Co-Op ninja action-RPG Warframe is coming to the Nintendo Switch. Developer Digital Extremes announced the news during this year’s TennoCon, the annual Warframe convention. The port will be handled by Panic Button, who brought DOOM and most recently Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus to Nintendo’s handheld. No release date was given but check out the accompanying trailer.
Warframe is probably the prime example when talking about Free-to-Play done right. The Co-Op action title first appeared on Steam many years ago in 2013 but didn’t manage to grab the hearts of players. But through sheer dedication and passion by the developer Digital Extremes, Warframe went through extensive changes with the help and input of the player base. Miraculously, Warframe turned its situation upside-down and became one of the most popular Free-to-Play titles available on Steam. Not only that, it also is one of the highest rated games on the platform period, with a staggering 91% positive user reviews.
Digital Extremes put all their faith in their game and while there are microtransactions in the game, the team avoided the pitfall many of its genre-peers fell into. Becoming Pay-to-Win instead of Free-to-Play. Steady content updates, patches and balancing granted Warframe a persistent and high player count, a paramount feature for any game that focuses on a multiplayer aspect.
So, it comes as both great news and surprise that Digital Extremes announced their current flagship title is being ported to the Nintendo Switch. The port is being worked on at the moment by Panic Button, a studio Switch users will likely be familiar with. The Texan game studio received high praise by journalists and gamers for what many thought impossible ports. They brought two high-fidelity AAA games on the Nintendo Switch, with competent ports of the new Doom game and just recently Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. Check out our review of Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus for the Nintendo Switch.
While no slouch technically, as the Switch proved with beautiful games like Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the small form-factor and simply the fact that as a handheld the system has limitations in power draw, some concessions had to be made for Doom and Wolfenstein II. This doesn’t mean that these ambitious ports are not worth playing however, quite the opposite actually, since the ability to play anywhere you want opens up a whole new and unique experience.
Switch owners are the best proof that these types of AAA ports are a lucrative endeavor for publishers. As President of Nintendo America Reggie Fils-Aimé once put it bluntly and to the point, “Play. The. Game.”, owners of game consoles really care about one thing. Playing games. And if publishers give them the opportunity to play their games on their system of choice, these users won’t care about the best version across platforms but only about whether they can buy and play the game on their system, in this case the Nintendo Switch.
As is so often in the games industry, someone has to prove success and others will follow. Warframe is the next big title to appear on the Switch, but we expect many more AAA games we usually only see on the PS4 and Xbox One to come to the nifty handheld.
