‘TennoCon 2026,’ the festival for the global long-running title ‘Warframe’—which has undergone continuous evolution over 13 long years—has kicked off at its largest scale ever in London, Canada, the home of Digital Extremes.
The event, which proved the fervent passion of fans worldwide by selling out all tickets in just 30 minutes, captured gamers’ attention by unveiling the new Warframe star chart ‘Tau’ and the core systems of the major new title ‘Soulframe’ for the first time. Notably, this year featured a massive in-game live showcase that synchronized players worldwide in real-time, presenting a new dimension of community events where developers and users could interact in a shared space and time.
Above all, the highlight that most intensely captured the attention of domestic gamers was Digital Extremes’ bold move toward the Korean market. Seoul, South Korea, was announced as the first stop for the ‘Tenno VIP World Tour,’ which will travel across the globe. The offline ‘Tenno VIP’ event and ‘Live Devstream’ to be held in Seoul on September 4 are a measure of Digital Extremes’ deep affection for the Korean fandom, which has grown quietly but firmly, and a strong expression of their will to breathe more closely with domestic users and expand direct communication moving forward.
Following last year, we met with Sheldon Carter, President of Digital Extremes, who has been leading the studio for a long time, at the TennoCon venue again this year. We listened to his sincere stories about leading two massive projects over the past year, prioritizing ‘trust’ with players as the core value—from the endless scalability of the Warframe ecosystem and its solid monetization philosophy to the weapons of the new title Soulframe, which is establishing its own identity among formidable dark fantasy competitors.
Q. Warframe has reached the phenomenal milestone of its 13rd anniversary. As the president who has led the studio for a long time, you must have special feelings watching this year’s TennoCon 2026, held at its largest scale ever, on-site.
“It’s wonderful to be able to hold TennoCon in our home city of London every year. The entire city of London is proud of the TennoCon event. Local merchants are even excited enough to sell TennoCon special drinks, and the fact that all our employees can participate in the event directly is very meaningful. It is a truly important and significant event for the studio as well. We gain the motivation to work all year round by meeting the community in person and feeling their passion. It’s truly the best.
Q. The new star chart ‘Tau’ was unveiled for the first time through ‘TennoLive.’ In expanding the vast worldview built over 13 years, you chose a method of leading the stories of both worlds together without leaving the existing ‘Origin System’ behind. What was the most intensely debated development philosophy during the planning stage of this new chapter?
“What we definitely wanted was to give the feeling that even if you travel to Tau, you can return to the Origin System at any time. The Origin System still has numerous story branches in progress, and there are conflict elements that are very familiar and precious to players. The core of our development philosophy lies in ‘Variety’ for both us and the players. In Tau, you can meet a detective Warframe with an excellent skill set never seen before, or experience completely new elements like interesting casino features.
The rain in Tau corrupts the Sentients, so there is so much that can be done with just that one planet. At the same time, we can always convey the story by saying, “Meanwhile, in the Origin System, these things are happening to the characters you loved.” I think this method will be a great help in keeping both the game and the players interested and immersed for a long time.
Q. The ‘TennoCon 2026 Relay’ held in-game this year was a massive attempt to synchronize players worldwide in real-time. What was the motivation behind this attempt, and what new paradigm do you expect this in-game live synchronization technology to bring to Digital Extremes’ global user communication and event deployment in the future?
“Whatever demo we do, we don’t pre-record it; we just play it live. Even if there’s a bug in the middle. Those are all risk factors, but a few years ago, we decided to take that risk one step further. That’s why we decided on this TennoCon Relay.
Players go beyond just watching the TennoCon event on YouTube or Twitch; through the TennoCon Relay, they can have the experience of being connected with the developers and Tenno from all over the world within the game. Because they can log into the game at the same time and see that it’s actually happening and their own ship appearing. This powerful experience of connection that links the audience and everyone watching online together was really important to us, and that’s why we attempted it despite recognizing the high risk.
Q. In last year’s TennoCon interview, you mentioned improving the new user experience as a key task, and since then, various barrier-to-entry reduction tasks have been carried out, such as adding ‘The Teacher’ quest and revamping the Junction guide. How much did these system improvements affect new user influx and churn rate defense?
“The ‘The Teacher’ quest was a huge success. We realized that a key reason many players were leaving the game was simply because they didn’t know how to equip mods. Through the implementation of a process that educates players on how to equip mods and the impact of combinations on damage, we witnessed a significant shift in Warframe. Consequently, the game’s new player retention has reached an all-time high. This success allowed us to avoid reducing the barrier to entry for the Tau update and instead design it with a long-term perspective, giving new players a clear goal to strive for. What aspects of Soulframe are expected to resonate strongly with Korean users from a developer’s perspective?
“Soulframe offers players various ‘Pacts’ and abilities derived from them, creating deep gameplay mechanisms. Unlike traditional weapon crafting systems, players in Soulframe upgrade their weapons by defeating enemies to obtain ‘Temper,’ which contains various skill elements. This unique approach is designed to appeal to Korean users who enjoy immersive RPG experiences.
Furthermore, the game includes nature-friendly elements that allow players to interact with and control animals like wolves and beavers, offering a fresh and engaging gameplay experience.
What significance do Korean fans hold for Digital Extremes, and how does the company plan to enhance communication in the Korean market through upcoming events?
“When selecting countries for events, we prioritize regions with a growing fanbase. The decision to host an event in Korea signifies our commitment to expanding our presence in the region. The increasing fandom in Korea has led us to engage more closely with Korean users. By listening to the feedback from Korean Tenno, we aim to establish a direct connection through in-person events. We are excited to meet and interact with our Korean community in person.
