Tennocon 2024 just wrapped and here’s everything awesome we saw from this real-life event, including new content, gameplay systems, and an anime!
It’s been over a decade since Warframe players first gathered outside the unforgiving environment of digital space, and partied like it’s 1999. The latest edition of Tennocon just came to a close and we got tons of reveals, cracking new Warframes, and even a few sneak peeks at the upcoming 1999 content. Catch up with everything that Digital Extremes revealed to us over Tennocon 2024.
The Lotus Eaters
Before players even have the opportunity to chase down Entrati, a new update will nudge the narrative along and prepare the universe for this seminal update. The Lotus Eaters is described by Digital Extremes as a micro-story. It’s intended to set the scene and prepare players who have already answered the Whispers in the Walls. Due to ship in August 2024, it will drop alongside the Sevagoth Prime drop. This space pirate might come with gold trim and exclusive weapons, but I’m more excited to see what the Lotus Eaters have in store. Due to drop in August, the preamble to 1999 tells us about the wider implications of the next massive era of Warframe.
Warframe 1999
Finally, we got a ton more information about this imminent update and the throw back to an earlier age is set to reveal more about the infamous Dr. Entrati. Set somewhere in the late 1990s on an Earth not unlike our own, this tale will unfold in ways we didn’t expect. Despite the grungy atmosphere and electronic audio soundscape, we’ve been fed by the team at Warframe, 90’s boybands get a look in too. The Tennocn crowds got the first news that they can hunt down and eliminate an Infested 90’s boyband. Infested Liches will arrive during the anticipated updates, infringing on the copyright of boy band On-lyne.
A light hearted overture to the main narrative, the Technology Coda are an interesting and delightfully silly take on our own feelings towards a very particular era of music. The Infested variant of Earth’s iconic heartthrobs even comes with an appropriately swoon worthy voice cast. Going even harder, check out Nick Apostolides (Resident Evil 4) featuring in their single “PARTY OF YOUR LIFETIME” tomorrow on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, and more!
Getting right into the widely teased Warframe 1999 update, players now know a ton more about the incoming update. Travelling back into an alternative version of the Sol system, this early entry in the Warframe story will reveal new answers to deadly secrets, surprise us all, and probably wake the locals too.
We got a bunch more information on the new instalment, along with a look at this new old world. Delving into the streets of a broken cityscape, this Tennocon certainly surprised us. Earlier teasers gave us a look at a metro system, retro tech, and pressed play on a Nine Inch Nails collab. Drawing inspiration from the likes of Metal Gear, it all set my expectations for a walk through steel jungles and a dystopian metropolis. Instead, what we saw was less industrial and more Belle Epoque. Spiralling out from a defunct mall, six iconic Protoframes chased down the trail of the infamous Dr. Entrati. Blowing through a series of obstacles and enemies, these six use obviously distinct playstyles to succeed in among the tight cobbled streets and lamplights of an old city. Did we mention the massive soviet inspired tank? There’s clearly a cold war edge to at least some of the upcoming updates, and we can’t wait to see what implications this has to the overall narrative.
While those old streets play host to a battle of epic proportions, there’s still time to fall under the spell of this charming new arena. For the first time that I can remember Warframe will get a relationship system. Between the unfolding action, trade messages and make decisions that will influence your relationship with the six new faces. While we didn’t learn how deep this goes, the inclusion of a retro instant messenger is a solid start for a system that fans have been requesting for years. Get to know notable new voices like Amelia Tyler (Baldur’s Gate 3), Kevin Afghani (Super Mario Bros. Wonder), Melissa Medina (Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail), Trieve Blackwood-Cambridge (Forza Horizon 5), Alpha Takahashi (Cyberpunk 2077), and Ben Starr (Final Fantasy XVI).
Shiny New Loot
With any big Warframe update, we expect skins, weapons, and incredible new warframes. Right now, high-fidelity Heirloom skins for Ember is now permanently available instead of time-gated. The Rhino Warframe gets the same treatment, racing into 2025, so there’s something to look forward to. This follows on from recent dev streams delving into the revamp of Heirloom systems, giving players more options on how they pick up in-game extras using in-game and real life currency. In the end, the extra flexibility and freedom to look spiffing is a welcome change.
A brand new option was also unveiled at TennoCon. The stunning CYTE-09: Previously a reckless and friendless fortune hunter, he now lends his skills to Arthur’s team as the best marksman around. Meanwhile, in the modern Origin System, bring this new playable Warframe’s passé sharpshooter skills from 1999 into the present (wearing a stylish beret).
Warframe Goes Anime
Finally, anybody who wants more Warfame in their life can sit back and prepare to check out an upcoming Warframe anime. That’s right! The team responsible for the Overwatch x Transformers trailer, will collaborate with Digital Extremes to bring a Warframe 1999 inspired anime adventure later in 2024. What exactly it’s going to involve, we don’t know. We do know we can’t wait to see this space ninjas go all Otaku.
If you want to dig into everything revealed during Tennocon 2024, from the incredible charity work to the latest skins, head over to the official website or the live stream replays now. Warframe is available right now across PC, Xbox, PlayStation, mobile, and Nintendo Switch for free.
