Warframe begins five-year celebration

Warframe has been consistent in adding new suits (pictured) and other items for players to work towards or buy. — AFP Relaxnews

Free-to-play space ninja simulator Warframe reaches its fifth anniversary on March 25, 2018, and has begun handing out freebies in celebration of its own success.

Frequently held up as an example of free-to-play design done well, Warframe is on the cusp of entering its fifth year.

Developed by Canadian studio Digital Extremes, Warframe was not only inspired by the team's previous original title, the underwhelming Dark Sector, but was also launched on that game's own five-year anniversary.

But where Dark Sector ultimately morphed from an ambitiously futuristic sci-fi shooter into a far more generic affair for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 generation, Warframe stuck much closer to its ancestor's original concept design.

Fluid, kinetic movement and out-of-this-world visual design came to typify the high-reaching project, while new content was added on a regular basis to keep players invested and coming back for more.

Not only that, but Digital Extremes turned Warframe into an experiment in both self-publishing (because established publishers didn't want it) and in free-to-play development, committing to the continued development of a free action game so polished that it's become a leader in its field.

Thanks to its combination of shooting, looting, character progression, and open-world adventuring (added in November 2017's Plains of Eidolon update), it has even won favourable comparisons to retail blockbusters like Destiny 2 and Borderlands 2.

Revenue is derived from the sale of cosmetic items and time-saving shortcuts that mean players do not have to spend hours accumulating the virtual currency or resources needed to upgrade or acquire weapons, equipment, inventory space and additional suits of armour (the Warframes themselves.)

Accordingly, it's grown from 332,000 registered users at launch to 38 million by Year 5; PlayStation 4 and Xbox One editions arrived in late 2013 and 2014 respectively.

Of course, not all of those users will have become regular players, something that Digital Extremes hopes to change with an anniversary incentive – players logging in between March 14 and 28 will be given a limited edition costume and equipment set for one of Warframe's most widely available character designs, while a run of caps and shirts are being made available in the game's merchandise store until mid-April.