Warframe: The Duviri Paradox Expansion - What We Know So Far

"Warframe" released back in 2013 and, while it initially received mediocre reviews, it proved to be ahead of its time in many ways. Over the years, it became a smash hit with a massive player base thanks to a steady stream of updates, upgrades, and expansions. Due to its success, developer Digital Extremes continues to roll out new content and holds an annual convention to show off what's coming next. At this year's TennoCon, fans were treated to a deeper look at the upcoming expansion, "The Duviri Paradox."

"The Duviri Paradox" offers a new cinematic story quest. Players will get to experience a fresh narrative, complete with new characters, settings, and creatures. Beyond the story addition, the expansion will introduce never-before-seen mechanics and systems to explore. While Digital Extremes has teased the expansion for years, it's finally providing a more in-depth look at the upcoming content.

"The Duviri Paradox" doesn't have an official release date yet. At the moment, all Digital Extremes will say is that it's coming in the winter of 2022. This may disappoint fans who want a little more to go on, but at least the expansion will arrive this year. Given how developers like to plan releases, a winter launch likely means Digital Extremes looks to drop the DLC ahead of the holiday season.

The wait may be tough for those excited for more "Warframe," but Digital Extremes is particularly busy at the moment. In addition to "The Duviri Pardox," the studio is also working on "Veilbreaker," another piece of DLC for the third-person shooter. Perhaps more excitingly, it's developing a brand new game: a fantasy interpretation of "Warframe" called "Soulframe."

Fans got a cinematic teaser trailer back in 2019. It depicts a character, known as the Drifter, lost in a strange, colorless world. Someone on a horse-like creature (known as a kaithe) attacks the Drifter. There are also shots of some amazing landscapes, but very little in the way of details about the story of "The Duviri Paradox." 

At this year's TennoCon, Digital Extremes finally dropped a gameplay trailer, along with some background on the expansion's narrative. The gameplay trailer reveals that the Drifter is trapped in some sort of time-loop in a land ruled by an evil dictator. He escapes imminent execution with some help from an unknown force and makes his way to the open world to fight enemies and explore.

The colorlessness of the biomes shown back in the teaser looks to be a major story and thematic element. The setting the Drifter explores is largely portrayed in shades of gray, but bursts of color appear at brief intervals. To his own surprise, the Drifter seems to have the ability to manipulate his surroundings, adding vibrant hues to the environment. It's not clear how this power will be used in the DLC yet, but it looks like an important part of the gameplay. The world is beautiful even in black and white and it should be fun to slowly turn it to color.

"The Duviri Paradox" will offer a new kind of experience for players. While it uses the core mechanics of "Warframe," there will be twists on the classic formula. Most notably, the titular warframes are absent at the start of the story. The Drifter will begin lightly armed, with only a rifle and some strange powers that he doesn't understand. When he discovers some ancient warframes later in the trailer, it's unclear when he'll actually get to suit up to augment his power.

It looks like Digital Extremes is trying to keep the central gameplay that fans love while working in some new elements to keep things fresh and fit with the story it has dreamed up. Between a new narrative hitting this winter and the news that cross-platform play will soon come to the game, this should be an exciting year for "Warframe" fans.