A new update to Razer Cortex has just introduced an add-ons feature, through which users can install third-party tools from Razer's partners. There are five add-ons available at launch, and we took a look at each of them.
I previously reviewed Razer Cortex, and wanted to answer the question, "is it worthwhile even if you didn't own Razer hardware?" (spoiler alert, I think it is). But with the recent announcement of the new add-ons feature in Razer Cortex, it wanted to go back and take a deep dive at all the third-party extensions now available in the app.
What do these newly-available tools bring to Razer Cortex, and what users are they relevant to? Find out below.
Razer Cortex Add-Ons Now Available
There are five add-ons available at launch: Powder, BUFF, Voicemod, E-Pal and Forge, and I spent some time playing around with each of them. I won't rank them or give them any kind of score, but if I were to do so, I would say that I was probably most impressed by Voicemod.
To begin, a quick explanation of how you get these add-ons:
- Open Razer Cortex.
- Select the rightmost tab, labelled "Add-Ons".
- Select the add-on you want,
- For Powder, BUFF and Voice mod, simply press "Install".
- For E-Pal and Forge, select "Open In Browser".
- The first time you open these add-ons, you will need to make an account for each service (if you don't want any new accounts, continuing as a guest is an option for Buff).
- You will now be able to find your add-ons under the "Collections" sub-category.
And voilà! You have your add-ons.
The only add-on that took any length of time to install was Voicemod, which required about 500 MB of space.
Here was my experience with each of them.
Powder
Powder is targeted at up-and-coming streamers who don't have a dedicated editor and therefore have to do the legwork of breaking up a full stream into clips and montages themselves to share across platforms. Personally, this has very little relevance to me and isn't the kind of add-on I would need, but it worked surprisingly well and one feature in particular really impressed me.
I won't speak on the editing tools provided within Powder; although easy to use, there's nothing mind-blowing to speak of, but I do want to praise them for the Find function and the Analyzer.
The Find function is simple but effective. Powder's AI reviews an entire stream and detects each word you spoke, which allows you to then use the Find function to search for specific words that were said during the stream. This allows users to instantly find an exact moment in a stream, as long as they can remember what they were talking about. Simple, but effective.
Alongside the Find function was another major time-saving tool called the Analyzer, which can automatically create montages for you when asked to look for certain types of in-game behavior.
The Analyzer was not flawless for me, and it did require some manual editing before I could produce something I would be happy to post, but it certainly saved time.
BUFF
BUFF is one of the broader add-ons, and should really be thought of more as a gaming platform. The main function of BUFF is that it monitors the games you play and then awards you with points for completing certain challenges, you can then use these points to buy tickets, which can then be used to enter raffles to win in-game currencies, vouchers, and even whole games (one of the raffles I saw was for a copy of Baldur's Gate 3 on Steam, for instance).
It might sound convoluted, but the idea is simple: Play games with BUFF, and you can enter raffles with a chance to win prizes. Sadly, I didn't win the Steam gift voucher I spent my raffle tickets on, so I can't walk away feeling massively thrilled by BUFF. But I will keep using the service (wish me luck!)
Voicemod
Voicemod is exactly what you expect: A voice modifier, which also come with a soundboard. Sadly, the add-on you download is only the free trial version, which gives you 24 hours of voice modifying, before you need to start spending $5 a month for the premium version.
The need to have a premium account will be an instant turn-off for a lot of users, and that's understandable. But for content creators and those who play TTRPGs (seriously, GMs will have a ton of fun impressing their players with Voicemod), I would be happy to recommend the product.
It works exactly as it should, and I was able to change my voice in real-time from "Scary Doll" to "Gigachad", and everything in between! Even the least imaginative creators out there will find ways to bring their content to life with Voicemod.
E-Pal
E-Pal feels like a social media network from the future, but maybe that's just the inner-boomer in me? In short, E-Pal is a platform that connects real (and AI-generated) streamers with the audience. You pay to load up your account with E-Pal's currency, and then you can use that currency to play games or chat with their roster of E-Pals.
You can also have them send custom messages, ASMR recordings, or even give you a goodnight call, but the prices for those services is quite a bit higher than just, say, one game of Overwatch. If you don't fancy paying, they do also have AI chatbots that you can talk to:
Look, this add-on clearly won't be for everyone. It's targeted at a specific demographic of people who want this kind of service, and for those people it provides an easy-to-use platform with competitive rates. If this is your thing, more power to you, and check out E-Pal!
Forge
Forge is really similar to BUFF; it's a platform that rewards you for playing games. But whereas in BUFF, you are completing challenges to enter specific raffles, in Forge, you complete challenges (called Quests) to complete their own Season Pass. And some of the Season Pass rewards include the chance to win prizes like a Steam Deck.
For instance, if you reach level 17 in the current Forge Season Pass, you have a chance to win a 512 GB OLED Steam Deck:
It must be said, Forge still feels in its infancy as a concept and product, especially when compared to the more well-rounded alternative, BUFF. But neither excludes the other, and they are both free. Which means you can set them both up, then play as you would normally, and you have at least the chance to win prizes from both platforms without spending a dollar.
That was just a first look at the add-ons now available in Razer Cortex, hopefully we get more added soon!