This should be the first time the TennoVIP event has come to China.
This is also Community Director Megan's first time coming to China.
As a bridge between Digital Extremes and Warframe players, we have had multiple interviews with Megan, the most recent being at TennoCon 2026 two months ago. During that interview, Megan expressed her envy of Lotus Mother Rebecca having visited China several times. Now, she has finally set foot in this ancient country herself, visiting the ancient capital of Xi'an.
From chats during and after the interview, Xi'an gave Megan many surprises. The enthusiastic atmosphere at the TennoVIP event site also shocked her considerably.
As a senior hoarder, I naturally did not miss this event. Specific details were largely covered in Lotus Mother Rebecca's interview next door, so I won't repeat them here.
In short, below is the full interview with Community Director Megan.
Q: For a long-term live-service game like Warframe, new players need to invest a lot of effort to get started. I'm curious if there are currently any optimizations for new players, or if you've launched any content to help them better enter the game.
Megan:Yes, I think the Tutorial Quest is a good example. Everyone knows that modding is very difficult, and we understand it is indeed complex. Actually, there have always been calls for modding tutorials, and we believe the Tutorial Quest partially solves this problem.
The results look good so far; players approve of it, and they want more, wanting deeper content. This is also the direction of adjustment we are considering. The new player experience is very important to us.
Additionally, as a game that has been operating for many years, Warframe will only become more complex. Therefore, every time we add new endgame content, we consider the experience of new players and the paths for them to access this content—these are always our top priorities.
We try to make gradual changes to reduce the burden on players when accessing this content. Sometimes, we create relatively larger content like the Tutorial Quest to improve the overall experience, but other times we just make small updates and adjustments to chip away at it slowly.
Q: You have long participated in developer work diaries targeting Chinese players and directly collect questions from the Chinese community. Which opinions and suggestions from Chinese players have truly influenced Digital Extremes' actual development and work arrangements?
Megan:I think the most representative point—as you know—is the new Warframe Chang'e we are currently working on. This Warframe fully incorporates the demands of Chinese players to create China-themed content.
Additionally, we also communicate directly with Chinese players through offline exchanges to understand their demands. As I mentioned before, when Rebecca came to participate in offline events at the beginning of the year, many suggestions were even made by players face-to-face—such as shortening construction times and bringing back Clan Dojos. These were strong demands from players, so we brought them back and made targeted adjustments.
Such improvements became more frequent after we launched the Chinese Developer Diaries. We can quickly see why players are excited or dissatisfied, and then judge whether adjustments are needed in updates, or handle them based on feedback from developer livestreams. All player voices flow into a large consideration pool, which includes not only feedback from Chinese players but also voices from other regions and markets around the world.
Accurately speaking, the process of collecting feedback from developer diaries, discussing with the development team, and then trying to integrate good opinions and suggestions into the final product design has been very helpful for Warframe's development.
Q: You just mentioned receiving a lot of player feedback. How does this feedback eventually enter the formal production process? During over ten years of operation, there must have been many issues, whether balance or optimization problems. For example, we had a heavy weapon-related bug in mid-July. What is the most memorable issue for you? How was it resolved at that time?
Megan:That's a good question. First, to answer the first part—our team has Zi, whom you should have already met. She has been deeply interacting with players, helping me understand the preferences of Chinese players, providing many good suggestions, and helping me better understand the thoughts of the Chinese player community.
For example, Mayeh Essence. Zi helped us understand its iconic image in the Chinese player community, allowing us to create some interesting content around it. More importantly, Zi also helped me understand the demands of Chinese players—these demands are sometimes different from players in other parts of the world. We need to understand their thoughts and motivations, such as why they prefer certain mechanics or game modes compared to the global version, which is crucial.
So, Zi really helped us a lot in this regard, and I am especially grateful to Zi.
As for the other question, I always think of a bug that appeared when the Atomicycle was first released: you could summon and use it in any mission, even outside the open world. This design was definitely not our original intention, but this "bug" was very popular in the player community. Many people liked it particularly, finding it fun and cool.
Although riding the Atomicycle in regular missions caused many problems, we decided to turn this bug into a game feature. This doesn't happen often, as it might break the conventional logic of game design. But it is a good example illustrating how persistent the community is about what they truly love.
Sometimes we think it's fun and say, "Okay, although it might cause some other problems, let's leave it in the game." So, you can ride your Atomicycle in Captain Vor's assassination mission, or go anywhere you want.
We basically added a bug as a feature.
So, we will try our best to understand why players like this content. In catering to player demands, we will occasionally break conventions to try and make things that satisfy players.
Q: From the Larva Museum to Prime Warframes like Voruna Prime strengthening character images through exclusive PVs, and then to the "Jade Shadows" and "Jade Shadows: The Stars" expansions continuously advancing character relationships—Warframe is trying different scales and forms of character narrative. How does the team view the roles played by these different narrative forms? Does this mean that character-centric narrative will become a more stable content direction?
Megan:Yes, I think telling character stories is very important. Our players have deep resonance with certain characters, and we must ensure the stories we tell do justice to these characters. Of course, as you know, we don't make Prime trailers for every Prime Warframe; it depends on how busy the R&D team is.
Producing Tau updates and Prime trailers sometimes conflicts in terms of timing, so unfortunately, we have to make trade-offs. But even for those Warframes without Prime promotional videos, we will try our best to create relevant storylines to pave the way for the character.
As for "Jade Shadows: The Stars," that was content Rebecca particularly wanted to create when she first made "Jade Shadows." She had this idea in her mind a few years ago. So, when the time was right and we could tell this story, "Jade Shadows: The Stars" was released.
But honestly, shaping the stories of these characters throughout Warframe and integrating familiar characters with new ones into the game's overall ecosystem is probably one of my favorite things about Warframe.
So, whether it's character PVs, small missions, or short films, they are all very important to us. We will exert effort in the general direction while also paying attention to other details, trying to maintain balance.
Q: Warframe releases a large themed version every year. While maintaining such a high-intensity update rhythm, how do you ensure that content quality does not decline?
Megan:This is indeed a very difficult question. Every year we have to decide on the content and pace of updates—it's quite a struggle. Now, I feel we have entered a relatively good update rhythm—for example, some small updates at the beginning of the year, a bit more small content before TennoCon, a little more after TennoCon, and then the big update at the end of the year.
Actually, at the beginning of each year, we make a rough update plan for the whole year. After planning, we assign corresponding teams and personnel to different production stages. At this year's TennoCon, we introduced the Tau System, which is undoubtedly our biggest update this year and before the end of the year.
We plan the relevant mission content in advance, ensuring sufficient manpower during the R&D process, while also guaranteeing enough resources and energy for post-launch operations after the version goes live. Updating game content is a process of continuous dynamic balancing—we are not always right, but we will do our best.
This is also why we strive through hotfix patches and various QA tests to ensure that every new mode, character, and mission meets high standards. We have a dedicated and passionate team committed to making every major update as perfect as possible.
Therefore, we will continue down the path of adjusting as we go, keeping the game in good overall condition.
Q: Why does Digital Extremes persist in creating events like TennoVIP that go to different regions to face players directly? Previously, we saw strong calls within China to invite the production team to visit. With TennoVIP landing in mainland China for the first time, does this also mean the team hopes to further strengthen offline connections with Chinese players?
Megan:Absolutely! I have always particularly hoped to come to China because I know there is such a huge player base here, and players have always wanted us to come—it really means a lot. At the beginning of the year, Rebecca came to China before me, and I was quite envious of her. This time, I finally had the opportunity to be invited personally, to communicate face-to-face with the vast number of Chinese players. I feel very honored and am especially looking forward to finally meeting Chinese Tenno face-to-face tonight.
We definitely want to hold more events in China.
Additionally, the TennoVIP event is very important to us—we have been doing it for 11 years. It started small, then we tried doing 4 or 5 events a year, and it gradually developed. Holding this Xi'an TennoVIP offline event with Tencent this year has been a very good experience, and we are very grateful.
I find this trip very memorable. So far, the exploration experience in China has been quite surprising—I should have mentioned several times today how impressed I was seeing the Terracotta Warriors with my own eyes. I am very much looking forward to meeting our Tenno tonight, and I really hope to continue doing more TennoVIP events in China, making them larger in scale and inviting more players to meet us.
Q: As the Chinese player base grows larger and with Tencent's involvement, have you encountered any Chinese community cultures or activities that have conversely influenced Warframe's global operations?
Megan:The Chinese community and Chinese players are our top priority, not only because of the large numbers but also because this is a passionate player group whose support we see every day. Zi has always kept me informed about what players are discussing daily on Chinese social media platforms, including Bilibili and QQ groups.
Just like the developer interaction diary mentioned earlier, we will continuously collect ideas from the vast number of Chinese players to ensure Chinese players' voices are heard and feedback is received. Unfortunately, my Chinese level is not good enough yet, so currently I still rely on colleagues to understand Chinese players' thoughts as much as possible.
Of course, many player ideas and requests have driven changes, such as the construction time adjustment mentioned earlier. Additionally, regarding the beloved Mayeh Essence, we added a batch of Mayeh Essence decorations in the recent Nightwave. Although the character Mayeh Essence is a bit silly, we are happy to do things that make everyone happy if they really want them.
Q: Will Warframe open up more overseas exhibition slots for TennoCon in the future? Inviting some high-quality domestic fan creators to take the stage and showcase their works. Are there any relevant plans currently that you can share with us?
Megan:Currently, we cannot answer this question. Next year's TennoCon has not yet been scheduled, as we are still focused on this year's work, prioritizing the major Tau System update. But in general response to your question and request—yes, the answer is affirmative. In the future, we also hope to continue inviting more excellent Chinese creators to experience TennoCon and showcase their works.
You have personally attended our events, so you know what the atmosphere is like. In the future, we will continuously and in stages provide more Chinese creators with a stage to showcase themselves.
We likely already have some event plans for next year's TennoCon, and we hope to bring more Chinese content creators to London, Canada by then. Although the atmosphere in London is different from China, it is our home turf after all, and we hope everyone can attend.
Mayeh Jiamo
Q: TennoVIP and TennoCon have been held for many years, establishing an efficient communication mechanism between players and developers. When did this transparent player-developer communication mode begin? What was the initial trigger or reason?
Megan:Speaking of when we started doing this, actually, we decided to do this from the very first day the game was born. Thirteen years ago, when I first joined Digital Extremes and the Warframe team, Rebecca told me that we must maintain a very open and transparent communication mechanism with the player community.
We make the games players want. Whatever they want, we try to make it happen as quickly as possible.
Since then, we have persisted for a full 13 years. We are still here now, hoping to continue, which is a particularly important job and responsibility for us.
To answer your second question—what was the original intention behind doing this?
Honestly, our studio was facing survival pressure at that time, and we were quite desperate. Because if we didn't do well with this product, the entire studio might have had to close down. So, we invested all our resources into Warframe.
At that time, we decided that we must listen to the players' calls. Whatever the players wanted, we would try our best to make it happen for them.
So as a development team, making the development progress as transparent as possible has always been our top priority, regardless of whether development goes smoothly or not. To put it in more down-to-earth terms, we had to "keep our tails between our legs" back then—we wanted to be honest and open with players, while letting everyone understand that we are actually living, breathing game developers, hoping everyone could align on the vision and continue to make Warframe better.
Q: In recent years, Chinese players have clearly felt that communication between Digital Extremes and the Chinese community has increased, with more offline activities. What else does Digital Extremes hope to do for Chinese players in China in the future? Or rather, through what aspects do you hope to establish more direct connections with Chinese players?
Megan:Collaborating with Tencent is really exciting because it gives us more opportunities to come to this country. At the same time, we are full of gratitude. The Tencent team has taught me a lot about Chinese culture and the Chinese player community. For example, the campus tour event happening tomorrow is a brand-new activity format they proposed that can be carried out in China.
So, we often look forward to getting more new ideas and thoughts from the Tencent team, such as campus tours and where TennoVIP should be held, etc. Once they have some new ideas, I am usually very positive—yes, yes, I like it, let's do it.
I want to reach more Chinese players.
Actually, during these two days in Xi'an, I was very happy to see the Warframe logo on our cars, and so many Warframe decorations in the stairwells and inside the hotel. In short, it is truly a fortune to collaborate with the Tencent team, and I look forward to creating even better things with them in the future.
I personally hope to visit often in the future. Although the 15-hour flight is quite tough, I love it here. I hope Chinese players welcome us back—to be honest, I really don't want to leave.
Q: The TennoVIP events started about 11 years ago. For the development environment at that time, it was an era that placed great emphasis on online operations. In such an era, what were your unique reasons for persisting with offline events like these, including meeting players, TennoVIP, and campus tours?
Megan:We believe offline events are very important because through such activities, we can more intuitively hear stories from the players' perspective. Often, face-to-face communication offline is irreplaceable, because you can perceive their emotions during the interaction.
I think this is very different from how people nowadays are used to hiding behind screens and communicating via text—it's really hard to express your true emotions through text.
Although we do see many beautiful stories on platforms like Bilibili, when someone tells you their story and experience face-to-face, we can observe their immediate reaction to what we are doing. Nothing is more important than that real, human-to-human emotional connection.
I think in this era, it's hard to get people to re-establish a perception—that we are actually just ordinary people. We are striving to make a game that we hope you will like. We make mistakes, and not Everythinggj will be perfect.
But as long as there is at least one player playing Warframe, we will keep going. So, gathering together with Tenno is really very important to us.