Warframe's next major expansion, Warframe: 1999, will launch in December of this year. Developer Digital Extremes announced the updated release window during this week's livestream, stating: "Our biggest update of the 20th century arrives this December when Warframe: 1999 launches on all platforms!"
Announced at TennoCon 2024 this past summer, Warframe: 1999 invites players to travel back to Earth in 1999 where they'll discover a grungy, alternate world littered with secrets. Players will team up with a cast of six different Protoframes in order to track down Dr. Entrati before the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve.
"Warframe: 1999 is both a continuation of the Origin System's epic cinematic narrative and the start of an entirely new way to play," Digital Extremes explained earlier this year. "Featuring characters, enemies, weapons and vehicles that are both thrilling and strangely familiar, this is Warframe like you've never experienced it before."
Although we've still got a few months to go until its full launch, players can actually jump into Warframe: 1999 right now. A demo of the upcoming expansion was released this month, allowing players to go hands-on with a small portion of Warframe's next narrative arc.
In order to experience Warframe: 1999, you do need to complete a few of the Main Story Quests first. You'll need to complete everything up to and including The Locus Eaters — a Prologue Quest that debuted in August — in order to play Warframe: 1999. Once you complete the Awakening and Vor's Prize tutorial Quests, you can seek out a mysterious infested terminal in the main ship's flight deck to jump into the Warframe: 1999 demo. The demo description reads:
Map out a small slice of downtown Höllvania’s twisting alleyways as Arthur on his Atomicyle in a replayable Exterminate-style mission. Shoot and slice through a new enemy faction, the Scaldra, and their toxic goo weaponry tailored to take on the looming Techrot crisis.
Anyone who completes the demo before Warframe: 1999 launches in December will receive the Protokol Longsword Skin.
As the title of the expansion alludes, Warframe: 1999 is heavily inspired by the 90s, and is one of Warframe's wildest expansions to date. From infested 90's boy bands to a romance system that utilizes an AOL chat-like system, anyone who experienced life in the 90s will appreciate all of the references and easter eggs.
"I feel so blessed that this incredible community trusts us with this strange new adventure we are setting off on with Warframe: 1999," said Rebecca Ford, Creative Director on Warframe, earlier this year. "We've collaborated with our community collectively over the past 11 years and promise to continue to do so in an era full of space boy bands, Warframes and Protoframes meeting, and working to figure out: Where is Albrecht Entrati? We will be hitting the road on a worldwide tour to express our gratitude to players in person at Gamescom, Tokyo Game Show, and more!"