DeepL, Ollama (local), LM Studio, TranslateGemma, HY-MT, Qwen 3, NLLB-200, Cerebras, Together AI, Fireworks, OpenRouter, Cohere, Lingva, MyMemory
  • Context-aware: understands game genre, character voice, tone, narrative vs UI vs dialogue
  • Translation Memory & Glossary: consistency across the project with auto-glossary extraction
  • Auto-Select Engine (NEW v1.7.0): auto preset that dynamically ranks providers by target language + game genre (DeepL for European, Claude for CJK, genre-aware boost)
  • Multi-LLM Compare: run multiple providers in parallel, pick the best result per string
  • Quality gates: automatic QA scoring on every translated string (0-100) with ContentTypeBadge
  • Vision LLM Translator: uses in-game screenshots for context (Ollama, Gemini, GPT-4o)
  • Live Quality Preview: see quality scores in real-time during batch translation
  • RTL support: automatic direction detection and dir attribute handling

🧠 P.T. — Prediction Tool (v1.9.0)

  • Difficulty Score 0-100 with weighted factors (volume, engine, DRM, encoding, complexity)
  • Time estimates for 18 LLM models including Gemma 4 (27B MoE A4B / E4B / E2B)
  • 5 LLM chains (Local / Cloud / Hybrid / Budget / Premium) with cost and quality estimates
  • DRM / Anti-Cheat detection (Denuvo, VMProtect, Steam DRM, EAC, BattlEye, Vanguard)
  • Encoding analysis per-file (Shift-JIS, UTF-8/16, Big5, EUC-KR)
  • Translation complexity analysis (honorifics, gender, CJK, ruby, RTL)
  • P.T.Rank / Quick Ranking — sort all analyzed games by difficulty
  • Dry Run Scanner — batch scan of entire Steam library (800+ games) without modification
  • Workflow Orchestrator — real execution engine with universal fast path for 6+ engines and real-time progress
  • Prediction cache (24h) — instant re-open of previously analyzed games
  • Export report (JSON + Markdown) for sharing and archiving

📚 Game Library

  • Auto-detect: Steam (with Family Sharing), Epic, GOG Galaxy, Origin/EA, Ubisoft Connect, Amazon Games, itch.io
  • 800+ games recognized from installed libraries in seconds
  • Game cards with cover art, metadata, engine badge, VR badge, install status
  • Hover quick actions: String it!, Batch, Community, P.T. — all one click
  • Game Update Tracker: detects when Steam updates a translated game (via buildid), verifies patch integrity (BepInEx files, _P.pak presence), warns if re-patching is needed
  • "Stop monitoring" button to untrack a specific game

🔧 Translation Tools

  • One-Click Translate ("String it!"): scan → translate → patch in a single flow
  • Batch Translation: translate entire games or folders at once
  • Subtitle Translator: SRT, VTT, ASS/SSA with timing preservation
  • OCR Translator: extract text from retro games (8-bit, 16-bit, DOS presets) with real Tauri Tesseract backend
  • Voice Pipeline: speech-to-text → translate → text-to-speech with Duration Matching (NEW v1.7.0) — auto-adjusts speed to match original audio duration
  • Lip Sync (NEW v1.7.0): Rhubarb integration for viseme generation (A-X), interactive timeline, export for Unity (blend shapes) and Unreal (FaceFX)
  • Gridly CSV Export/Import (NEW v1.7.0): multi-language column format compatible with Gridly, Lokalise, and Crowdin
  • Real-time Overlay: see translations while playing via VR/screen overlay
  • Auto-Translate Review: "Translate all untranslated" button with progress bar
  • Lore Assistant: RAG chat that knows the game's lore and dialogues
  • Character Voice Profiles: define personality, tone, speech patterns per character
  • Translation Confidence Heatmap: visual quality overview of all translations

🎮 Game Engine Patchers

  • Unity: BepInEx + XUnity.AutoTranslator auto-installer, Unity Localization Package (StringTable, SharedTableData, Addressables catalog, Smart Strings validator)
  • Unreal Engine: .locres extraction + _P.pak mod packaging
  • Bethesda Engine Patcher (NEW v1.9.0): Skyrim LE/SE/AE, Fallout 3/NV/4, Oblivion, Starfield — BSA v103-105 + BA2 GNRL/DX10 + ESP/ESM (FULL/DESC/NAM1)
  • CRI Middleware Patcher (NEW v1.9.0): Persona 5 Royal, Yakuza, Tales of, Dragon Ball — CPK + CRILAYLA + MSG/BMD/FTD
  • Ren'Py, RPG Maker, Godot, GameMaker, Kirikiri, Wolf RPG, Telltale, Visionaire, Danganronpa WAD — all with native parsers
  • Wizard Stepper: shared multi-step UI for all patchers
  • Universal PO Export (gettext .po) for every patcher with project/language/source/engine metadata
  • Auto-backup: before every patch, with one-click restore

🔌 Advanced

  • Auto-Hook Scanner: process memory scanning (Windows WinAPI) for hardcoded strings
  • System Monitor: real-time VRAM/RAM usage for local LLM planning
  • Ollama Setup Wizard: step-by-step local AI installation
  • Ollama Manager: auto-discovery of models from the ollama.com registry + auto-refresh on focus/navigation
  • Debug Console: integrated console with log intercept
  • Video Extractor (v1.7.0): extract and convert FMV video from retro/modern games (VMD, BIK, SMK, USM, ROQ) with AI upscaling (Real-ESRGAN), direct link from game detail page
  • Plugin System: design doc for third-party plugins (see PLUGIN_SYSTEM.md)
  • Community Hub: share and download translation memories + GitHub Discussions integration
  • Public API v1: REST endpoints for integration (/api/v1/translate, /api/v1/batch)

💬 Community Chat

  • Real-time chat with other translators via Supabase Realtime
  • 4 default rooms: General, Translations, Feedback & Bugs, Announcements
  • Custom rooms: create rooms for specific games or projects
  • Auto-Bridge Auth: your GameStringer profile auto-syncs to Supabase — zero extra login
  • Online presence: see who's online in each room
  • Reply / edit / delete messages with RLS-enforced ownership
  • Expandable drawer widget in the bottom-right corner

♿ Accessibility (v1.9.0)

  • WCAG 2.1 AA sweep — aria-label on icon buttons, semantic CardTitle headings, focus-visible on all primitives, skip-to-content link, main landmark, Italian sr-only helpers
  • prefers-reduced-motion respected throughout animations
  • forced-colors (Windows High Contrast Mode) respected
  • 11-language UI: IT, EN, ES, FR, DE, JA, ZH, KO, PT, RU, PL
  • RTL layout support with automatic direction detection

🎨 Design System (v1.9.0)

  • Card variants via cva: default, muted, highlight, success, error, warning
  • Button sizes including xs and icon-sm
  • Text utilities: text-micro (9px), text-2xs (10px) — no more arbitrary Tailwind
  • Radix UI unified: migrated 37 files from @radix-ui/react-* to radix-ui, 27 packages removed
  • Optimized bundle: optimizePackageImports for radix-ui, framer-motion, recharts, cmdk

🖥️ App

  • Signed auto-updates: one-click update from the app via Tauri Updater
  • Profiles: multiple user profiles with recovery keys
  • Global Hotkeys: Ctrl+Shift+T OCR, Ctrl+Shift+Q Quick Translate, Ctrl+Alt+O Overlay, Alt+T XUnity toggle
  • System Tray: quick actions, live Ollama status, tools submenu, native OS notifications with preferences
  • Cross-platform: Windows & Linux with native builds
  • Windows tray fix: prevents console flash loop on child process spawn

🔧 AI Providers

ProviderAPI KeyFree TierBest for
OllamaNo (local)✅ UnlimitedPrivacy, offline
LM StudioNo (local)✅ UnlimitedPrivacy, GGUF models
TranslateGemmaNo (Ollama)✅ Unlimited — 55 languages, GoogleRecommended start
HY-MT1.5No (Ollama)✅ Unlimited — ~1GB RAM, TencentLow-RAM machines
Qwen 3No (Ollama)✅ Unlimited — multilingualCJK languages
Gemma 4No (Ollama)✅ Unlimited — 27B MoE A4B/E4B/E2BQuality local
GeminiYes✅ Free tier (15 RPM)Recommended cloud
DeepSeekYes✅ $0.14/1M inputBudget cloud
GroqYes✅ 14,400 req/daySpeed
MistralYes✅ Free tierEU cloud
OpenAIYesPaidGPT-4o quality
ClaudeYesPaidNuance, long context
DeepLYes✅ 500k chars/monthEuropean languages
MyMemoryNo✅ UnlimitedFallback
LingvaNo✅ UnlimitedGoogle MT mirror
CerebrasYes✅ Free tierSpeed
Together AIYes✅ $25 free creditOpen models
FireworksYes✅ Free tierOpen models
OpenRouterYes✅ Free modelsModel variety
NLLB-200Yes✅ 200 languagesRare languages
CohereYes✅ Free trialRAG

Recommended to start: TranslateGemma via Ollama (free, local, 55 languages) or Gemini (free tier, cloud). Low RAM: HY-MT1.5 (~1GB). Best quality: Claude 3.5 or GPT-4o. Best CJK: Qwen 3.

📖 Documentation

User Guides (11 languages)

🇮🇹 Italiano🇬🇧 English🇪🇸 Español
🇫🇷 Français🇩🇪 Deutsch🇯🇵 日本語
🇨🇳 中文🇰🇷 한국어🇧🇷 Português
🇷🇺 Русский🇵🇱 Polski🇮🇷 فارسی

Project Docs

🛠️ Build from Source

Prerequisites: Node.js 18+, Rust 1.70+, npm. On Linux also: libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev, libayatana-appindicator3-dev, librsvg2-dev.

git clone https://github.com/rouges78/GameStringer.git
cd GameStringer
npm install
npm run dev          # development
npm run tauri:build  # production build

Rust backend: cd src-tauri && cargo check to verify the Tauri commands compile on your platform.

💖 Support

If GameStringer helped you play games in your language:

Buy Me a Coffee Ko-fi GitHub Sponsors

📜 License

Source-Available License v1.1 — the source code is public and you can build it yourself, but it is not OSI-approved "Open Source".

  • ✅ Free for personal use
  • ✅ Free to inspect, build, and modify for yourself
  • ❌ Commercial use requires written permission
  • ❌ Redistribution of modified versions requires written permission

See LICENSE for details. Questions? Open a Discussion.

🙏 Credits

Made with ❤️ for gamers who want to play in their own language
GameStringer v1.9.1 · gamestringer.ai · © 2025-2026 GameStringer Team