Independent developer and publisher Digital Extremes held its second annual TennoCon, a convention dedicated solely to the free-to-play cooperative action game,Warframe®, in downtown London, Ontario, this past Saturday, to a teeming crowd of more than 2,000 dedicated attendees. Warframe players (AKA Tenno) reveled in a mixture of intimate panels and workshops, a Warframe themed escape room, a Cos-play contest, meet-ups with friends, and a show-stopping TennoLive Twitch stream that revealed a handful of surprises highlighted by first gameplay footage of Plains of Eidolon.
The team's debut Landscape (Open Zone) expansion brought standing ovations and waves of applause from the audience during the 17-minute demonstration. By the end of the one-hour Livestream, the dev team had shown its ground-breaking new footage, a Tenno had proposed marriage on-stage to his soon-to-be fiancé (she said "yes"), new enemies had been shown, and the long-awaited fan favorite Warframe, Umbra, was unveiled.
Traveling from across Canada, the U.S., Great Britain, Europe, and Australia, 34 countries in all, the Warframe faithful descended on downtown London – creating a line that wrapped around the block -- determined to meet with their fellow Tenno, the developers, and the community team to celebrate their love for Warframe, which launched more than four years ago and is now 30 million registered users strong.
"This TennoCon the stakes were unbelievably high for us," said Steve Sinclair, Creative Director, Warframe. "We had taken a huge risk, really tried to get out of our comfort zone and take the game a different direction. I was terrified, honestly. As a developer who's dedicated the last five years of his life to Warframe, there is nothing more exhilarating than to see the smiles on our community's faces when they saw Plains of Eidolon. Their response -- and the existence of this show -- is both humbling and gratifying. This team is constantly energized by our community's devotion, and so we're determined to give them something they have never played before in Warframe."
Doubling last year's attendance to more than 2,000 attendees, Digital Extremes will donate $150,000 CAD, twice last year's proceeds, to its official charitable partner, Covenant House Toronto. A local Canadian non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to sheltering and caring for homeless and trafficked youth, Covenant House Toronto provides education, mental health and substance abuse counseling, healthcare, employment assistance, job and life skill training, and aftercare work for at-risk and homeless youth.
Highlights from the TennoLive stream include:
Plains of Eidolon: For the first time in Warframe history, Tenno will have the freedom to explore, fight, journey and fly through the open Landscapes of Planet Earth in their own time, in their own way. Stepping into the rolling Plains of Eidolon, players will experience a rich landscape populated with both familiar and never-before seen creatures, enemies, a new Warframe, stunning vistas lit with a day/night cycle, and a gripping story told through interactive NPC characters who inhabit the bustling scavenger colony of Cetus. In Plains of Eidolon, players will set foot in a natural landscape with the freedom to explore it on their own terms.
Hydroid Prime Warframe: During the Warframe Art Panel featuring Art Director Mat Tremblay, Assistant Art Director Lucas Hug, and Concept Artist Keith Thompson, TennoCon attendees learned they will be given Hydroid Prime Access soon, and the Warframe will wield the Ballistica Prime secondary weapon and the quiet but powerful Nami Skyla Prime melee weapon. Originally revealed in 2014, Hydroid was introduced as a master of the seas, commanding them to pull his enemies into a watery grave.
"All Miracles Require Sacrifice": Welcome Excalibur Umbra! Long rumored to hit the West, Umbra was revealed in a solo video during TennoLive and will arrive in the West this year.
New Warframe: Also shown during the Art Panel is the new Warframe, codenamed Maiden, a female warrior who hardens and molds glass. Tenno should expect to shatter their enemies with the offensive abilities of Lotus' newest glass-inspired warrior soon.
Warframe Comic #1 (Convention Edition): Every TennoCon attendee received for free, the first physical edition of the Warframe comic book, created in partnership with Top Cow Comics, co-written by President, COO, and writer Matt Hawkins and writer Ryan Cady. Download the digital version here.
Miscellaneous: Also introduced at TennoCon were new weapons - the Ballistica Prime Nami and Skyla Prime, Primed armor in a Warframe bundle, a new Grineer Bundle featuring weapons and armor, and Grineer Ghoul units (also debuted in the first Warframe Comic Book).
Do you want more from TennoCon 2017? Please visit the official website to see the full re-cap, join the community on PC, and download the game for free. To keep up with the latest updates from the development team, be sure to follow Warframe on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.
ABOUT DIGITAL EXTREMES
Founded in 1993 by James Schmalz, Digital Extremes is an independent studios. Originating with the co-creation of Epic Games' multi-million unit selling Unreal® franchise including Unreal, Unreal Tournament – and all its iterations – Digital Extremes went on to develop Dark Sector®, BioShock® for the PlayStation®3, the BioShock 2 multi-player campaign, and The Darkness® II. The studio has reached its greatest critical and commercial success with the free-to-play action game, Warframe®, boasting a global community of more than 30 million registered players. For more information about Digital Extremes, visit digitalextremes.com. To sign up for Warframe, visit warframe.com.
