A world inhabited by infested creatures, an abundance of insects, and a daily power struggle between two opposing sides? No, it’s not the British summertime in 2020, it’s the new Warframe expansion Heart of Deimos, which has just been unveiled as part of this year’s all-digital TennoCon presentation.
The update brings a raft of goodies – including a fleshy open world, K-Drive combat, mechs and warring giant wyrms – all of which should keep players occupied as they search for the origins of the Infested faction. Oh, and there’s also a little thing called the Helminth Chrysalis System, which allows players to transfer an ability to another Warframe (something that should create some truly wacky combinations).
But given this year has been so disruptive for many studios thanks to the impact of COVID-19, I was curious to know how Digital Extremes had shifted its content plans and managed the workload for Warframe: particularly given the game normally receives a fairly consistent flow of updates and content. After watching a press deimos-tration, I had a chat with Warframe COO and dev team member Sheldon Carter, who was able to tell me more about the challenges of working during lockdown, how the Necramechs work… and what the hell is going on with that Helminth.
