Soulframe, Warframe's high-fantasy sibling, finally opens to everyone this November, although Digital Extremes admits it is nervous about certain changes.

Background: Two Years of Closed Alpha Lead to an Open Prelude on 6th November

Digital Extremes has announced that Soulframe, the company's free-to-play fantasy RPG, will be available for everyone to download on 6th November. The release closes a two-year closed-alpha period for players who previously needed prelude keys to enter through Soulframe.com and experience the lobby screen's sleeping animals.

Development: Prelude 17 Arrives Around the Open Prelude and Verse of the Veilands

The new open prelude will land shortly before the game's 17th major update, Verse of the Veilands. That update lets players grow Omen wolfpup allies into rideable adult wolves by finding the ingredients for a special biscuit.

The source also describes prelude 17 as violently rearranging Soulframe's wistful world. It adds a Ubisoft-esque region purging system designed to guide new players more emphatically toward votives, Digital Extremes' bespoke term for missions.

Gameplay Change: Tormented Stag, Ode Siphons, and Sacred Songs

The region purging system begins after players complete the game's Tormented Stag quest. The landscape is then corrupted by siphons deployed by the villainous star-faring Ode faction.

Players must complete votives to build energy and learn the sacred song of each region. That process allows them to cleanse the area and restore the environment.

Once regions are rinsed of Ode siphons, they will appear more like their earlier versions in Soulframe, with activities such as fishing and new resources to collect.

Designer Concern: A Cosy World Becomes Harsher at First Glance

At a roundtable preview session last week, creative director Geoff Crookes and lead designer Scott McGregor expressed anxiety about deliberately polluting Soulframe's fairytale ambience. Crookes said he and McGregor had been discussing the change the day before, noting that the game had received strong feedback for being cosy and beautiful, while the new presentation will look much more unforgiving and harsh at first glance.

Crookes added that he thinks the shift pairs well with the move into open alpha because it gives players a stronger breadcrumb trail, pulls them into the world, and gives them more ownership of what they are doing.

Structural Flow: From Lost Players to Directed Votives

McGregor said many Soulframe players had gotten lost and stopped playing after completing the opening Fables, or story quests. He described prelude 17 as a very big change to the structural flow of the game. The team heard repeated player feedback asking what to do next.

The update combines that problem with the votive system, making early progression more directed. After players pass through the directed experience, they can return to the open world. Prelude 17 also lets players accept votives more straightforwardly from the world map after finding the local representative or mission giver.

New Pact: Ode Shrike Brings Poacher Tools and a Metal Gear Solid V Dart

Digital Extremes has a new Soulframe pact, or character loadout, on the boil: the Ode Shrike. It is a dastardly poacher class that specialises in spike traps and throwable bolas.

The Shrike's standout ability is a balloon dart that lets players hoist enemies into the sky, as in Metal Gear Solid V.

Current Stage: A Warframe-Defined Studio Testing a New Live Service Path

Soulframe remains interesting as a new live-service project from a company defined by the success of Warframe. Earlier in the year, the developers discussed the challenge of borrowing Warframe's thunder without getting lost in its shadow.

The project now stands at the threshold of open alpha. On 6th November, the download becomes available to everyone after two years of closed alpha. The open prelude arrives shortly before the 17th major update, Verse of the Veilands, while prelude 17 introduces region purging, a more directed votive flow, and the Ode Shrike as the studio pushes toward a broader, more structured version of its cosy fantasy world.