PO files (GNU gettext Portable Object format) are the native string format for Godot Engine and a widely used interchange format for custom game engines, web-based games, and open-source projects. If your game exports .po or .pot files, SandVox can translate them directly — returning properly structured .po files ready for import without any format conversion required.

What Is a PO File?

A PO file (Portable Object) is a plain-text string file in GNU gettext format. Each entry contains a msgid (the source string identifier, usually the English text), an optional msgctxt (context string), a translator comment, and a msgstr field that receives the translated text. POT files (Portable Object Template) are PO files with empty msgstr fields — they are the translation template you send to translators. Translators fill in the msgstr fields and return the completed .po file.

Which Game Engines Use PO Files?

Godot Engine uses .po files natively for its internationalization system — Godot generates .pot templates automatically from scenes and scripts and imports completed .po files per locale. Unreal Engine exports .po files from its Localization Dashboard for each String Table — the most common format for Unreal localization projects. Unity does not use .po files natively but several community plugins and custom localization systems output .po format. Web-based and HTML5 games built on frameworks that support i18next or similar libraries can export .po files. Custom game engines frequently adopt .po as their string format due to broad toolchain support.

POT vs PO — The Difference

A .pot file is a Portable Object Template — it contains all your source strings with empty translation fields (msgstr “”). Send us the .pot file as the translation source; we complete the msgstr fields and return a .po file per target language. If you already have partial translations (a .po file with some msgstr fields filled in), we can work from that directly — completing missing strings while preserving existing translations that already pass quality review.

How to Work with SandVox Using PO Files

Export your .pot or .po files from your game engine — include any msgctxt and translator comment fields your pipeline populates, as these provide critical context. Send the files with your target language list, word count estimate, and target timeline. SandVox processes .po files through memoQ with per-project Translation Memory and a game-specific terminology glossary. We return completed .po files per target language with all formatting preserved, ready for direct import into Godot, Unreal, or your custom engine. The project TM and glossary are delivered alongside for use on future updates.

Frequently Asked Questions