While Soulframe’s pre-release playtesting has historically been invite-only, that’s changing soon. Starting next week, anyone on PC will be able to try the fantasy Warframe spin-off for free thanks to Soulframe Open Preludes, which is rolling out ahead of the game’s Verse of the Veilands update.
When will Soulframe Open Preludes and Verse of the Veilands be released?
Soulframe Open Preludes launches on Nov. 6, and the Verse of the Veilands update will drop later that month. For now, Soulframe Open Preludes is only on Windows PC and not on launchers like Steam. Instead, you’ll have to download this alpha version right from the game’s website. No longer being invite-only is a big shift for the game’s ongoing alpha playtest, though, as new players have typically only been let in en masse around TennoCon each year.
As for why Digital Extremes is opening up Soulframe to more players now, creative director Geoff Crookes explained in a press release that “the introduction of mounts and world progression systems we revealed today is the right time so we can gather essential feedback on these features and everything we’ve worked on so far.”
In that statement, he’s referring to some of the biggest new features coming in the Verse of the Veilands update later in November. In this update, players can explore new regions and purify them with a new character Pact called Ode Shrike. After purifying two regions, players can train and feed it until it evolves into the Omen Wolf, Soulframe’s first mount.
In the Halloween spirit, Digital Extremes has also brought back the Bita’s Eve in-game event. It adds a new headless horse-riding mini-boss, Veltruska, and a new fish called the Sunken Terror.
This shift to Open Preludes is one of the biggest developments for Soulframe since it was first announced, and it reaffirms that Digital Extremes is committed to seeing this game through to a wider Windows PC launch. There’s still no word on when that may happen, though.
