Warframe: Tau promo shot
Image: Digital Extremes

Update []:

Tennocon is over, and judging by the buzz across social media, just about everyone was pleased with what Digital Extremes had to show. While the event itself had some spectacular moments (including a massive concert accompanied by a Cirque du Soleil-esque acrobatics & trapeze dance show), what stole the show was the unveiling of Warframe: Tau, the next expansion for the ever-expanding F2P co-op shooter.

Due out later this year, it's finally taking players out of our own cozy home solar system and off to Tau, a distant sector that was meant to be prepared for human colonization by the villainous Orokin empire's terraforming robots. The robots rebelled (dubbing themselves the Sentient), sent forces back to attack Earth, and sealed off the path to Tau. Now, after many battles, the path is finally clear, and we got our first look (in a lengthy half-hour gameplay showcase) of what's going on over there.

What I did not expect was gritty noir crime drama on not-Cybertron, starring a new detective-themed Warframe: Brysko, voiced by Matt Mercer. Check it out.

The Tau expansion will launch with two planets to explore, each with their own new mission types, environments, and characters. More are planned to roll out over the coming months and years. But between now and the launch of the Tau expansion, Digital Extremes promises one more smaller update, Iceblade of Narin, adding the game's second ice-themed Warframe, Narin. There's also some more stuff in the pipeline to flesh out their previous Warframe: 1999 expansion.

As for the folks looking forward to the studio's new high-fantasy game, Soulframe, the most important thing is that the floodgates on sign-ups for the public pre-alpha version were thrown open over the weekend. Anyone who signed up before midnight on Sunday was let in. Those late to the party can buy their way in via a Founders pack on the Soulframe site.

Soulframe also got a half-hour of footage, giving players an early look at the next major story quest-line of the game, Warsongs. A very dramatic adventure that fills in some of the blanks between the game's memorable character creator (whereby choosing the features of your newborn character's mother, you end up defining your initial appearance) and the abrupt time-skip to present day.

You also get a cool, corrupted magic chain-whip-axe-sword. And get to play as a beaver for a few minutes. It's a real rollercoaster ride, and still only half of the update's setup, with a few more teasers dropped at the end. Give it a look below.

Warsongs is coming 'Fall-ish' to Soulframe along with a mount system (including horses and giant wolves to ride), although the game's core mechanics are still heavily in flux, living up to its pre-alpha designation.

Original Story: It has been a wild ride seeing Warframe grow from a threadbare prototype from a struggling studio to one of the most enduring multi-platform F2P action games around. Tonight, developers Digital Extremes kick off the latest iteration of their annual fan-convention event, Tennocon. While primarily a physical event, everything will be streamed live on Twitch and Steam. On top of that, a live preview of "the future of Warframe" will be happening in-game tomorrow for those who bought a digital ticket to the event.

The streamed show begins at 7 pm ET (midnight BST) today, but for those wanting to take part in tomorrow's in-game event, anyone who bought the £17.50/$20 Tennocon 2026 Digital Pack can visit the TennoLive 2026 Relay station will appear on the star-map. Get there early, and the show will kick off at 4 pm ET (9 pm BST) on Saturday, July 11th.

For those who watch the show live and remember to link their Warframe account to Twitch (details here), there'll be some significant goodies handed out during the show, including Mesa Prime (the upgraded 'Prime' version of the revolver-spinning gunslinging frame and the Haalvu, a minigun that can split into eight independently firing rifles capable of targeting four separate enemies at once. A true freak of a gun.

The event will also have a significant segment dedicated to Soulframe, the studio's newest title. It's a high-fantasy adventure with a sci-fi twist (think Druids vs Aliens), and currently in non-Steam Early Access. Having played it recently, it's definitely a slower, heavier game than Warframe, with vaguely Souls-adjacent combat and a Ubisoft-esque open world to explore and do sidequests in.

Recent updates have made sweeping changes to Soulframe's core mechanics (such as allowing weapons to drop as standard loot from enemies), further differentiating it from its spaceborne predecessor and proving the studio's willingness to make some big creative swings.

It'll be interesting to see what the future holds for both games, and we'll be updating this article with the details once the dust has settled on Monday. Until then, I hope you have a lovely weekend!