Soulframe

18:24 Soulframe is Digital Extremes' free-to-play fantasy action RPG from the makers of Warframe, playable on PC since Dec 2023 in Preludes, its pre-alpha, through soulframe.com; it has no release date as of Oct 21, 2026, and Open Preludes, which will let anyone on PC sign up and play without an invitation, was announced on Oct 15, 2026. The live demo Digital Extremes played at TennoCon 2026 (Jul 11, 2026) shows how it plays: seen in third person, with the game's interface on screen, an Envoy, the player's character, charges a camp of armored foes in a misty pine forest, cutting through them with a blade and bursts of green and blue Magick between tents, campfires and a heavy wagon. Steam's description sums it up as "Forge your legend with blade, bow, and magick as you lead the charge against a world-devouring corruption." This page is the overview; every system, place and update has its own page, linked below.

Quick facts

What Soulframe is

Soulframe is a third-person fantasy action RPG set in an open world, where the player, an Envoy with "ancient Fey blood", fights a corruption called the Ode and heals the land. Digital Extremes calls it "the upcoming free-to-play fantasy action RPG" in its 2026 press releases, and Steam lists it as Action, Adventure, RPG and Free To Play, with single-player, online co-op and full controller support. It is the studio's "second project" beside Warframe, revealed with a cinematic trailer at TennoCon 2022 on Jul 16, 2022, when Steve Sinclair wrote that "Soulframe development has officially just begun."

Is Soulframe an MMO? Not in so many words. At its 2022 reveal Digital Extremes called it a free-to-play "action hybrid-MMORPG", in 2026 Sarah Asselin told MeinMMO that the studio uses "MMO Lite" for part of its identity and expects that to change, and today the studio's own label is "fantasy action RPG". Players share hubs, trade and team up, but parties are small. Is it a Soulslike? "Souls-like" is a tag Steam users added, not Digital Extremes' description; the developers have described a slower, more deliberate fight than Warframe's, and its theme is healing rather than punishment. How it compares with its older sibling is on Soulframe vs Warframe.

How to play Soulframe now

0:49 Soulframe is free to play on PC, but until Open Preludes begins you need Preludes access: sign up at soulframe.com and wait for a weekly invitation, or buy a Founders bundle for instant access. The end card of Digital Extremes' gameplay trailer of Jun 5, 2026 says it plainly: "Join us, won't you?", soulframe.com, and "Wishlist on Steam". The official FAQ says the studio sends 2,000 invites per week to players who signed up, drawn at random, and each invite email (from no-reply@soulframe.com) carries codes to share with friends. The game is downloaded through Digital Extremes' own launcher from soulframe.com/en/download and needs 50 GB of space on 64-bit Windows; Steam has only a wishlist page. Every route, including Twitch Drops and friend codes, is on How to Get Preludes Access, and the specs are on System Requirements.

Open Preludes is the next step. "Simply put, no more waiting for an invitation!", Digital Extremes wrote on Oct 15, 2026: once it begins, "anyone who wants to experience Soulframe on PC can sign up at soulframe.com, download the launcher, and begin their journey into Midrath." No start date has been announced as of Oct 21, 2026; the studio will say more in Devstream 18 on Oct 30, 2026 at 3:30 p.m. ET (Open Preludes).

The world: Alca, Midrath and the Ode

0:04 Soulframe is set on Midrath, "the northern isle" of the world Alca, where the Envoy washes ashore. In the opening of the gameplay trailer, an Envoy kneels among red flowers beside standing stones pierced with round holes, then stands and looks out over a wide valley of forests and ruins while great rocks float in the sky. The land is sick: the Ode, whose lord is Synod, are draining Alca, and their corrupting Ichor twists people and beasts. A song of theirs, the Spellsong, made Alca's people forget their rites and their Omen Beasts, the great animal spirits the Envoy bonds with. Steam names the places to explore: Fables (story quests), World Trees, Sieges, Enclaves and Votives, and underground the Dermak Undercity, the Glades of Anduin and "the shifting Neath'uns". The island is on Midrath, the enemy on The Ode, the beasts on Omen Beasts and the plot on Story and Fables and Quests.

Geoff Crookes, the creative director, put the theme simply in 2024: "the player's role in this game is a healer." At the 2022 reveal he named The NeverEnding Story and Princess Mononoke as influences, and in 2026 Sinclair called the game "a response to the cynicism of the world we are finding ourselves within today."

The Envoy and the Nightfold

The Envoy is the player's own character, customizable from the start: character creation begins with the Envoy's mother, and "Your choices during the Warsongs Prologue will decide your starting visage". Between journeys the Envoy returns to the Nightfold, a home among the Ancestors where loadouts are changed and where its residents live: Verminia, the Rat Witch, for dyes, elixirs and customization; Tuvalkane, the blacksmith; Orlick the Bicameral, a historian who tracks research; and Zenith, the vendor. The full cast is on Characters and the home on The Nightfold.

Combat

0:28 Soulframe's combat mixes melee weapons, bows and Magick, and it is slower and more deliberate than Warframe's. The gameplay trailer cuts between its parts: two fighters clash in a ruined courtyard in a shower of sparks, a blast of green Magick bursts in a meadow, an archer draws a bow in a teal swamp, and a huge beast charges through roots and dust. Crookes said in 2022 that "Warframe is a very fast-paced, frenetic game, so we have to keep reminding ourselves to rein it in", and lead designer Scott McGregor said in 2025 that a one-on-one fight "could end up being a minute or so". Smite is the finishing blow, Spectral Sight reveals souls and clues, and Preludes 16 tightened parry timing and cut how far attacks pull the Envoy toward a target. Details are on Combat, and the named foes and roaming open-world bosses, the Agari, on Bosses and Agari.

Pacts and Virtues

43:15 Pacts are the Envoy's ability sets, granted by bonds with Omen Beasts: Steam says "Bonds with Omen Beasts grant Pacts with Arcanic abilities". In Devstream 9 (Sep 12, 2025) the developers show a work-in-progress look at the Pact of Bromius, the Waste Bear, which came with Preludes 11, and name one of its abilities, Rump Thump. Each Pact has three Arcanics, one for each Virtue, plus passives; the Pacts so far are Orengall's, Bromius's, the Duelo and the three Wyld Pacts sold with Founders. They are on Pacts.

8:02 The three Virtues, Courage, Spirit and Grace, shape a build, and since Preludes 15 (Jun 10, 2026) they are set freely for each loadout. In Devstream 15 (May 29, 2026) the developers say that Virtue Liths, the item spent to change Virtues, were taken out "by popular demand" for Preludes 15, so Envoys could respec without burning anything, and that the system had been through several versions. Melee scales with Courage, Magick with Spirit and ranged weapons with Grace (Virtues).

Weapons and Tempers

7:07 Soulframe's weapons include long blades, short blades, Heavy weapons (greatswords and maces), polearms, rapiers, Magick staffs and wrist casters, bows and a sidearm slot, and since Preludes 15 most of them drop fully made with random Tempers. In Devstream 15 the developers call Preludes 14.5's Tempers "the first weapon randomization" in the game, a system of "different upgrades", and say Preludes 15 would massively expand it and bring in crafting. Preludes 16 then let Envoys dismantle weapons to reclaim Tempers and retune eligible Legendary weapons with Tuvalkane. The arsenal is on Weapons and the system on Tempers and Crafting.

Co-op and multiplayer

Soulframe can be played alone or in parties of up to four players (four since a Preludes 14.5 hotfix in May 2026; three before). Envoys meet in hubs such as the Silent Rose Enclave's tavern, join one of three Enclaves (Alca's Children, Kith of Kings and the Silent Rose), and since Preludes 15 can trade with one another and send in-game mail. No player-versus-player mode has been announced as of Oct 21, 2026. See Co-op and Multiplayer and Enclaves.

The wolf pup, fishing and mounts to come

0:15 Preludes 16: Of Hook & Hound (Sep 18, 2026) gave the Envoy a wolf pup and a fishing rod. Its teaser shows a white pup bounding through tall grass under the caption "Puppy Interactions", then the Envoy casting into a green lake beside the pup under the caption "Fishing". After finishing The Shewolf Snared Fable you choose a pup and bond with it through fetch, walks, feeding it fish and fighting side by side; Digital Extremes says it "is meant to eventually become the player mount". Fishing has six lures and six fish, each cleansed of corruption, then released or kept for the wolf (Fishing, Preludes 16).

13:05 Riding is coming but is not in the game as of Oct 21, 2026. In the TennoCon 2026 demo an Envoy rides a huge white wolf along forest paths, and Digital Extremes promised on Jul 14, 2026 that players could test "the first highly anticipated mount system later this year", adding in its recap that "Wolves will not be the only Mounts". See Wolf Pup and Mounts.

Preludes so far

1:32 Preludes has run since Dec 2023 and has had 16 numbered updates, every one free. At the start of Devstream 15 a host asks "Are we still saying pre-alpha?" and the answer comes back "Yep", with "We're still thrashing around"; the Twitch Drops for watching, they add, are invites to Preludes. Digital Extremes' press releases call the same builds a "closed free Alpha test". Highlights so far: Orengall's Fable and the Silent Rose Enclave (Preludes 8, Jan 22, 2025), the Waste Bear and Bromius's Pact (Preludes 11, Oct 8, 2025), Founders and the Wylds (Preludes 12, Nov 25, 2025), the Duelo (Preludes 14, Apr 17, 2026), the loot and trading rework of Preludes 15: Gods & Ghosts (Jun 10, 2026) and fishing and the wolf pup in Preludes 16. Progress is kept: the Founders FAQ says "there will be no more account resets in Soulframe Preludes." Every update is on Preludes Updates, and the studio's livestreams on Devstreams.

Warsongs

0:47 Warsongs is the next big story chapter, a Fable "coming later this Fall" (2026) and not yet released as of Oct 21, 2026. The TennoCon 2026 Official Warsongs Trailer ends on fighting: Envoys cross a rain-soaked camp, one draws a bow and another casts green Magick, a gauntleted hand lifts a white rabbit from a cage of them, and the end card reads "Together, set them free" above "Wishlist on Steam". Digital Extremes' recap introduces Tempest Bayor, "an Envoy like yourself but sworn to Synod and the Ode", and a new Vadagar Pact that draws on Vespers (Doom, Death and Wrath) instead of Virtues; Crookes said that "Growth does not truly occur without a certain level of despair and fear." See Warsongs and the videos on Trailers.

Digital Extremes and Founders

Digital Extremes, founded in 1993 by James Schmalz in London, Ontario, makes Warframe and develops and publishes Soulframe; Tencent has owned the studio's parent since Dec 2020, and Digital Extremes says it "will remain creatively independent". Steve Sinclair, Warframe's longtime director, has been CEO since Oct 25, 2023, and Geoff Crookes, Warframe's former art and animation director, has directed Soulframe since 2022. Sinclair told Game Informer the studio keeps the team small and "the amount of public scrutiny as high as possible". See Digital Extremes, Development History and the soundtrack on Music.

0:11 Founders are optional bundles that pay for instant access and cosmetics. In the "Founders FAQ with Steve and Sarah" (Nov 19, 2025), Sinclair says they would go on sale at soulframe.com "on the 25th", stay available "for at least many months", and end only with plenty of warning. Four bundles have been on sale since Nov 25, 2025: Wyld Tethren, Wyld Sirin, Wyld Oscelda and Paragon, each with Preludes access, friend codes, Arcs (the premium currency) and a Warframe skin. Everything in them is on Founders Packs, and how the game makes money on Free to Play and Arcs.

Release date and platforms

1:04:02 Soulframe has no release date, release window or release year as of Oct 21, 2026. The official FAQ: "There is no firm release date for Soulframe just yet. We plan to remain in Preludes for as long as it takes". On Envoy Hour #6 (Nov 5, 2025) a viewer asks whether the game will be listed on Steam, and the answer is "Yes, that's the hope and dream"; the Steam page opened for wishlists that month, and Steam still says "Coming soon". Consoles are planned for "a fuller release rather than during Preludes", with no console named. Steam's Top Wishlisted list put Soulframe 13th on Oct 20, 2026. The dates and the "2027" claim are on Release Date, stores and consoles on Platforms, and a first session on Beginner's Guide.

Frequently asked questions

When does Soulframe come out? Soulframe has no release date as of Oct 21, 2026; it is playable now on PC in Preludes, its pre-alpha, and Open Preludes, open to everyone on PC, was announced on Oct 15, 2026 without a start date.

Is Soulframe free? Yes. Soulframe is free to play, and Preludes access is free through a weekly invite draw at soulframe.com; Founders bundles, which add instant access and cosmetics, are optional.

Is Soulframe on Steam? Soulframe has a Steam page for wishlists, but it cannot be played through Steam as of Oct 21, 2026; Preludes runs only through Digital Extremes' launcher from soulframe.com.

Is Soulframe on PS5 or Xbox? No. Soulframe is on PC only; Digital Extremes plans consoles for a fuller release but has named no console and no date, as of Oct 21, 2026.

How do I get access to Soulframe? Sign up at soulframe.com for the weekly invite draw, redeem a friend's code, or buy any Founders bundle for instant access; once Open Preludes begins, anyone on PC can sign up and play.

Is Soulframe an MMO? Not as Digital Extremes describes it now: Soulframe is a "fantasy action RPG" with online co-op for up to four, though the studio called it an "action hybrid-MMORPG" in 2022 and "MMO Lite" in 2026.

Is Soulframe like Warframe? Soulframe comes from the Warframe studio and is free to play too, but it is a fantasy RPG with slower, more deliberate melee, bows and Magick instead of Warframe's fast science-fiction action.

Does Soulframe have co-op? Yes. Soulframe has online co-op for parties of up to four players, as of Oct 21, 2026.

Sources

• Soulframe official site, Digital Extremes, read Oct 20, 2026
• Soulframe Preludes FAQ, Digital Extremes, read Oct 20, 2026
• Soulframe Founders, Digital Extremes, read Oct 20, 2026
• Download Soulframe, Digital Extremes, read Oct 20, 2026
• Open Preludes Coming Soon, Digital Extremes, Oct 15, 2026
• Soulframe Preludes 16 update available now, Digital Extremes, Sep 18, 2026
• Soulframe at TennoCon 2026, Digital Extremes, Jul 14, 2026
• TennoCon 2026 recap, Digital Extremes, read Oct 20, 2026
• Soulframe Devstream 15 overview, Digital Extremes, Jun 2, 2026
• TennoCon 2022: Digital Extremes unveils new game Soulframe, Digital Extremes, Jul 16, 2022
• TennoCon 2022 open letters from Rebecca Ford and Steve Sinclair, Digital Extremes, Jul 16, 2022
• Digital Extremes partners with Tencent, Digital Extremes, Dec 22, 2020
• Soulframe on Steam, Valve, read Oct 20, 2026
• Steam Top Wishlisted, Valve, read Oct 20, 2026
• Soulframe will not be a simple fantasy Warframe, MeinMMO, Jul 3, 2026
• Soulframe interview, PCGamesN, updated Feb 23, 2023
• London, Ontario's Digital Extremes on Soulframe, MobileSyrup, Jul 24, 2025
• Soulframe atmosphere, CGMagazine, Jul 24, 2024
• Soulframe is a response to the cynicism of the world, Game Informer, Apr 13, 2026
• The secret to Digital Extremes' live-service success, Game Informer, Apr 17, 2026
• Digital Extremes CEO James Schmalz resigns, Shacknews, Oct 25, 2023
• Soulframe Devstream 16 - Live from #TennoCon 2026!, Soulframe, Jul 11, 2026 (video)
• Soulframe: Preludes - Official Gameplay Trailer, Soulframe, Jun 5, 2026 (video)
• Soulframe | Devstream 9, Soulframe, Sep 12, 2025 (video)
• Soulframe Devstream #15, Soulframe, May 29, 2026 (video)
• Preludes 16: Of Hook & Hound Teaser, Soulframe, Sep 4, 2026 (video)
• TennoCon 2026 Official Warsongs Trailer, Soulframe, Jul 11, 2026 (video)
• Founders FAQ with Steve and Sarah, Soulframe, Nov 19, 2025 (video)
• Envoy Hour #6, Soulframe, Nov 5, 2025 (video)