WARFRAME BLASTS INTO OPEN BETA

WITH BIGGEST UPDATE YET

Closed Beta Gates Are Dropped -- Everyone Can Play For Free

March 21, 2013 – London, ON – The wait is over for gamers anticipating entry into one of the year’s hottest AAA Free-To-Play games, Warframe™.  The sci-fi co-op action game for the PC developed by Digital Extremes, launched its Open Beta this week alongside its most extensive content and feature update: Update 7.  Anyone who registers at www.warframe.com can now download and play the game for free.

Since October 2012, players have participated in the game’s Closed Beta providing feedback to help improve the experience from top to bottom.  Players were introduced to Warframe as Tenno warriors, who have discovered an ancient exo-skeletal technology only they can operate. These Warframes bring unimaginable power and skill to the Tenno and provide players with unique offensive and defensive powers to explore and master.  Players go solo or band together in squads of 4 to complete co-op based raids to locate ancient artifacts that will help customize and upgrade their Warframe and weapons.

Coinciding with Open Beta, the game received its largest feature update yet.  Update 7 includes a highly anticipated open environment snow planet, 2 new Warframes with poison and sonic powers, a Sentinel pet system, and a new Global Chat feature. The most radical feature in this update is the re-vamp of the Mod System that has added a new level of depth to customizing your arsenal.  Adding some of the stealth flavor seen in the original Dark Sector sci-fi concept of 2004, the update also provides players with stealth attack options and a new hunting bow called The Paris.

Steve Sinclair, chief creative director on Warframe expressed his gratitude to the Closed Beta group.  “The road has been wild, but through the fixing, the breaking, the smashing, and the rebuilding, the Warframe community has supported us and it’s heartwarming to see their love for the game matches our own,” said Sinclair.  “Free-to-Play has reached a level of acknowledgement within the gaming community that now demands higher level production values and in-depth gaming experiences.  We’re delivering that with Warframe and if the success of the Closed Beta is any indication, it’s well on its way to pushing the Free-to-Play frontier into the next generation.”

Gamers can get a good look at the highly praised art and animation style of the game in the newly released Open Beta Launch Trailer available now on the Warframe YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/playwarframe.  The trailer launches viewers into the heart of Warframe during a radical battle featuring four original Warframes and teases recently added content, including features from Update 7.

Plans for additional content and feature updates will continue through Open Beta.  First up: Steam integration – Warframe will be available on Steam starting March 25, 2013.

For those interested in learning more about Warframe, the development team will be hosting a live stream on Twitch.tv March 27, 2013 @ 14:00 EST featuring gameplay from Update 7 (http://www.twitch.tv/warframe). In the meantime, gamers can check the game out for themselves at www.warframe.com.

About Digital Extremes

            Founded in 1993 by James Schmalz, Digital Extremes ranks as one of the world’s top independent development studios in the interactive entertainment industry. The Canadian-based developer has a rich history in developing some of the industry’s top first-person shooter and action games.  Originating with the co-creation of Epic Games’ multi-million unit selling Unreal® franchise including Unreal, Unreal Tournament – and all its iterations -- and continuing with such hits as Dark Sector®, BioShock® for the PlayStation®3 and the multi-player campaign of BioShock 2.  Most recently, Digital Extremes earned critical acclaim for the development of first-person shooter, The Darkness® II, based on the comic book series of the same name and the use of its proprietary technology, the Evolution Engine™.  The studio is currently developing the Free-To-Play action game, Warframe™.  For more information about Digital Extremes, visit the company website at www.digitalextremes.com.  To sign up for Warframe, visit www.warframe.com.

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Warframe and the Warframe logo are trademarks of Digital Extremes Ltd.