What's long been Warframe's most-requested feature is now available, as Digital Extremes has turned on cross-platform play between PC, PlayStation, Switch, and Xbox. It's surprising to consider that one of the most popular free-to-play games in the world has never had cross-play, leaving its community split across four separate platforms. Despite that, Warframe has thrived, but fans have never given up hope that Digital Extremes would one day introduce cross-play as requested.To say that cross-play has been in the works for some time would be an understatement. But it wasn't until July 2021, during Warframe's annual TennoCon celebration, that Digital Extremes confirmed that cross-play was coming. At the time, Digital Extremes said it wanted to have cross-platform play ready by the end of the year. Clearly, that didn't happen. It has taken a year longer than expected, but Warframe players knew the wait would be worth it.In an announcement made Friday morning, Digital Extremes confirmed that cross-play between PC, PlayStation, Switch, and Xbox platforms was now enabled. There's now a switch in Warframe's menus allowing players to turn cross-play either on or off. Once on, cross-play is enabled for chat, joining squads, and through Warframe's public matchmaking. There is one limitation, though. While players can group in Relays and Dojos across platforms, VoIP chat is not currently ready and will be added at a later date.
Unfortunately, the other half of the 2021 TennoCon announcement, cross-platform saves, is not ready yet. It too was originally planned for release in late 2021, but Warframe players will have to wait a while yet for its implementation. Warframe players hoping to migrate to another platform will have to remain where they are until the feature is finished.
As for why it has taken so long for Digital Extremes to implement cross-platform play, there's one simple answer. Implementing cross-platform play is extremely difficult, not to mention expensive. There's also the fact that Warframe was originally released in 2013, approaching a decade past. Broad support for cross-platform play is a relatively recent trend, so Digital Extremes had to implement it for a game that it was never necessarily intended for. Bringing cross-play to Warframe had to be a tremendous task.
There are going to be hiccups, bugs, and limitations with cross-play to start, inevitably. But what ultimately matters is that cross-platform play is now available in Warframe for all players and it's here to stay. Friendships made within the Warframe community in forums, chats, or even through TennoCon can now meet in-game, and that's worth celebrating. With hope, it also means Soulframe will have cross-play day one.
Warframe is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.