13 Years of Warframe: The Shadowgrapher Update, Nintendo Switch 2 Version, and Plenty More to Come

In the fast-paced, crowded landscape of live-service games, Digital Extremes' Warframe has been a recurring favorite among die-hard fans of online action-RPGs — and the community is still growing 13 years since its launch. With the volatility of the live-service games space in recent years, the creators of Warframe have managed to find their space and keep it growing, and the developers have plenty of thoughts on how their tenacious free-to-play online RPG is keeping things fresh, and has still got players clamoring for what's next.

Just before Digital Extremes' live showcase set for PAX West 2026, we sat down with creative director Rebecca Ford to talk about Warframe in 2026, how the evolving online action-RPG is continuing its growth, along with the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 release and the Shadowgrapher update. Furthermore, Ford shared her thoughts on the current state of live-service games and why audiences have "sportified" discussions about games in our present time (check out our interview with Ford in full right here).

"It's our 13th anniversary since we launched on Steam in 2013, which was indicative of when things took off for us," Ford said. "It's been great, we've done some content updates this year, but our first major update, the Shadowgrapher, launches on March 25, and then we go right to PAX East to talk about what's next, and then we're already working on what's next after that. The worst part of the job is when you can't say anything [beyond that]."

"I wish I could say everything we are working on, but it would ruin our entire plan for the year," she continued. "I'm excited for our update to go out, which includes the Switch 2 launch. But I'm working on something right now that I've been wanting to work on for years, but what can you do? You gotta keep your mouth shut, because it's too hype."

Originally released in 2013, Warframe gradually evolved to focus on a sprawling array of activities and missions set in open-world zones and narrative-driven events, including a time-travel story set in an alternate, Matrix-inspired 1999 that showcases the game's dense lore. It's been praised by many for its laid-back, FOMO-free approach to an online game, offering short, bite-sized missions with co-op partners, as well as more involved activities that focus on story and bespoke encounters.

Continuing this trend is Warframe's March 25 update, the Shadowgrapher, which focuses on a horror-themed event where players must explore a haunted space relay while being stalked by a powerful foe. Along with the new activity and story, the Shadowgrapher also introduces the 64th playable Warframe known as Follie, who uses ink-based powers to bind enemies and support the team.

Furthermore, Warframe will also arrive on the Nintendo Switch 2 on March 25, upgrading the well-received Switch 1 release with enhanced performance and 1080p resolution, improved load times, and added Joy-Con support for mouse control. According to Ford, the original Switch release was initiated by the devs' desire to bring Warframe to more platforms. This move turned out to be a big success for the online game.

"It's kind of unbelievable to think we are once again on Nintendo hardware, with a performance and optimization level that is even more compelling for people with a Switch 2 to give Warframe a try," said Ford. "There's not much like it on the Nintendo Switch hardware. It's a mature game that gives you a really good sci-fi MMO experience at this point, and it's going to be incredibly impressive for anyone who has a Nintendo Switch 2 to see a game like this on the hardware. And we have Switch 2 mouse support as well; there was a lot of joy from the QA team that we were able to make that happen."

As Warframe continues to grow steadily, a broader conversation has emerged about the current state of live-service games. Following high-profile failures of games in recent years, particularly the online shooters Concord and Highguard, this cast a big spotlight on the viability and risks of maintaining games-as-a-service titles. This has also gotten the online games community as a whole invested in the performance of games online, which carries its own unique conversations.

Warframe benefited from coming out before the massive influx of new games, which gave it more space and time to find its identity as an online experience. According to Ford, the current perception of game performance has led to discussions similar to those of commentators analyzing sports or film analytics. Along with an extended analysis of Steam concurrent player numbers, this "sportified" discourse has also skewed definitions of what constitutes a game's success.

Ford said these types of conversations were inevitable for games and not inherently wrong. However, some wrong lessons can be drawn from performances, and many discussions add stress to developers.

"We're very aware and very cautious about what success looks like for us, and how we're going to navigate any conversations where someone might label our launch as unsuccessful by using other launches as the only metric," she explained. "If we want any person to be interested in what we're making, we have to make it look interesting to them. That means knowing your target audience, and knowing what makes this team excited. But I'm already dreading this year, because when we release our upcoming Tau update, if it's not bigger than last year's update, does that mean it was a failure? Some people may say so, but as you know, we have to decide what success is to us, and at this stage in the industry, that is just having a job."

The creative director credits Digital Extremes' ability to quickly pivot and react to community needs and concerns for Warframe's continued success. During the game's early years, this was a necessity due to Warframe being the one constant project Digital Extremes had. This approach to improving the online experience has earned the game a dedicated following of active players.

"We've become an industry meme for how small our game download sizes are despite being 13 years old, and for how little server downtime we have, all despite being a live service game," said Ford. "We do things and we do them fast, and we do them in a very Warframe method that allows us, I think, a lot of grace from the games industry. People can be very particular about what defines success, or like what should be a game killer, so to speak. And yeah, at this point, we're not just a raw element. We are a molecule, but that molecule is, well, everything I just said."

Currently, Digital Extremes has a steady hit with Warframe, and it already has the next major expansion, known as Tau, planned for later in 2026. The developers are also actively putting the follow-up game Soulframe, the fantasy-inspired online action-RPG, through its paces in the playable alpha, which also gained a following of its own. Therein lies where Digital Extremes has succeeded: it has spent considerable time fostering a community, which other games have struggled with. For more than a decade, Digital Extremes has also produced the fan event TennoCon, which has been a popular destination for long-time players.

"We take the community very seriously," said Ford. "So it's all fun and games until it isn't from the community side, and you know, we take the good with the bad we have. We're like an institution at this point, where we've been doing it for so long, and just luckily it comes naturally as a priority for us, and it took us 13 years to build even a day of goodwill that we would get today — and it only takes you one day to lose it all. We have to be very cognizant of what we say and how we say it about our game, our community, and our devs."

But according to Ford, whose current tenure as creative director has led to new storylines and more character-driven events, Warframe's success as a live service will always come down to the player community and their investment in what's to come.

"The future is always a mystery, but I feel personally responsible for making things clear for everyone involved, whether you're a player or on the dev team," said Ford. "We need clarity in why we're going the way we're going, and I learned everything from the crew that are still here at our side, many of whom are working on Soulframe now. They still help immensely with just sitting and having a coffee and talking about what's next, and 'does this feel right?' Luckily, they trust me to organize any of those creative threads that we tug at to turn them into something that we can actually ship out."

Ford continued: "This year, even though the Tau update won't be too much of a surprise since we teased it, I think the shape it will take will be very, very exciting, and obviously a lot of risk involved, and if players like the way things end up looking or feeling. But there's one other update that I have been working on for almost, I don't even know, like in a doc, in a notepad, in life, just like, there's this little project that is going to see the light of day this year. I don't know that I've ever been more personally excited about a little Warframe update as I am with this one."

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.