Way back in the halcyon day of last July, Digital Extremes CEO Steve Sinclair told me the team was “excited” to bring Warframe to Switch 2 and was eager to “really push [the machine] to its limits, see what it can do.” The only problem? The studio was still waiting on a dev kit from Nintendo. Some eight months on, though, that Switch 2 release is almost here: Digital Extremes has confirmed it’s coming to Nintendo’s latest console on 25th March.
And if you’re wondering what Warframe‘s jump to Switch 2 means it more practical terms, you can expect 1080p resolution and 60fps in both handheld and docked modes. Digital Extremes is also promising improvements to load times, textures, and shader quality. Additionally, Switch 2’s mouse mode is supported, meaning you can use the right Joy-Con in its face-down configuration while in-game and in menus.
To celebrate Warframe’s Switch 2 arrival, players logging in between 25th March and 15th April will earn the Ambimanus Pack, which includes the Vericres Warfan weapon, the Akomeogi Warfan weapon skin, Slicing Feathers Stance Mod, Affinity/Credit boosters, and more.
Warframe’s long-awaited Switch 2 release coincides with the launch of the free-to-play sci-fi shooter’s latest major update, The Shadowgrapher. It’s coming to all platforms on 25th March, and includes new stuff as well as overhauls to existing systems. For starters, there’s a new game mode, Follie’s Hunt, described as Warframe’s version of 4v1 asymmetric multiplayer survival horror. Here, four players face Follie as they attempt to complete unfinished paintings scattered around the ruins of the Vesper Relay. The more paintings players complete the shorter Follie’s cooldowns, making them more aggressive as matches go on. And to add some extra spice to proceedings, each match has modifiers that randomise mission hazards and enemy effects. Follie, incidentally, is also the game’s 64th playable Warframe.
Elsewhere, The Shadowgrapher introduces a number of new social features for Clans – including Clan and Friend List specific UI mission markers, resource bonus rewards after missions with Clanmates, Clan-only matchmaking, weekly Clan missions, Clan merging, and Clan-specific cosmetics like a group emote and Clan Glyph. There’s also a new limited-time event, Operation: Atramentum, which runs from 2nd April to 23rd April. It includes new cosmetic rewards to earn as well as rewards from past Operations.
Finally, if you’ve been considering a visit to Warframe’s annual TennoCon fan convention – which this year runs from 10th-11th July in London, Ontario – tickets are available via Eventbrite right now.