"Something a bit slower... almost more poetic": Digital Extremes' Geoff Crookes talks Soulframe gameplay and community-first approach

Most Warframe fans will have heard of Soulframe by now—the upcoming definitely-not-Elden-Frame offering from Digital Extremes. Broadly speaking, it is an action MMORPG with sword and sorcery, heavily centered on the idea of healing the world. It is currently in an early Alpha stage of development that the developers are calling "Preludes," so a lot of the finer details remain to be sketched out.

Soulframe's introductory trailers gave us some impressions of its art design and broader goals, but many burning questions remained unanswered. We got a chance to interview Creative Director Geoff Crookes on some of these. It was a rather hectic time during the lead-up to TennoCon 2024 and the first Soulframe Devstream, so we could only ask seven questions.

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Soulframe Creative Director Geoff Crooke answers 7 questions about development and gameplay.

Soulframe's Glades concept art gives off Silver Grove vibes (Image via Digital Extremes)

Q. Was Soulframe something you realized you wanted to make while developing Duviri Paradox?

Geoff: People often say that Duviri Paradox was a “test run” of Soulframe tech - it wasn’t. Those mechanics and systems were developed independently of each other. Soulframe was actually in the concept phase well before Duviri Paradox and those combat design teams are comprised of different people.

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Q. As far as we know, Soulframe will have co-op lobbies like with Warframe. But the ‘overworld’ poses some good opportunities for more of a traditional MMO experience. Can you run into other players, or is it a sort of solo instance unless you party up with someone?

Geoff: Social and co-op play is important to our overall vision, but we haven’t solidified what that final experience will look like, outside of our own strong desire for trying to make those connections in the overworld available. We definitely will be sharing details when we’re in a good place - more to come at a later date.

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Q. I know it’s probably too early to ask this now, but are you considering PvP features for Soulframe?

Geoff: We are currently very focused on refining Soulframe PvE model and ensuring both the team and community love where things are at. When we reach that base foundational level - then we hope to take a breath and see what players and the team feel are our next priorities.

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4. Will there be alternative traversal options in Soulframe? I don’t mean horses, I mean short-term mobility options like grappling hooks and such.

Geoff: Our goal is to elevate the player’s sense of immersion and confer fluidity of motion, but we’re not sharing anything specific at this time.

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5. Are you adding things in Soulframe that you cannot possibly add in Warframe because of tech limitations?

Geoff: Warframe and Soulframe use our Evolution Engine. From a tech perspective, we're always iterating and building upon past improvements so while Warframe and Soulframe are two distinct teams - relevant improvements can benefit both games as we continue a near-constant process of refinement.

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6. Soulframe’s progression has easy impressions of Warframe from what we see, but what was your biggest inspiration for the moment-to-moment gameplay?

Geoff: In general, we wanted to take what we knew about Warframe, flip it around, and create something new that can maybe live alongside Warframe as a sister project. Meaning, something a bit slower with more focused encounters. Almost more poetic.

The moment-to-moment gameplay will evolve as we continue testing in Preludes. It’s certainly something we’ll fine-tune with feedback from players top of our minds. We are still developing that moment-to-moment gameplay alongside where and what our Preludes players gravitate toward, things like our Pact/Class systems for example. As those things come to fruition, they will end up solidifying Soulframe’s overall gameplay foundation.

There's already a working day-night cycle in the Alpha (Image via Digital Extremes)

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7. Is there going to be dynamic weather and day-night cycles?

Geoff: Yes. As you progress through the story and heal the corruption, there will be very visible changes in the environment around you to create a very real feeling of your impact on the world. So not only will the weather and time of day be dynamic, but the environment will be as well depending on what point in the story you are.

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Soulframe is currently in a closed alpha, but it will likely have a public early access later this year. Earlier, we also interviewed the game's Community Manager, Sarah Asselin, who shared some more insight into its "hopeful world."