Erick Crawler 
If you’ve ever wanted to kill someone with a leaf and adopt a wolf puppy, now is your chance: Soulframe’s pre-alpha build is open to the public for a limited time.
Soulframe: Preludes is being made available to anyone who has signed up on the Soulframe website as part of developer Digital Extremes’ TennoCon weekend celebration. Up until now, the game has been invite-only, and keys are a hot commodity. This is the first time that anyone who has simply signed up will be able to access the game — but only for the duration of TennoCon weekend. Sign-ups will close at midnight EDT on July 20.
“Everyone that wants a chance to try and test our game and play it will finally be able to, 100% for sure,” said Soulframe senior community manager Sarah Asselin at a press preview in early July. “I mean, unless anything breaks. 99% for sure.”
Soulframe is a massively multiplayer fantasy RPG, and the spiritual successor to Warframe. It’s set in a lush, pastoral world with some concerning rot at its heart, as players saw in an extended gameplay preview from the TennoCon main stage.
The live demo showed a quest called the Fable of Bromius, the mildly devastating story of a magical bear who becomes corrupted by dark powers. The roughly 30-minute gameplay chunk showcased a ranged/caster build for the player character, the Envoy. They were able to fling magic from their staff and switch ably to bow or short knife during combat. They also had some interesting additional magical powers, like the ability to transform into a cloud of butterflies for stealth, or create what looked like a big-headed exploding decoy Envoy.
I won’t spoil the end of the demo, but there were portions that hint that this game isn’t your typical Souls-like fantasy RPG. There are some story turns that hint at big swings similar to what Digital Extremes’ narrative team has done in Warframe, that made me quite curious about where the game is going.
Digital Extremes continues to expand the world of Soulframe. Earlier this year, it launched in-game factions and, more importantly, puppies. A January 2025 update featured a questline called “The Shewolf Snared,” in which players can rescue a wolf pup that becomes a loyal companion. Although Soulframe remains in an alpha state, the team confirmed that their goal is to move forward without doing any more account resets — so when you get your puppy, it’s here to stay.
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