As Warframe continues to attract tens of thousands of players every day and a big expansion also looms on the horizon, excitement is palpable for its fantasy cousin. Soul Frame. While playtests have continued for months, the ambitious MMORPG was expected to open its doors to all players this year. However, despite being recently shown off at TennoCon, a new livestream from developer Digital Extremes has confirmed that Soulframe won’t be releasing or opening its pre-alpha preludes in 2024 after all.

It is not very surprising that this Soulframe release date was hit with a delay – while it benefited from some great gameplay showcases, I never felt like it was close to a full launch, an early access launch, or even an a large-scale open beta. Add to that the fact that Digital Extremes also dropped Warframe 1999 before the end of this year, and a setback for the fantasy game seemed inevitable.

While Digital Extremes previously stated that it was also looking to make its Preludes (which are Soul Frame(pre-alpha versions of which are tested and updated regularly) more open before the end of 2024, this is now taking a back seat as community director Megan Everett says it will be an “effort for 2025”.

“We’re not going to open it up a little bit, and the reason is that it’s just not quite ready for that in terms of the long-term progression that we need to get to,” says Steve Sinclair, CEO of Digital Extremes.

He also says that the “enormous pressure” put on the studio to get Warframe 1999 releasing requires moving some resources around – I certainly wouldn’t want to launch a giant expansion and an open alpha or beta for an MMO at the same time, it seems too much like hard work.

Even though DE is spending a little more time on Soulframe, that doesn’t mean you don’t have a chance to play it now. During the stream, the team reveals that 2,000 Preludes keys are being distributed each week and that very soon, they will allow invited players to also bring four friends with them. If you would like a chance to play Soulframe Preludes, you can sign up here.

The hour-long stream also contains plenty of new gameplay and updates to various game systems, including pacts, combat and movement, and much more.

While you wait for Soulframe to arrive (or for a Prelude key to arrive in your inbox), check out some other amazing MMORPG which you can play right now. These brilliants cooperative games will also provide you and your friends with many adventures.

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