Warframe got another massive free story update on Dec. 10 with the release of the expansion The Old Peace. The developers consistently release balance patches, communicate with players through devstreams on Twitch, and host a fan convention that has people flocking to London, Ontario every summer.
But you won’t find developer Digital Extremes nominated for Community Support at this year’s Game Awards, nor Warframe for Ongoing Game. As a relatively new player, I’ve been nothing but happy with the attentiveness and care the game seems to get from its developer. So in an interview ahead of The Old Peace’s release, I asked Creative Director Rebb Ford if being overlooked by institutions like The Game Awards bothers Digital Extremes at all.
“Do we watch the nominations every year? Yes. Do we ever expect to be nominated? The answer is no,” Ford said. “It’s a little hard to cognitively operate in a way that you want to be award-worthy. We’d rather just do good by our community. And I am 100% sure all the other games in these nominations do. Everyone wants to do right by their community.”
There were only five nominees for Ongoing Game this year. Narrowing such a massive category of games down to five already makes this a competitive award. At this year’s show, Hello Games walked away with the award for Ongoing Game for No Man’s Sky, while Larian Studios won Community Support for Baldur’s Gate 3. Both feel like worthy winners. Hello Games has devoted years to perfecting No Man’s Sky, to the delight of its fans. And Larian finished its updates to Baldur’s Gate 3 this year, putting its critically acclaimed darling to bed to turn its attention to the upcoming Divinity.
Other nominees for ongoing game included Fortnite — a game that’s solid, but also I’m certain is in the category more because of its massive global footprint than its perceived quality — and Marvel Rivals, a game that lost a good chunk of its developer team in layoffs despite massive success.
“I don’t think Path of Exile has ever been nominated, and I know how hard those teams work and everything,” Ford said. “I think it’s just a reality of the prestige angle of the business. We’re probably not prestigious in the eyes of the industry at large. We can be janky at times. We do things very much our own way.”
Digital Extremes still attends The Game Awards every year, and usually makes some kind of appearance onstage. Last year, it was the announcement of the release date for the 1999 expansion, and this year it was a sizzle reel where Werner Herzog, embodying the Indifference, recounted the plot of Warframe in his gravelly, menacing voice, and it MADE PERFECT SENSE, BY THE WAY!
“Do we still go every year? Hell yeah. Do we have the best time? Of course we do,” said Ford. “It’s so fun. And it’s sort of a pressure-free fun time for us because we’re there on our own dime. We’re just having a blast.”
