Warframe turns 13 years previous this week. Digital Extremes’ free-to-play on-line motion recreation has confirmed itself to be remarkably resilient over time, establishing a loyal fanbase whereas staying related even when its opponents falter. And there have been a lot who’ve faltered lately. The dwell service house is suffering from the corpses of failed video video games. Harmony. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. Highguard. These are just some of the excessive profile video games which have tried and did not carve out a bit of that profitable dwell service pie. And with every massive new dwell service launch comes an obsession with Steam participant numbers. Valve’s is the one gaming platform to make concurrents public, and in lieu of gross sales and income knowledge from the overwhelming majority of recreation corporations, Steam has grow to be a lightning rod for the dreaded ‘lifeless recreation’ debate.
All of the whereas, Warframe has thrived. It’s nonetheless right here, including extra content material, maintaining its neighborhood , and maintaining its builders at Digital Extremes in a job. Warframe artistic director Rebecca Ford is on the coronary heart of that effort. She admits Warframe received fortunate, launching because it did at a time when there have been far fewer opponents on Steam, at a time when this entire dwell service factor wasn’t actually a factor in any respect. Within the interview with IGN, under, Ford explains how Digital Extremes has managed to maintain Warframe going, affords her tackle our Steam charts obsession, and teases what’s to come back.
IGN: This month marks the thirteenth anniversary of Warframe, an enormous achievement for a web based recreation. How has it been trying again on the sport, and trying to the place issues are going subsequent?
Rebecca Ford: Yeah, it is our thirteenth anniversary since we launched on Steam in 2013, which was indicative of when issues took off for us. It has been nice, we have executed some stuff this yr, to this point, however our first main replace, the Shadowgrapher, launches on March 25, after which we go proper to PAX East to speak about what’s subsequent, after which we’re already engaged on what’s subsequent after that. The worst a part of the job is when you may’t say something [beyond that].
I want I may say every thing we’re engaged on, however it could smash our total plan for the yr. I am excited for our replace to exit, which incorporates the Swap 2 launch. However I am engaged on one thing proper now that I have been eager to work on for years, however what are you able to do? You gotta hold your mouth shut, as a result of it is too hype.
IGN: The brand new Shadowgrapher replace, which is a horror-themed replace for Warframe, is arising as properly. It continues with Warframe’s concentrate on attempting new issues and placing a really ‘Warframe’ spin on acquainted recreation modes. How has it been seeing that one evolve into what you will have now?
Rebecca Ford: It is shaping up properly. This replace has modified loads since its authentic inception. We at all times needed to return to one thing a bit extra on the unconventional horror facet. We have dabbled with that as a theme and a subject for our Chains of Harrow content material. Again in 2017, we really needed these [horror] items there. We did not know what the puzzle can be as we have been placing all of the items collectively, however we completely knew we needed one thing that handled the lifeless relay from so way back. After which, on prime of that, the sport mode we have been attempting to determine what can be essentially the most enjoyable to play is you being chased.
We had a type of hide-and-seek prototype, and now it’s kind of of all of that, when it comes to gameplay iteration, to offer gamers a recreation mode. This one went by means of plenty of churn, and what we have ended up with is the most effective of each worlds. The precise character itself – Follie, the sixty fourth playable Warframe – is type of the gasoline that makes the engine run, as a result of she’s meant to be a bit spooky, but in addition a bit whimsical. If a participant likes that taste, they’ll get a bit little bit of a backstory about why that is vital, primarily based on characters that they’re going to be assembly for the primary time. So I am very proud of all that. After which there are tons of quality-of-life stuff that we have simply been ready to ship as a part of this replace, cosmetics, occasions, all that good things.
IGN: We’re additionally seeing the discharge of the Swap 2 model of Warframe this week, developed internally this time. It might be honest to say that the Swap 1 model was extra profitable than anticipated, so what kind of classes have been realized from that when making the latest one?
Rebecca Ford: Our authentic Swap 1 journey was helped by developer Panic Button, who co-developed it with us. They have been the consultants on that {hardware} on the time, and we have been trying to that platform as a future for Warframe. We did not even know if it was potential, after which when it shipped, we noticed it may very well be executed, which was actually vital for us to make choices about which {hardware} to help for the way forward for Warframe. Now we’ve the Nintendo Swap 2 launch, which, sure, we did in-house solely, and it’s loopy.
I simply reviewed the launch trailer for it, and it exhibits the variations in load occasions and texture resolutions. It is unbelievable to suppose we’re as soon as once more on Nintendo {hardware}, with a efficiency and optimization degree that’s much more compelling for individuals with a Swap 2 to offer Warframe a attempt. There’s not very similar to it on the Nintendo Swap {hardware}, it is a mature recreation that offers you a very good sci-fi MMO expertise at this level, and it should be extremely spectacular for anybody who has a Nintendo Swap 2 to see a recreation like this on the {hardware}. [ …] And we’ve Swap 2 mouse help as properly; there was plenty of pleasure from the QA group that we have been capable of make that occur.
IGN: I realized again when the Swap 1 model got here out that the optimization went so properly that it led to discoveries on methods to enhance the PC and console variations of the sport, too. Did any new technical enchancment come about after the work on the Swap 2 model?
Rebecca Ford: What has been actually attention-grabbing is the best way your complete ecosystem of platforms Warframe runs on is feeding off one another’s tech good points. We simply launched an Android model, and now Swap 2 is about to launch, which took every thing optimized for these {hardware} limitations, however now we get to show it up much more. We had some actually spectacular good points with mesh streaming for open worlds and with common load-time optimizations. We now have had a really fruitful cross-pollination hybrid between the platforms. There are completely different tips throughout the board which have cross-pollinated to create a ridiculously optimized expertise for load occasions on the Nintendo Swap 2. So it has been actually, actually good for that.
IGN: With Warframe’s anniversary arising, it has been fairly neat to see how a lot the sport has modified since its authentic launch, and the way Digital Extremes has caught with the sport. What’s been vital for you all to make sure that the sport retains going?
Rebecca Ford: Our longevity is actually only a operate of our uncooked elemental volatility. Right here I’m going with the analogies: should you image the video games trade because the Periodic Desk of Parts, along with your tremendous secure components on one facet. These noble gases are like your neon, and there is not plenty of volatility there. However we’re very energetic and really fast to bond with different mixtures to make one thing new, one thing that has by no means actually been launched into the chemical entropy of the video games trade. Our first chemical bond was like, “Okay, we’re going free-to-play, dwell service, however do it tremendous ****ing quick.” Which we did, after which we have not misplaced that. That is nonetheless a part of the fundamental composition of the Digital Extremes molecule, which thrives on velocity. It thrives on new mixtures, and like including sufficient warmth to create new structural bonds for what makes us and people structural bonds what they’re.
We have grow to be an trade meme for the way small our recreation obtain sizes are regardless of being 13 years previous, and for the way little server downtime we’ve, all regardless of being a dwell service recreation. As I stated, we do issues, and we do them quick, and we do them in a really Warframe methodology that permits us, I believe, plenty of grace from the video games trade, as a result of individuals will be very explicit about what defines success, or like what ought to be a recreation killer, so to talk. And yeah, at this level, we’re not only a uncooked aspect. We’re a molecule, however that molecule is, properly, every thing I simply stated.
IGN: One other factor I believe has helped Warframe succeed is its robust concentrate on constructing neighborhood and outreach with gamers. Along with being reactive and regular with updates, there are TennoCon fan occasions, the livestream exhibits, and simply typically attempting various things with new content material. That is one thing that many different live-service video games that fail to make it into the circle of participant curiosity miss the mark on.
Rebecca Ford: Sure, we take the neighborhood very critically. So it is all enjoyable and video games till it is not from the neighborhood facet, and you realize, we take the great with the dangerous we’ve. We’re like an establishment at this level, the place we have been doing it for therefore lengthy, and simply fortunately it comes naturally as a precedence for us, and it took us 13 years to construct even a day of goodwill that we might get right this moment – and it solely takes you sooner or later to lose all of it. So you realize, we’ve to be very cognizant of what we are saying and the way we are saying it about our recreation, our neighborhood, and our devs. It’s a actually not possible factor, I believe, now to even speculate on methods to do neighborhood should you’re aspiring to do a dwell service recreation nowadays. For those who’ve constructed a group that’s meant to shepherd and caretake a big live-service recreation, there isn’t any proper reply. Quite a lot of video games do issues very otherwise; for instance, PVP recreation neighborhood administration is a very completely different ball recreation than PvE.
There’s additionally a generational factor occurring now, too. If you’re going to get the subsequent era of avid gamers, what they have been uncovered to of their time on-line may be very, very completely different from what many people have had. I am not saying it in a problematic approach, however what do individuals anticipate if you’re 18 and going to school on campus? What have you ever seen on-line at this level? That’s the kind of neighborhood that you simply’d be managing should you’re making an 18-plus recreation and stuff, and there is a very psychological hole now, in a great way, of like, what the subsequent era of avid gamers expects. Many individuals have solely actually seen one console era, and in that era, they weren’t uncovered to the identical IPs that you simply and I have been after we grew up. So it is a very completely different type of individual you are hoping will be a part of your neighborhood. And should you’re not ready to cope with that, you will not get the deal. So for positive, on-line literacy.
IGN: You really talked on social media not too long ago {that a} massive motive for Warframe’s success early on was that the sport had drastically fewer video games to compete with – lately, there are a number of thousand yearly. There is a fixed problem to get consideration, so do you are feeling Warframe right this moment remains to be specializing in guaranteeing gamers get what they need out of it on their time?
Rebecca Ford: Yeah, we’re very cautious with what it means for gamers to have a Warframe account. Prefer it’s yours, and nothing in it should ever be taken from you, proper? However that submit and stuff I wrote took on a lifetime of its personal that I did not essentially predict. It match plenty of narratives that folks have been already having, so it received absorbed into these, regardless that that wasn’t actually my intention. Sure, I play Warframe, and that has one thing to say about what’s occurring within the trade. So I get all of it, and it is so vital to make use of your time properly when making a recreation and do what you realize is achievable. Like, it’s essential be tremendous literate about what launching a recreation proper now appears like and might really feel like since you do not management the web. You solely management your recreation, and I communicate from a spot the place I work with a gaggle of individuals about to launch a recreation on this similar local weather with Soulframe.
We received extremely fortunate. We have been broke. There have been lower than 500 different video games launched the yr Warframe launched. Day by day individuals care about Warframe is a present and we’re solely nearly as good as our final replace.
— rebb ford (@rebbford) March 10, 2026
We’re very conscious and really cautious about what success appears like for us, and the way we’ll navigate any conversations the place somebody may label our launch as unsuccessful by utilizing different launches as the one metric. However on the similar time, the sort of dialog persons are having about live-service video games isn’t new. The music trade, as an illustration, places out an album that does not even chart, which ends up in conversations. There is a film that will get launched, and it is thought of a box-office bomb. The video games trade was due for the sort of empirical reckoning, quantifying success past simply Metacritic scores.
You could be a essential darling and never promote, and you’ll promote a ton and be a essential failure. There isn’t a that means apart from what which means to you as a client. Like, none of these issues matter to you in any respect, however there are others the place that may matter essentially the most, who would by no means dare purchase one thing that did not break over 100,000 concurrent gamers on Steam. That is at all times as much as you, and it ought to at all times stay as much as the individual on the different finish of the pc or no matter system they need. If we wish any individual to be thinking about what we’re making, we’ve to make it look attention-grabbing to them. Which means understanding your target market, and understanding what makes this group excited. However I am already dreading this yr, as a result of after we launch our Tau replace, if it is not larger than final yr’s replace, does that imply it was a failure? Some individuals could say so, however as you realize, we’ve to resolve what success is to us, and at this stage within the trade, that’s having a job.
IGN: I think about as a developer, it may be a bit irritating to listen to on-line commentary about Steam concurrent gamers and the way they translate into success or failure.
Rebecca Ford: Nicely, for avid gamers – which I proudly determine with in all of the tongue-in-cheek methods potential – we do not have Tremendous Bowls, we’ve The Sport Awards, which does precisely what it must do to acknowledge nice video games of the yr. But it surely’s virtually like we have sportified Steam charts and different metrics. Each time I see Steam chart discourse, it is like persons are voting for his or her groups in a approach that jogs my memory of checking a MLB participant’s batting common. They’re like, properly, Warframe’s batting at about 50k CCU with one spike, and as you may inform, if all of us have been into sports activities, this similar rhetoric can be used on your favourite sports activities group.
So there’s nothing inherently fallacious with these conversations, and so they do outline studios’ success in methods related to the pockets and genres they’re in. So I at all times simply interpret them as like batting averages, sports activities data, and residential run streaks, and I cope with plenty of baseball freaks in my life, so I understand how they deal with baseball stats. So to me, it is at all times simply felt like that, and it is only a dialog. However from the gamer lens, and that of avid gamers who typically do not give a hoot about sports activities, it’s totally a lot the same dialog that sports activities followers have.
IGN: Digital Extremes has been persevering with on the live-service path for a while, and with each Warframe and Soulframe, it is clear that you simply all have discovered your explicit nook of the live-service house. How are you feeling about this explicit path forward that you simply all have constructed?
Rebecca Ford: For us, the long run is at all times a thriller. However I really feel personally chargeable for making issues clear for everybody concerned, whether or not you are a participant or on the dev group. We’d like readability in why we’re going the best way we’re going, and I realized every thing from the crew which can be nonetheless right here at our facet, a lot of whom are engaged on Soulframe now. They nonetheless assist immensely with simply sitting and having a espresso and speaking about what’s subsequent, and “does this really feel proper?” Fortunately, they belief me to arrange any of these artistic threads that we tug at to show them into one thing that we will really ship out.
This yr, regardless that the Tau replace will not be an excessive amount of of a shock since we teased it, I believe the best way the form it should take shall be very, very thrilling, and clearly plenty of danger concerned, and if gamers like the best way issues find yourself trying or feeling. However there’s one different replace that I’ve been engaged on for nearly, I do not even know, like in a doc, in a notepad, in life, similar to, there’s this little challenge that’s going to see the sunshine of day this yr. I do not know that I’ve ever been extra personally enthusiastic about a bit Warframe replace as I’m with this one.
So I am actually hoping that that pleasure would not flip into trauma when individuals do not feel the identical approach, which is okay. I will study from that. However for me, I believe that this yr might be one I like yearly of Warframe. So I am unable to choose favorites, however I simply suppose it is vital that one explicit chapter for this yr’s Warframe that nobody is aware of about is probably my most anticipated ever. I am unable to say rather more, as a result of I’ll be executed if I spoil something. However ought to the query merely be, what do you are feeling about Warframes future? The reply is essentially the most thrilling I’ve ever been due to what I do know and what you do not know, however you’ll know ahead of you suppose, too. Not PAX, however like, you will know quickly.
Wesley is Director, Information at IGN. Discover him on Twitter at @wyp100. You may attain Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.