Digital Extremes has closed this year's TennoCon Live event with a roughly 30-minute reveal trailer for Warframe's next major update, Warframe: Tau, which is due to launch at some point later this year. The update takes players beyond the familiar Origin system into the new Tau system and its ringed city of Fornax, a locale drawing on Blade Runner, Boardwalk Empire, and The Sopranos, and it tackles themes of addiction and exploitation head-on. It marks a notable departure for the long-running game, which has occupied the Origin system for the past 12 years.

The demo follows Brysko, a new detective Warframe voiced by Matthew Mercer, equipped with a Core Cracker revolver, throwable trading cards, and a dog sidekick. Fornax features oily black rain that appears to revive the dead and scar those exposed to it, alongside Sentients abusing an organic drug-like substance called The Bloom, set against a luxurious casino with flying cars, skyscrapers, and a jazz singer. Creative director Rebecca Ford described Fornax as an open-world space "in-between" 2017's Plains of Eidolon and more modern updates, launching with two regions, new mission types, a card mini-game, and a fresh spin on the Steel Path difficulty toggle. Ford said the addiction theme reflects the London, Ontario team's real-world experiences, framing it as "acknowledging instead of ignoring."