Digital Extremes announced Warframe: Tau at TennoCon, introducing the long-awaited second solar system expansion centred on the Sentients faction. The debut area, Fornax, is a dystopian ringed city constructed within a colossal biomechanical corpse, where residents struggle with addiction to a substance called the Bloom. The environment blends noir storytelling with grotesque organic architecture spanning three districts: lower tunnels where addicted inhabitants live in squalor, middle sections filled with hovercars evoking classic American aesthetics, and an upper casino district with holographic entertainment.

The expansion introduces Brysko, a hard-boiled detective-themed Chimera Warframe who navigates Fornax's criminal underworld to confront the city's crime lord ruler. New gameplay systems include Portau, a poker-inspired card game, explosive card combat attacks, and grappleshot mechanics for traversal and enemy engagement. The narrative explicitly engages with themes of addiction and gambling, whilst the expansion launches this year alongside autumn updates featuring a new ice-element Warframe and a Banshee rework; progression through existing story content remains required for new players to access Tau.