VeluTranslate – runtime localization plugin for Unreal (new player languages without rebuilds)

Hey everyone,

we are working on a plugin called VeluTranslate for Unreal Engine and its main idea is very simple:

If a player with a language your game does not support yet launches the game, they first see a message:
“Your language is being worked on. It will be ready in a few minutes.”

A few minutes later, a new message automatically appears:
“Your language is ready. Click here to switch.”

No new build, no update, no store review needed.

I’m Lukáš from Slovakia and I am building VeluTranslate together with Veronika. We made this for teams that are tired of doing new builds and patches just because of text changes or new languages.

TL;DR
Let your game teach itself new languages.
Runtime localization plugin for Unreal Engine – add new languages and change text in minutes, without rebuilds or store review.

Unity integration exists as a public beta, but Unreal is our main, production-ready target right now.

The problem it solves
If any of this sounds familiar:

  • you ship a new build or patch just to update text (UI, tutorial, shop, events)

  • you plan to support multiple languages or new markets later

  • you run live ops (seasonal events, offers, notifications)

  • QA is slowed down because text is baked into the build

then you know how annoying text-related builds can be.
We wanted a setup where text is a runtime layer, not a reason for a new build.

What VeluTranslate does (Unreal-first)
VeluTranslate sits between your game and the text.

  • In game, you use keys like menu.play, shop.offer_title, tutorial.step_1.

  • The plugin loads the actual text from a cloud JSON layer (via CDN) or from a cached JSON file.

  • You control text and languages from a web dashboard:

    • edit text

    • add or remove languages

    • run AI translations

    • approve changes before they go live

No rebuild is needed just because you changed a string.

Auto-expanding languages at runtime
When a new player language appears (for example someone from Brazil or Turkey):

  • The plugin detects the player’s language at runtime.

  • If that language does not exist in your project yet, VeluTranslate can:

    • create a new language entry

    • prefill it with AI translations

    • mark it for manual review if you want

  • In the game, the player sees the same flow as at the top of this post:
    “Your language is being worked on…”
    “Your language is ready. Click here to switch.”

All of that happens without shipping a new build.

Short overview of the Unreal integration

  1. Install the VeluTranslate plugin into your Unreal project.

  2. Add and configure the VeluTranslate subsystem (API key, project ID, default language).

  3. Use keys instead of hardcoded text (or bridge your existing localization system).

  4. On BeginPlay (or earlier), the plugin fetches text from:

    • the cloud (CDN JSON), or

    • a pre-downloaded JSON file (offline mode).

  5. In the web dashboard, you change any text and your game picks it up without a rebuild.

You can choose:

  • Online mode – runtime requests through CDN with caching.

  • Offline JSON mode – your build still reads from JSON, but the JSON itself is managed from the cloud and you can update it out-of-band.

Current status

  • Unreal plugin: production-ready, used in our own projects.

  • Download: currently available directly from our website (not on the Unreal Marketplace yet).

  • Unity integration: public beta (workflow and packaging still being tuned).

Right now we are focusing on:

  • smoothing out the Unreal developer experience

  • adding more examples (menu, shop, events)

  • getting feedback from actual Unreal teams (indies and small studios)

Early access and demo
If you are curious or want to poke holes in it, there is a demo and more info here:
https://velutranslate.games/

There is also a 14-day trial and an early access discount – we would rather work with a smaller number of teams closely, fix real-world issues and only then call it “1.0”.

We would love feedback especially on:

  • how you currently handle localization in Unreal (String Tables, Data Tables, custom systems)

  • what would be a dealbreaker for a runtime localization plugin

  • any missing features that would make this unusable in your pipeline

If you are interested, we can also share a minimal example project or record a short Unreal-only walkthrough focused on your kind of game.

Happy to answer any questions or show more details.