TennoCon has never been stingy with info-sharing, and each year seems to add even more to the mix. 2025 was no exception: Just Warframe’s TennoLive news in a nutshell took an entire column! But to quickly share those highlights didn’t leave much room for personal thoughts, excepting a sparklebutt comment and explosive cheering. Thankfully, with Warframe of Mind, there’s plenty of time to slowly savor those announcements.
Between speaking with Creative Director Rebb Ford and Director of Community and LiveOps Megan Everett during a pre-con preview, watching the reveal again during another press preview, and then experiencing it for a third time with with the live audience, I had plenty of time for my appreciation of the new info to percolate and my excitement to expand. From tabletop fun to Fungi, in no particular order, here are some TennoLive musings from TennoCon 2025.
Tabletopping some Warfame 1999
I started playing TTRPGs long before I played any video game (on the PC at least; my Super Pong console and Atari 2600 were before that!), and I didn’t stick with just one system. Mostly I’ve played D&D (various versions), Champions, Hero, and some totally home-brewed systems. So learning of the Warframe and Starfinder collaboration was intriguing. Warframe x Starfinder: Operation Orias by Paizo can be preordered for $8.99.
Operation Orias utilizes the Starfinder Second Edition rules engine, which is compatible with Pathfinder’s Second Edition rules with added starship combat. Obviously, it makes sense for Warframe’s space ninjas to have some space combat, right? And combat will also include such iconic foes as the Corpus and Grineer, with the players taking the role of four protoframes.
It is important to note that this is indeed a stand-alone adventure that has no bearing whatsoever on the lore and story of the game itself. You can think of it as an enclosed pocket universe. I am interested in seeing how it plays out come October. Perhaps I can corral me a few offline friends willing to delve into this system with me. Or we can always online it. I call dibbs on Aoi!
Smooth(er) Operator
It was 10 TennoCons ago that the operator was teased with The War Within, and throughout the years it has become quite a big part of Warframe. But the look is so 10 years ago! The tech that the operator was built on has aged, and newer and better is available. That’s the message Ford shared when introducing the operator rework, saying, “The art and the techniques of the time are 10 years old.” She noted there will be brand-new art for the operator customizations, including hair and much, much more. “It’s a new model, we’re doing a different rig approach — we’re doing a shared rig,” she explained. Ford wrapped up with, “It’s the operator rework: If you’ve ever been asking for one, this is it.”
As for the old operators, those files will be overridden and gone for good, Ford stated. Everett noted this was also why DE asked the players for feedback first, as it was a total swap with no going back. So if you want any screenshots or videos for old time’s sake, you better get those done this fall before the update!
Mushroom Warframe incoming
Between the remote and live pre-con press briefings and the TennoLive announcement, the devs really emphasized the fact that the 62nd Warframe debuting in the unannounced fall update is a “very fun guy”; who didn’t immediately envision a mushroom frame? Perhaps the vision is going more towards a mycelium than a stand-alone fungus, but it’s gotta be a fungi regardless. DE can totally pull a switcheroo on us, but how can they not play to their own pun? And I think I know the very inspiration for this particular frame! Behold, on the streets of London, Ontario, not far from the Digital Extreme offices and the Tenno Concert venue: a true fun guy inspo mural!
I think I am looking forward to this frame more than I have any other. In fact, I want to see folks coming up with their own versions before the reveal. Show me your creativity and post a mushroom frame. All I can say is, when DE releases the official one, there better be a mushroom cap, at least as an alternate helm!
Take me to Tau
I am quite excited for Tau. This year’s big update The Old Peace takes place on just a moon of Tau, with Tau itself being the focus of 2026. I have always enjoyed how Warframe’s narrative takes you from what you thought you knew to something different, without actually feeling like its back-stepping and ignoring the past. My first experience with this was with the introduction of the operator. Now I’ll get to explore a time when the Grineer, Corpus, Sentients, Orokin, and the Warframes are working together under a peace treaty. Who would have thought that could happen?!
The Old Peace is set with the operator in the Tauron Academy. After all the torment that the operator has suffered through elsewhere, it is nice to see that they get to have an experience of attending school and making friends. (No, I don’t count the Zariman Ten Zero, which is where much trauma came from.) They get to be a kid a bit. A bit. Granted, this kid is a battle warrior and has to run missions in war zones, dodging deep in the trenches, but still. There’s a bit of youthful normalcy that comes through unlike other experiences. Sadly, we see this one also appears to end in some heart-wrenching trauma. Being a kid isn’t easy, and even more so for the operator.
Here’s my wishful plea: Please don’t let Adis Truthbloom be lost for good! I’m championing for adding them as a companion to again fight by the operator’s side in the future. Perhaps a spark that was saved? There’s got to be a way.
A chance to play Excalibur Prime
If you were not a founder of Warframe, you would not ever have the chance to play Excalibur Prime before now. With The Old Peace, you will! However, this does not mean that Excalibur Prime is added to players’ arsenals for full gameplay. No, it is only during these special memory clips that players will get to don this particular frame; Excalibur Prime is now and always will be an exclusive to those original founders of the game. DE is not willing to diminish this.
Using Excalibur Prime here, however, as Ford explained, was a narrative choice – admittedly, a bit of a spicy choice and a multilayered choice (Everett quickly quipped it was an onion!). Ford explained:
“It’s a little bit of a homage to the fact that we wouldn’t have 10 years of TennoCon without founders. So having Excalibur Prime get the spotlight right away is very much a ‘This is our past, this is where we came from.’ And it’s also to really strongly signify that it is a different time. [In] The Old War, Excalibur Prime is lost, you can’t get him anymore.”
No one who doesn’t already have the frame is getting him. But those who do have him will see their customized colors and loadout in the cutscenes of The Old Peace. And everyone can get some screenshots of their moment as Excalibur Prime during The Old Peace.
On a side note, I also cannot wait to play with that new Tauron Focus ultimate that our dear Excalibur Prime wields. Holy greatswords, is that thing epic! And the fact that there may be more types coming than just the void sword has me even more excited.
Moved by the Music
Without even mentioning the Tenno Concert (that’s in the next article!), Warframe has knocked it out of the park with its latest musical addition. The song that introduced The Old Peace is a haunting piece that embeds itself in your soul. This song is what Adis uses to calm and heal their fellow Sentients, and it feels just as calming and healing to me as well. With its full orchestral arrangement and Francesca Hauser’s stunning vocals, Lullaby of the Manifold has instantly become a favorite that keeps running through my mind and often plays on my phone, computer, and tablet. Bravo to composer Matthew Chalmers, lyricist Adrian Bott, and all the musicians who took part in creating this masterpiece. Thank you for giving us this treasure.
MOP’s MJ Guthrie was on the ground at TennoCon 2025, bringing back all the big news on Warframe and Soulframe and the broader community. Digital Extremes covered the press’ travel and lodging for the event, including our writer’s, but of course the studio neither obligated nor influenced our coverage.
Pick a ‘Frame, any ‘Frame! The Warframe galaxy is in danger, Tenno, and Space Mom needs help to combat it. Are you in the right Warframe of Mind to join in? The MOP writers have enlisted, suiting up in their favorite ‘Frames to fight the good fight, blasting the Grineer and Infected into smithereens.
