It's been over a decade since Warframe's debut, and the game is almost unrecognizable from its modest debut as a run-and-gun action game. Now featuring open-world zones, ship combat, a quasi-roguelike mode, and a growing suite of unlockable characters, this free-to-play action RPG is still going strong, and 2024 is looking to be its most innovative year with an ambitious narrative-driven update that sees the Warframe universe reimagine the year 1999.
At Tokyo Game Show 2024, developer Digital Extremes made a huge splash by showcasing Warframe's newest update, Koumei & the Five Fates, and teasing what's to come with the ambitious 1999 update later this year. We spoke with creative director Rebecca Ford and community director Megan Everett about Warframe's growth in 2024 and how 1999 will be a big moment for the game.
Out now, Koumei and the Five Fates is the latest content update that introduces a new narrative quest and the next playable frame named Koumei – the 58th playable frame – that uses luck-based skills that can amplify her stats and cast spells on her enemies. Waframe has seen a variety of unusual frame, but Koumei is the first to add an active element of RNG to the flow of combat. Playing as Koumei has you utilize a set of dice that can make rolls when you use her skills -- the higher the numbers, the more potent her skills are.
"We really set the table for what we wanted for Koumei and the Five Fates early on, we really wanted the character and theme to be inspired by a shrine maiden aesthetic, and it also was important for players to be able to access it early in the game," said creative director Rebecca Ford. "You take on this quest in Cetus, and you fight off a growing infestation that has come up. The frame Koumei represents both fate and future, we had that all coalesce into the people of Cetus paying tribute to her. You can tell by the strings and the puppetry that she evokes that we wanted to lean in on the aspect of the "strings of fate." Conceptually, it all came together, like a nice waterfall of everything flowing into itself."
Koumei and The Five Fates update also introduces new activities and narrative events on Cetus, the first open-world zone players took on in the Plains of Eidolon expansion. This main quest for the update introduces Koumei's backstory, giving players an insight into her abilities and playstyle, which centers on her dice and protective charms.
"I think what I'm excited about with Koumei is that you can play around with the core abilities, the fact that there's so much RNG with the character, every experience you have with her will be different," said community director Megan Everett. " It's going to be exciting to see them just play every mission differently. And either they're going to be super powerful, they're going to get their triple sixes, and they're going to be status effects, or what decrees they'll get to chase, how many they can build up. It'll be cool to see how players will utilize Koumei's fates."
Along with the recent content updates, Digital Extremes is adding a limited-time Halloween event called the Night of Naberus, numerous quality-of-life updates to help with new player onboarding, and a full rework of the Caliban frame that modifies his abilities to focus more on dealing Tau damage effects. Furthermore, Digital Extremes is doubling down on the mobile edition of Warframe to focus on the future release for Android devices with mobile games developer Nitro.
"We're going all in on mobile, still on it. We want it to be our fifth platform with cross-save and cross-play. It's just another way to play Warframe, so we're super committed to it still," said Ford. "We have the expertise working on the mobile release; that's also why we've partnered with Nitro, a Finnish-based mobile company, and we're extending our contract with them to work on our Android release as well."
In a lot of ways, all of Warframe's key updates in 2023 and 2024 have been steadily setting the stage for the game's 1999 expansion, focusing on a new narrative quest that deals with a current in the present and an alternate version of the final days of the 20th century. Revealed at TennoCon 2023, 1999, introduces a crew of mercenaries led by Arthur, who bares a fighting style and abilities that allude to him being the progenitor to the Excalibur frame. The Koumei and the Five Fates update also comes with a playable teaser for 1999, allowing players to play as Arthur in a mission fighting through a corrupted city.
What makes the 1999 expansion so noteworthy is that it features an RPG-style party to interact with and team up with. As Arthur, players will be able to form deeper bonds with the crew, leading to potential romances and friendships. While Warframe has a history of experimenting with new concepts, 1999 is a more character-driven expansion that takes place between two different timelines. So far, Warframe fans have been positive about the expansion, and it looks to be the game's next big moment.
"I'm just excited about making everything with 1999, and how that leans into the strengths of over 10 years of Warframe – the syndicates, procedural levels, vehicle support, much more," said the creative director. "We just took everything that already works well in Warframe and just honestly optimized it to the extreme for storytelling, moving The Man in the Wall storyline forward and then bringing in the cast of human frames, and adding systems that just make it go deeper into romance with these characters as well. We have many really deep things to be revealed. I'm still nervous as hell, and I hope people like it. It's my kind of '90s vibe and my excuse to add a cool motorcycle in Warframe."