Yesterday, towards the end of the 10-year Warframe celebration live stream, Digital Extremes surprised fans with roughly four minutes of prototype gameplay from Soulframe.
The first game made by the Canadian studio since Warframe, Soulframe was first heard of when Digital Extremes registered the trademark in Europe last May. Two months later, at TennoCon 2022, the game was unveiled with a gorgeous debut trailer.
Soulframe was described as a free-to-play action MMORPG hybrid, albeit one set in a fantasy world rather than the sci-fi universe of Warframe. Soulframe Creative Director Geoff Crookes said at the time:
With Soulframe’s worldbuilding and thematic elements, we are really looking to go back to our childhood favorites like Never Ending Story and those elaborate fantasy worlds. Our team has a fond love for Hayao Miyazaki and Princess Mononoke where there are recurring concepts of nature and humanity colliding and we’ll be exploring a lot of those themes through our own lens while playing with ideas of restoration and exploration.
Shortly after the announcement, Creative Director Steve Sinclair clarified that the game wouldn’t have anything to do with the Soulsborne genre. The nod in the title is instead a reference to a core game mechanic and overarching theme.
More about Soulframe will be revealed at TennoCon 2023, which will mark the studio’s return to the fan-favorite in-person event after three years of remote events due to COVID. TennoCon 2023 will take place in the usual venue of London, Ontario, on August 26th, and tickets for it will go on sale on April 5th.
Yesterday’s live stream also treated Warframe fans with a first look at the Orowyrm boss fight from the upcoming expansion, The Duviri Paradox. Scheduled to be released on all platforms (Warframe now has both cross-play and cross-progression) next month, The Duviri Paradox is set to add the fourth open world map to the online action game, but there are a few twists, too, including roguelike elements, an improved Drifter experience, upgraded melee combat, and much more.
Players will get to select between three available game modes: The Circuit’ which provides a new Warframe Only endless game mode, ‘The Duviri Experience’ which is a full open world adventure with something like 50 side activities, and ‘The Lone Story’ for a solo narrative experience.
More information about The Duviri Paradox expansion will be revealed soon in a Reddit Ask Me Anything (AMA) session with the developers from Digital Extremes.
