Warframe has fully embraced its weirdness over its last two expansions, but if you thought its atmospheric Westerns and long-lost dimension-shifting labs were as far as the free-to-play shooter was willing to go, then you might want to brace yourself: developer Digital Extremes has revealed the first gameplay of its upcoming 1999 story expansion, and, well, let’s just say you can go to space to kill a ’90s boy band.
We knew 1999 was likely going to be a strange year ever since its teaser at last year’s TennoCon completely stole the show – catapulting players away from Warframe’s usual sci-fi aesthetic and into an oddly familiar Earth-like world of grungy subway stations and retro tech. And now, with TennoCon 2024 underway, Digital Extremes has shared more information about its bold new expansion.
To answer a few burning questions, yes, the story takes place in 1999 (New Year’s Eve to be exact) and no, it’s not quite the Earth we know – but it’s close enough, full of extremely familiar and period-appropriate artifacts that feel happily incongruous in the larger world of Warframe. And it starts with the new 1999 hub area: an abandoned ’90s mall filled with artificial palm trees, arcade machines, and screens showing cheesy commercials.
Warframe: 1999 – Full 22 minute gameplay demo. Watch on YouTube
The Mall serves as the base for Hex, Warframe’s new syndicate, and as Digital Extremes’ 22-minute demo begins, we’re introduced to its six members, proto-forms of the game’s most iconic Warframes. Players take on the role of squad leader Arthur Nightingale (batch designation: Excalibur), working alongside Amir Beckett (Volt), Aoi Morohoshi (Mag), Leticia Garcia (Trinity), Eleanor Nightingale (Nyx and, notably, Arthur’s sister), and Quincy Isaacs, whose batch designation – Cyte-09 – ties into the new Warframe arriving alongside 1999.
Unsurprisingly, the expansion aims to give players the chance to experience some pivotal events from Warframe’s past – but in reality, that’s probably the least interesting thing about it. 1999 is almost hilarious in its brazenness: it’s an expansion that dares to add a romance system to Warframe, allowing players to forge deeper relationships with their comrades by visiting their beige desktop, logging into KOL (KIM Online), and chatting with them via text message in an IRC-like manner, choosing dialogue options as the conversations unfold. And yes, you might even get a New Year’s kiss if you play your cards right.
Warframe screenshot showing the 1999 expansion's protagonist, Arthur Nightingale, riding his motorcycle through the moonlit streets of an Earth-like city.
Arthur walks through Kulvania at night. | Image credit: Digital extremes
And if that managed to raise an eyebrow in disbelief, there’s more to come. A quick cutscene later, the six members of the Hex are riding motorcycles and hurtling down a neon-streaked tunnel (well, five of them are on motorcycles – Volt is running alongside them on foot), which is pretty unexpected. But then the tunnel ends, and the gang bursts into the moonlit, rain-soaked streets of Kulvania – a new open-world environment that’s somewhere between a contemporary American city and Half-Life’s City 17. Players can explore its nooks and crannies from the back of their motorcycles once 1999 rolls around, all to a screeching metal soundtrack.
At this point in the demo, Digital Extremes shifts to something closer to Warframe’s traditional third-person action. After an encounter with Scaldra commander Major Neci Rusalka, enemies begin to flood the streets and we get a glimpse of the 1999 fight, combining classic ground-based weapons with flashier sci-fi attacks. Eventually, the battle moves to a large open square where players encounter the boss-like H-04 Efervon tank, at which point everything erupts into absolute chaos – heavy gunfire, poison-spewing drones, laser blasts, and constant airdrops of new troops ramping up the intensity.
Warframe: 1999 – TennoCon Trailer. Watch it on YouTube
But suddenly there’s a pause when the figure seen at the end of last year’s 1999 teaser emerges, and Arthur sets off in pursuit – the action soon shifting to the tunnels of an abandoned subway system filled with vibrant bioluminescent plants and strangely organic technology. We see Arthur interacting with a “security terminal,” which players can hack by playing a mini-game reminiscent of the classic cellphone game Snake – but failure results in a sudden influx of enemies and, more unsettlingly, the possibility of being injected with a Coda worm virus. What is it? Well, it’s not entirely clear yet, but Arthur’s demo journey ends doubly painfully when a strange row of screens spawns a giant creature (think Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors) that SO presents the Warframe version of Excalibur we all know and love. Credits.
Except… we then return to the original system, centuries later, where something is seriously wrong. As a Railjack mission unfolds, pulsating music suddenly starts playing over the comms, leading players to an asteroid in deep space. Upon disembarking, they discover the source of the music: a massive Earth-like concert stadium that has manifested itself somewhere Really It shouldn’t have happened – apparently because of the Coda virus. But we’re not done yet: Arthur enters the stadium and follows its corridors to the outside, revealing a live concert. Lights flash, lasers dance, a convincing ’90s pop anthem blares from the PA system, and a strange creature vomits five infected members of the (fictional) boy band On-Lyne onto the stage. It’s boss time – but, alas, that’s where the demo ends.
Tonight we’re gonna party like it’s… yeah. Watch on YouTube
It’s an incredibly bold game, and Warframe players will get to see where it all goes when 1999 launches this “winter.” And beyond the story campaign, it will also introduce Gemini skins—allowing players to swap between their Warframe and its fully customizable 1999 counterpart at will—as well as the new sniper-focused Warframe, Cyte-09.
But there’s even more to come before 1999’s release, with Digital Extremes promising two more Warframe updates before then. In August, The Lotus Eaters, a “micro-story” that serves as a prologue to 1999, will be followed by a second update in the fall – which will be detailed in more detail at this year’s Tokyo Game Show. Expect a new theme, though, as well as a new Warframe and various quality-of-life improvements, including a Caliban rework (Caliban will be free as part of the update), new Incarnates, Companions 2.0 Part 2, and more.
But even before all that — right now, in fact — players can get a sneak peek at Warframe’s 1999 expansion in a special in-game narrative experience that will let them explore a version of its mall as part of a special relay. It’ll be available for about a week after TennoCon 2024.
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