Warframe

Did You Know?

• The game's setting is a far future version of the Solar System known as the Origin System, where players join an interplanetary war between factions including the Grineer, Corpus, Infested, Sentients, and Corrupted.
• As of 2018, PC Gamer described Warframe's growth as resembling a mutant science experiment, with game systems haphazardly stitched together in ways that are sometimes incoherent but oddly charming.

Development

Before Warframe existed, its developer, Digital Extremes, was a studio that other companies hired to help finish their games. They worked with Epic Games on Unreal Tournament and its two sequels. Epic wanted to buy Digital Extremes, but the Canadian government blocked the merger, so the two studios split up. This breakup is why the physical disc version of the game was later discontinued.

Wanting to lead their own project, Digital Extremes announced Dark Sector in February 2000, promising a game that mixed Unreal Tournament's intense action with the ongoing character growth of a persistent online world. Early plans cast players as bounty hunters and assassins in a dark sci-fi setting, where every character had a price on their head. But when the studio tried to find a publisher for this idea, they only got more offers to work for other developers.

They went quiet for about four years. In early 2004, they re-announced a changed Dark Sector. This version was a single-player sci-fi game with stealth inspired by Metal Gear Solid, and a story they described as a mix of Metal Gear Solid and The Dark Crystal, set in space within a universe like Frank Herbert's Dune. The art style was heavily influenced by French artist Jean Giraud, known as Moebius.

The player character belonged to a race called the Tenno, and both they and the enemies wore high-tech suits that granted unique abilities. To show off this new vision, Digital Extremes created a scripted demo. The game got a lot of attention, including coverage from CNN about the upcoming console generation, just as the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 were being teased.

Status

Warframe first appeared in public in June 2012, and its closed beta started four months later. Player input shaped the game’s development. One early adjustment came in early 2013, when the developers changed how they made money to avoid a pay-to-win setup. At first, each Warframe had a skill tree that players could fully unlock by playing missions and gaining experience.

A longer version of that tree was available if players used an in-game item, which at the time could only be bought with real money. After players objected, the team removed those pay-to-win features and committed to a free-to-play model where no one had to spend cash to get any item. To fund the game, they took a page from successful Kickstarter projects and sold Founder’s Packs that gave buyers in-game items and currency. Around 2012 and 2013, Digital Extremes struggled to get press coverage because game journalists often ignored free-to-play titles.

Comparisons to the upcoming game Destiny, which was highly anticipated, also hurt Warframe’s reputation. With low player numbers, the studio was uncertain how long they could keep the game going. But a small, loyal group of players supported the title by buying Founder’s Packs, telling friends, and giving feedback that the developers used to improve the game. When well-known streamers like TotalBiscuit showed the beta, more players joined.

The open beta launched in March 2013 on Windows. Warframe came out around the same time the studio finished work on a Star Trek game tied to the 2013 film. That Star Trek game was widely criticized, causing financial trouble and layoffs at Digital Extremes. Warframe itself got middling reviews; IGN called it fun but a little bland in 2013.

Expansions

Digital Extremes has kept Warframe alive with patches and large updates since its launch. These updates have overhauled gameplay, like the Melee 2.0 system that gives players more combat moves, and added new planets, missions, story content, limited-time events, seasonal events, new modes, and regular additions of Warframes, weapons, and other gear. In December 2015, the first cinematic story quest, The Second Dream, arrived. It introduces key characters and a new faction called the Sentients.

Most importantly, it reveals the Tenno’s true nature: they are more than just a Warframe, more than human, but were once children like anyone else. Completing this quest unlocks the Focus mechanic and lets players temporarily enter battle as themselves through Transcendence. During Transcendence, the Warframe deactivates, and a spectral form of the Tenno appears, channeling one of five Focus Abilities based on the Focus School chosen during the quest.

In November 2016, the second cinematic quest, The War Within, was released. It sends players chasing Teshin, the Conclave’s master, as he suspiciously examines pods of newly awakened Tenno. Tracking him across the Origin System leads to the Kuva Fortress, a massive Grineer-controlled asteroid where the legendary Twin Grineer Queens live. The Queens trace their origins back to the old Orokin Empire, and Teshin is revealed to be a Dax Soldier under their command, able to wield the Kuva Scepter.

The Queens overload the link between Tenno and Warframe, forcing the Tenno to seek them out and discover their Void powers. At the climax, the Tenno unlocks Transference, which replaces Transcendence, allowing them to roam independently of their Warframe at will. The player can weaken the Elder Queen and choose to kill her or let her rot, as Grineer bodies decay from excessive cloning. This quest also introduces a moral alignment system with Sun, Neutral, and Moon options.