Case Study: IMVU achieves rapid global localization and major app registration growth with Smartling

Building real-life virtual connections across the globe

IMVU, the world’s largest avatar-based 3D social network with over five million monthly visitors, needed to offer a seamless, native-language experience across mobile apps, web app, and websites. The company faced three main challenges: no dedicated localization manager, source content scattered across multiple platforms, and heavy, around-the-clock traffic that required translations to be fast, consistent, and always available.

IMVU implemented Smartling’s Translation Cloud (web proxy and API) plus a dedicated customer success manager and TMS, enabling one product manager to handle localization as a part-time responsibility. The solution delivered 15 localized websites with 99.99% uptime, combined volunteer and Smartling Language Services for context-aware translations, and a Korean launch of 20,000+ words in under four weeks. Within two months IMVU saw iOS registrations rise 45% and Android registrations rise 43%, and plans to expand into Japanese and Chinese.

IMVU

Rosaline Wong

Product Manager