Before the interview, I took the opportunity before Tenno Live officially started to have a good chat with the President of Digital Extremes studio. You can refer to the related exclusive interview article for specific details.
In short, my conversation with Sheldon was highly beneficial.
Sheldon made an interesting point, believing that the secret to Warframe's longevity after so many years lies in communication—close communication between the official team and players.
I quite agree with this point.
On the left is Zi, Chinese Community Manager; on the right is Megan, Community Director
For any long-operated game exceeding 10 years, numerical balance, gameplay planning, and various minor issues exposed by prolonged operation can potentially become ant holes that collapse the gaming experience.
You might ask: Are players or developers helpless in this situation? Not at all. "The duck knows first when the spring river warms" – as "ducks" immersed in the "spring river" of the Origin System, players' understanding and familiarity with the game may far exceed most people's imagination.
Can you imagine achieving feats like "mining drill interruption 9999" amidst today's accumulating numbers and mechanisms? Have you thought about how some veteran players can use casual fishing spears to skip dozens of levels and instantly kill Kuva Liches? Of course, these might just be individual cases of "pushing limits" in other game genres. But in Warframe, a game focused on researching builds and pursuing numerical limits, challenging oneself and the game is something everyone, from veterans to newcomers, attempts constantly.
These players, immersed in the game for several or even over ten years, are absolutely the most valuable asset of this game. The only question is—how should game developers mine this wealth?
Perhaps this depends on Zi and Megan's approaches.
Below is the interview transcript.
Q: Warframe highly values player community voices and collects massive amounts of player suggestions daily. In the 2026 version updates, which gameplay optimizations and content adjustments directly adopted community feedback? Could you share some typical examples?
Megan:I value player feedback on missions and storylines the most. Writing mission narratives requires significant manpower and time to polish scripts and record voice-overs, striving for perfect and rigorous storytelling. We invest heavily in refining stories to ensure no logical loopholes in plot settings. With a vast and complete background story, we must maintain consistency across all content settings. For example, the "Jade" side quests are independent small stories.
Players really love these storylines, especially after the "Shadows of Jade: Stars" update, many expressed that the storyline was too short and wanted more content—this made us realize we should indeed increase narrative volume.
But for us, this is also a form of recognition. It shows players love our stories and want to know more. This represents everyone immersing themselves in the storyline and willing to explore the worldview deeply. Such feedback is extremely valuable to me, as it has been throughout the game's thirteen years of operation. We will gradually transform the game into a narrative-driven work, continuously deepening the storyline, and player feedback in this regard is crucial.
Q: Many of my friends got into the game because of "The Second Dream"—for me, Warframe's storyline is indeed incomparable. However, have players provided suggestions regarding game mechanics and gameplay flow?
Megan:You're right. Many players feedback that there's too much grinding, and since the game needs long-term operation—hopefully another thirteen years (laughs)—we take this issue very seriously. Every time we add new content, we consider whether the content volume is reasonable, especially for future new versions.
We hope to cherish players' time and never design content that exhausts player energy. This is our bottom line.
We have implemented many optimizations and reduced the material costs for crafting several Warframes. We take this feedback to heart, continuously testing and adjusting our optimization plans to prevent players from feeling fatigued by repetitive grinding.
Q: Previously, unique themed Warframes like Follie (Ink Warframe) received positive reviews. Will more stylistically differentiated Warframes and storyline events be launched in 2026? How does the team balance creative aesthetics, background stories, and combat strength in Warframe design?
Megan:Of course, we have planned several upcoming Warframes. One will be announced during the TennoCon livestream, and another upcoming Warframe will be quietly revealed later this year. Currently, there are about 65 Warframes in the game, and our goal is to release over a hundred, ensuring a rich variety of selectable Warframes.
I'm proud that our team dares to think outside the box, designing imaginative Warframes—this kind of creative brainstorming gives us much inspiration. Often, we design Warframes around a theme, implementing ideas when appropriate, such as Follie, themed around a sad clown and ink.
However, the Twin Warframes Sirius and Orion were somewhat unexpected, with extremely high development difficulty, ranking among the hardest Warframes we've ever made. This is because the game's underlying logic only recognizes single player units, while Twin Warframes control two units simultaneously, disrupting many core mechanisms.
Additionally, we work on reworking older Warframes, revitalizing these somewhat outdated characters to keep pace with the current version.
Q: Specifically, how do you balance Warframe appearance design, skill handling, and animation fluidity?
Megan:This process is actually quite interesting. Sometimes we release Warframe concept art first, then design skills around the appearance; other times, we finalize the theme and skill positioning first, then draw the Warframe appearance. These two development sequences alternate, but skills are always the last content adjusted and perfected before version launch.
Sometimes, even when a Warframe is about to launch, we are still fine-tuning numbers and balancing skill strengths.
The Twin Warframes underwent extensive polishing over the years, requiring careful balancing of their appearance and handling. Sometimes designers' concepts were too exaggerated, so we toned them down; other times, we enhanced them further. It's essentially an iterative process of continuous balance adjustments.
Q: TennoCon 2026 invited professional cosplayer Arborealkey to portray Sister Parvos. Will you continue collaborating with community creators and cosplayers to build a richer community ecosystem? Will you invite some Chinese cosplayer creators?
Megan:We would certainly be delighted. Recently, Rebecca (Lian Ma) and I attended a comic convention and saw many cosplayers from China with exquisite costumes and high professionalism. I was particularly impressed—the standard of Chinese cosplayers is incredibly high. I truly hope to invite them to TennoCon.
Q: Currently, player community concerns include increasingly difficult farming for popular items, high repetition in new content, and weak social gameplay. Will these be targeted for optimization in 2026? What new activities and social gameplay features will the team introduce to enhance player interaction?
Megan:Regarding how returning players can quickly catch up after being AFK for a long time, the "The Lotus Eaters" quest line already provides considerable direction on elemental mechanics. We also recognize that the MOD system is very complex with a high systemic threshold, indeed requiring more comprehensive tutorials.
We've also received considerable player feedback. Players know MODs are important, and elemental combinations, reactions, and armor systems are key. The "The Lotus Eaters" side quest provides basic teaching—which is good, but far from enough.
We completely agree with this point.
We tried using narrative storytelling for tutorials, and feedback suggests players enjoyed the experience. Several major updates will launch this year with new missions, factions, and gameplay modes. Honestly, our resources for tutorials are quite limited, but we will keep striving to find more suitable and deeper tutorial methods to provide players with a fresh guidance experience.
We also won't ignore the pain point of "repetitive mission grinding" mentioned by players. Player feedback is crucial; for instance, the lack of guidance for The Steel Path made us realize we needed to add relevant tutorials.
We cherish this type of feedback because veteran players are accustomed to and familiar with most mechanisms, often overlooking basic issues encountered by newcomers.
Q: What feedback has the community provided regarding general builds and damage systems?
Megan:Indeed, there are many cases of "one build fits all scenarios." However, we believe this is essentially players' free choice. Players can research faction-specific builds or choose general-purpose builds for easier clearance. Both playstyles are valid.
Faction-specific builds and general-purpose builds coexist to give players ample choice.
Q: CN server players greatly expect more direct communication channels between the official team and players. Will online Q&A sessions and developer livestreams become regular direct interaction activities in the future?
Zi:I'm glad you asked this question. Over the past year, we have launched a monthly developer interaction column exclusively for domestic players, hosted by Rebecca and Megan. This column is specifically designed to collect the most concerned and urgent questions from Chinese players. We directly compile and submit them to the development team and provide unified responses.
Judging from player feedback, everyone likes this format. We will continue updating it in the future.
At the same time, we collaborate deeply with our partner Tencent to organize more offline player gatherings. We've also launched co-branded merchandise like Beijing transportation cards, striving to integrate Warframe into players' daily lives and build an online-offline interconnected player community.
Earlier this year, Rebecca (Lian Ma) and I specially traveled to Shanghai to attend a Chinese player meetup. We met many outstanding players, including numerous Bilibili content creators, and had in-depth face-to-face exchanges, gaining valuable insights.
That exchange yielded huge benefits, with many optimizations stemming from this offline meeting, such as reducing the progression difficulty for all starter Warframes on the CN server.
This September, we will go to Xi'an again for an offline event, hosting China's first Tenno VIP activity. I'm very much looking forward to meeting you and other players then.
Q: Have you considered building more direct communication channels with Chinese players on social media platforms?
Zi:Whether it's comments under our official account videos, other creators' videos, or player messages on Douyin, I review them individually every day as part of my regular work routine. Whenever I have free time, the first thing I do on my phone is check player messages.
Q: So, you have become a very key bridge between domestic players and developers.
Zi:I don't deserve such praise. I'm just doing my job.
Q: Playing habits differ significantly between domestic and international players, such as group socializing, grinding preferences, and payment concepts. While connecting to the global unified version, what localized activities will community operations launch to cater to domestic players' habits?
Zi:That's an interesting question. We understand that player preferences vary across regions, so our game content caters to diverse needs. For example, I personally dislike long grinding sessions and prefer casual activities like fishing and mining, which are also available in-game. Meanwhile, we've developed high-difficulty content such as Railjack and The Steel Path to satisfy players who enjoy deep challenges and repetitive grinding.
If players want us to bring back old content or add new gameplay features, please leave comments, and we'll try our best to implement them.
Q: Domestic players often discuss numerical balance, weapon/Warframe strength, and resource acquisition difficulty. When conveying requests to the overseas Digital Extremes team, how do you distinguish between universal opinions and niche personalized demands to increase the probability of feedback adoption?
Zi:If we find many players favoring a certain gameplay style, we will definitely consider it in future content design. If many players repeatedly mention certain content, we will prioritize referencing it in subsequent updates. For bug-related issues, we will prioritize urgent fixes.
After all, players come to games to relax, and no one wants their experience ruined by bugs. We will try our best to avoid such situations.
Q: After collecting concentrated complaints from CN server players, what follow-up actions will the community team take to show players that their feedback is valued and provide clear progress updates?
Zi:We are optimizing our announcement channels. This year, we have significantly increased the frequency of official content releases on Bilibili, with much of the content published under my name. Since change logs from overseas forums experience delays when synchronized domestically, I will collaborate with the Tencent team to publish update content directly on domestic platforms.
Meanwhile, we have professional volunteer translators assisting with localization, ensuring players clearly understand three things—
First, feedback has been received;
Secondly, your voices are valued by the official team;
Third, corresponding optimizations can be seen in subsequent updates.
Q: Does the official team connect with top game content creators and influencers to synchronize first-hand information and reach broader player communities through them?
Zi:We have established exclusive liaison groups for creators. Before each major version update, creators directly forward player feedback to me. Both newcomers and veterans consult content creators about game-related questions, and creators consolidate these queries before sending them to me. My team and I compile unified responses, and creators can choose whether to share these answers with their fans.
Q: So, the official team indeed maintains close collaboration with domestic game KOLs to synchronize information and convey player voices.
Zi:This year, we specifically improved our localized creator support program. All supporting materials and information are localized into Chinese, so creators no longer need to read original English content. For every version update, we prepare Chinese information in advance for creators, who also have direct feedback channels to the official team.
Q: Finally, do you two have anything you'd like to say to domestic players?
Megan:Thank you very much for your love and support, and for accompanying us on this journey. Please continue to provide game feedback. Rebecca (Lian Ma) and I will keep producing Chinese voice-over content. Feel free to ask questions, and we'll do our best to answer them. We look forward to witnessing future Warframe updates together with you.
I also eagerly look forward to the day I can personally come to China to meet everyone.
Zi:I want to say to everyone, thank you very much for all players' love and support. I haven't been playing Warframe for very long myself, but as a newcomer, I can feel how inclusive and friendly the entire CN server community is towards new players. We receive massive amounts of player feedback, each stemming from love for this game. If people didn't care about this game, they wouldn't bother making suggestions. Therefore, I cherish every piece of feedback and will do my utmost to convey all player requests completely to the development team, responding with actual changes so everyone knows their voices are heard.
Looking forward to meeting all players in Xi'an this September. Thank you everyone!