Add another game to the list of seemingly unlikely Switch ports. Digital Extremes has announced that its cooperative free-to-play shooter Warframe is coming to Nintendo’s console. There are precious few details — not even a general release window. Doom and Wolfenstein port developer Panic Button is responsible for this conversion, though, so you can expect some creative software tricks to make the title play as well as its PS4, Xbox One and PC variants without sacrificing too much of the visual splendor.
To some extent, this is filling a void in the Switch’s lineup. While you can’t exactly compare this to games like the Destiny series or Monster Hunter World, it does scratch a very similar itch. Players team up to fight various factions (and each other, in a competitive mode) across the Solar System as they continuously upgrade their biomechanical Warframe shells, with frequent content updates keeping the experience fresh. It’s that familiar, sometimes addictive gameplay cycle you get with pseudo open-world titles, although Warframe thankfully avoids some of the pitfalls of the genre, such as unpredictable loot boxes. This is one of the few games of that sort designed for a portable console — you can keep playing on the couch or at a friend’s place if you’re so inclined.
There’s an audience for it, too. Over 30 million people had played the game as of October 2017, with over 120,000 playing at the same time on Steam alone. That’s no mean feat for a five-year-old title from a comparatively small studio. And this isn’t coming at the end of Warframe‘s lifespan, either. Digital Extremes has simultaneously unveiled an upcoming Fortunaexpansion that will bring a new open world, new faction and perks like hoverboards, while a long-term Codename: Railjack expansion will introduce cooperative spaceship combat. In that sense, the Switch version is coming at just the right time — there will be plenty to do when it arrives.
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