Warframe is suddenly the top seller on Steam and only has to face the Steam Deck. Even CS2 has been beaten.
What is Warframe?
- Warframe is the SciFi MMO that has been rumored for years to be “the game with space ninjas”.
- In Warframe, you embody a Tenno who fights numerous enemies with their Warframe. Warframes are biomechanical armors that work similarly to combat suits.
- However, the Warframes are not quite as stealthy and hidden as one would expect from a ninja. Instead, they come equipped with various weapons and are deadly fighters in direct confrontations.
- A special feature of the Warframes is their high mobility, which also gives a unique style to the MMO’s gameplay.
- Warframe was released in 2013 and has been regularly updated since then, bringing new content and further improving the gameplay.
Currently, Warframe is playable on PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and PC. However, especially on Steam, the MMO has recently experienced a resurgence and even managed to become the top seller.
Warframe overtakes CS2 as the top seller on Steam
Why is Warframe celebrating? Warframe is currently the top seller on Steam worldwide and recently even surpassed Valve’s long-time favorite Counter-Strike 2.
Other games like Baldur’s Gate 3, Naraka: Bladepoint, or Apex Legends had to bow down to the space ninjas. Only the Steam Deck still reigns above Warframe in the top 100 (as of January 18, 2024, 11:30 AM, via Steam)
This pleases Warframe’s creative director Rebecca Ford, who ceremoniously writes on X.com:
In 11 years, we have reached a significant milestone for Warframe. It is currently the world’s best-selling game on Steam (Rank 1)! Working with the team here has been incredible, and it means a lot to us to share our work with people out there.
Rebecca Ford via X.com
When Ford shared her post on social media, Warframe was even above the Steam Deck at rank 1 of the Steam top sellers, and with the “Gauss Prime” complete bundle, the MMO managed to place a package with additional content at rank 7. However, the bundle has since slipped to rank 29.
Expansion and a long-awaited feature bring resurgence
How Warframe became a top seller: There are several factors that contributed to the current resurgence of Warframe.
On the one hand, the latest expansion Whispers in the Walls, which brought among other things a new Warframe and cross-save, was released in December.
Cross-save is a feature long desired by many fans, allowing players to use their game progress from one platform (such as PlayStation) on another (Steam, Xbox).
The access to the cross-save feature occurred in waves after the release of the latest expansion in December. Since the release of Whispers in the Walls, a noticeable increase in player numbers has been observed on Steam (via SteamCharts).
- In November, an average of 45,549.6 players played
- In December, an average of 55,599.2 players played
- In the past 30 days, an average of 62,478.3 players played
It is therefore reasonable to assume that many players utilized the cross-save feature to transfer their accounts to the Steam version of the free-to-play game – after all, many Warframe players have desired cross-save for years (via Reddit).
However, the transfer of game saves has no direct impact on Steam’s top seller list, as Warframe is a free-to-play game that does not need to be purchased.
As Rebecca Ford from Warframe revealed on X.com, all other transactions play a role – including the release of the new “Gauss Prime” complete bundle, which was released on January 17, 2024, and also climbed the ranks in the Steam top sellers.
As ‘installation’, all transactions for Steam items go through that (i.e., I install for free on Steam, but I buy some platinum through Steam, the higher instance for that purchase is the game client itself)
Rebecca Ford via X.com
Ford explains that the game is installed for free via Steam, but the purchase of in-game currency counts as a purchase for the game itself. This also explains how CS:GO and now CS2 can dominate the top seller list for years.
If you like Warframe, but could use a bit of variety in the future, a loot shooter called The First Descendant will be released in 2024 that could be quite interesting for you: The First Descendant: What is going on with the shooter?
