Game text to speech
Text to speech for the Shadowrun trilogy
Harebrained Schemes' Shadowrun trilogy (Shadowrun Returns, Dragonfall and Hong Kong) tells its stories almost entirely in text. Corvo Reader reads every conversation and description aloud in a natural voice, without mods.
- Free plan, no card
- Windows 10 & 11
- No mods
Text worth hearing in Shadowrun
- Conversations
- Scene descriptions
- Examine text
- Terminals
- Tutorials
- Loading screens
Press CtrlShiftE and draw a box round any of it to hear it read aloud.
A whole trilogy in text
The games have almost no voice acting. A 2015 thread on the Shadowrun Returns Steam forums, titled 'Why no speech?!', debates the choice, and Hong Kong players note only a little voice work in the animated sequences at the start and end. Conversations, scene descriptions and examine text are all for reading.
Fans have started filling the gap: the Dragonfall Full Voice Pack on Nexus Mods AI-voices 241 characters across 13,933 lines of the Director's Cut campaign. It covers that one game; Corvo Reader reads all three.
One key per conversation
Save the dialogue panel as a region and one key reads the current line. For a description or a terminal, press Ctrl+Shift+E and draw a box round it.
Every edition
Returns, Dragonfall (as the Director's Cut) and Hong Kong came out between 2013 and 2015 and were collected in a remastered compilation in 2022. Corvo Reader reads the screen, so it works with whichever edition you own on Windows.
Questions
Shadowrun and Corvo Reader.
Are the Shadowrun games voice acted?
Barely. Apart from a little voice work in some animated scenes, the conversations and descriptions are text.
Does it work in all three games?
Yes. Corvo Reader reads whatever text is on your screen, so Returns, Dragonfall and Hong Kong all work the same way.
Which display mode does Shadowrun need?
Borderless or Windowed. In exclusive fullscreen, Windows keeps the game's picture away from other apps, so Corvo Reader can't see the text. Where to look: each game's options: a windowed or borderless display setting. Check your game's display settings, as the exact label can change between versions.
Is it free?
Yes. The free plan needs no card: standard neural voices for 20 minutes of narration a week. Paid plans start at $6.99 a month and add weekly premium voice minutes, unlimited standard voices, Summarize and Translate.
Other games
Same reader, every game.
Baldur's Gate 3
BG3 voices its dialogue, but tooltips, item text, books and the journal stay silent. Hear them in a natural AI voice. No mods. Free plan, no card.
Read the guideCrusader Kings III
Hear Crusader Kings III events, option tooltips and nested tooltips read aloud in a natural voice. One hotkey, no mods. Free plan, no card.
Read the guideEuropa Universalis V
EU5 fonts too small? Hear Europa Universalis V events, situations and tooltips read aloud in a natural AI voice. One hotkey, no mods. Free plan, no card.
Read the guide
Hear Shadowrun instead of squinting at it.
Download Corvo Reader free. No card, no mods.
Download free for Windows