With Soulframe, the developers from the co-op loot shooter Warframe are paving new paths. In an interview for the Grindfest Theme Week 2026, they explain why their new game is much more than just the fantasy version of its big brother and what the MMO-lite approach is all about.
With the success story of Warframe, the developers at Digital Extremes bring over 13 years of experience in the realm of co-op games. But with their new game called Soulframe, they want to take a slightly different direction while remaining true to the co-op focus.
This other direction not only refers to the focus on fantasy instead of science fiction but rather a similar shaping of a genre, as the developers have already mastered with Warframe in the co-op loot shooter genre: Soulframe as a new generation of the MMO-lite.
What kind of game is Soulframe?
Soulframe is being developed by the creators of Warframe and represents a kind of MMO-lite experience where you can form groups with other players in co-op and meet them at specific hub locations in the game world.
The game takes you into the fantasy world of Alca, which is threatened by powerful enemies and ancient dangers. The focus is on the conflict between nature and industry, where you take your place on the side of nature. In action-packed combat, both close and ranged, you face various enemies and tasks and can level up your character RPG-style and build different builds.
Different pacts are available for your character that unlock special abilities and playstyles. For example, you can utilize the powers of a bear or a deer or specialize in support healing abilities. Together with friends, you explore the world, cleanse dungeons, and face powerful boss enemies with a large arsenal of various weapons.
According to the developers, Soulframe is currently in the pre-alpha phase, in which selected players and those who purchase one of the founder packs can participate. Currently, the game is only playable through its own launcher, but consoles and Steam are planned to follow.
As part of our MMORPG theme week, the Grindfest, we couldn’t resist asking the team some questions that were on our minds. After all, how would you leverage the strengths of Warframe without turning Soulframe into a fantasy Warframe? And how exactly will the MMO-lite approach be given a fresh identity?
Producer and Community Manager Sarah Asselin took the time to provide us with answers and reveals what makes Soulframe so special.
In this week, exciting articles about MMORPG will be waiting for you every day. Included are: nostalgic retrospectives, exciting analyses by renowned industry veterans, previews of upcoming online role-playing games, and entertaining streams.
Here’s the program for MeinMMO’s big MMORPG theme week 2026
Development with the Community rather than just for it
MeinMMO: With Warframe, you have significantly shaped the co-op looter shooter genre for over a decade. What lessons from the success of Warframe flow into the shared-world structure of Soulframe, and where did you have to reinvent the wheel entirely for this fantasy setting to give the term “MMO-lite” its own fresh identity?
Sarah Asselin: Some of the biggest lessons we take from Warframe are not just mechanical, but philosophical in nature: how we develop, how we listen, how we build long-term trust with players, and how we approach free-to-play in a way that feels fair and respectful.
We as developers have learned a lot from our experience with Warframe, and this experience has shown that the commitment to the community will remain a cornerstone of our philosophy as developers.
Warframe taught us how valuable it is to develop with a community rather than just for them. This remains a cornerstone of our philosophy at Soulframe. When Soulframe initially began as an idea, “Warframe with swords” was the simple shorthand, but as the project became real, it was clear that the fantasy, the pace, the fights, and the world needed their own identity.
Many of the business decisions we make today regarding the development of Soulframe are based on our experiences developing Warframe—a slow, conscious, and methodical approach that carefully weighs player feedback against creative ambitions to create a game with the community, not for the community.
Warframe was a passion project under completely different circumstances, under the pressure of having to save our studio. Soulframe is also a passion project but is being developed with the experience of Warframe behind it and, due to the success of Warframe, of course, under greater scrutiny.
Although we haven’t necessarily reinvented the wheel in terms of hand-in-hand development with the community, Soulframe places much more emphasis on discovery, atmosphere, melee combat, and a sense of place. We use the term “MMO Lite” to describe part of Soulframe’s current identity; however, we expect this to change as Soulframe evolves.
Many of the social and shared systems that players today associate with Warframe didn’t exist at the very beginning. Soulframe will grow in the same spirit, but in a way that fits its own world, tone, and fantasy.
No rigid grind experience, more exploration and shared adventure
MeinMMO: Unlike many genre representatives that focus on maximum efficiency, fast matchmaking, and frantic loot grinding, Soulframe feels much more conscious and calm due to its emphasis on nature, myths, and melee combat.
How does this design philosophy translate into the MMO elements and cooperative gameplay? In other words: How do you want to encourage players to pause, absorb the world, and engage in meaningful social interactions rather than just grinding side by side?
Sarah Asselin: The honest answer to this is that we are still figuring it out! That’s both the beauty of developing Soulframe and one of our greatest challenges – finding the balance that feels good, looks good, and plays smoothly.
And due to how we develop together with our community, this happens over time and often in multiple iterations in the “preludes” (test phases) to see how players react and engage. That will then determine our focus and our next steps as developers.
Maximum efficiency, fast matchmaking, and a rewarding feeling of loot grinding are things we expect to refine over time and actively work on for the future.
From the very beginning, Soulframe throws players into a world that wants to be explored. This is an important signal. It should not be a rigid “complete mission, extract, repeat” experience.
We still guide players when necessary, and tools like the “Sparrow Guide” help them understand where to go next.
However, we want discoveries to remain a meaningful part of the game rhythm. The MMO elements will be built around the same philosophy. World trees, enclaves, and future social features are all opportunities for us to create places where players naturally gather and to which they can return.
We are interested in a cooperative game that feels like sharing a journey through the world, not just occupying the same space while chasing separate rewards. This balance will take time.
That Soulframe is not a full-fledged MMORPG, but an MMO-lite, is something MeinMMO editor and MMORPG expert Karsten Scholz had to acknowledge. He has already spent over 25 hours in the pre-alpha and compiled for you what sets it apart from a genuine MMORPG: I played nearly 25 hours of Soulframe and can tell you: This is not an MMO
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