PCOT Japanese Localization Tool Ends Development After Six Years
Individual developer Nuruppo announced on November 10 that development of the PC translation support tool PCOT will end with the update currently in progress.
1 source 17m ago
Reporting from 1 source: Automaton.
Why it matters
A free tool that spent six years bridging the gap between Japanese players and untranslated PC games is closing because its developer believes AI has made that gap small enough for players to cross alone.
Key Facts
- Nuruppo announced on November 10 that PCOT development ends with the update currently in progress.
- PCOT has been distributed free on Nuruppo's official website since 2020.
- PCOT extracts game screen text with OCR and converts it into the target language.
- Gemini was implemented in PCOT in April 2025, and Nani!? support was added in December 2025.
- Nuruppo said the app will keep being released and bug maintenance will continue.
Nuruppo said AI advances have made visible a future in which players localize games into Japanese themselves, and the tool's role has reached a conclusion. PCOT stays free and bug maintenance continues.
PCOT has been free since 2020, distributed on Nuruppo's official website, and it worked by pulling text off a selected range of the game screen with OCR and returning it in the target language. Gemini support arrived in April 2025 and sharply improved reading and translation accuracy, and in December 2025 the tool added support for Nani!?, the translation tool from individual developer catnose.
Nuruppo wrote on X that the end of development does not sadden him. He said he is delighted that an era has arrived in which players can play games in Japanese with AI's help, and thanked users for more than six years at the front of the field. Users have already replied with sadness and gratitude.
Written with AI by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited. See our editorial policy.
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