Digital Extremes has revealed Warframe: Tau, the next major narrative chapter for its long-running free-to-play action game. The update will take players beyond the Origin System and into the Tau System, with a new Star Chart, new enemy faction, new environment and a noir-styled Warframe named Brysko.
The reveal came during TennoCon 2026, where Digital Extremes also announced Warframe’s first playing card mini-game, a Fortnite collaboration, Citrine Prime Access, a new Nightwave update and the next fall update, Iceblade of Narin.
Warframe: Tau will take players to Fornax, a Sentient ring city shaped by black rain, crime and faction fighting. The main quest will bring Albrecht Entrati back into the story as players investigate what has happened in Tau.
The new threat is The Hunra, a crime boss who controls the city through Bloom, an addictive substance tied to the underworld of Fornax. The update also introduces the Fornax Drowners, a Sentient enemy faction that has developed differently from the Sentients players have fought in the Origin System.
The new Warframe is Brysko, a Sentient Warframe created by Albrecht Entrati for an infiltration mission. Digital Extremes is giving him a detective-style identity, with an internal monologue voiced by Matthew Mercer.
Brysko’s kit leans into that theme with brass knuckles, explosive playing cards and an Exalted revolver called the Corecracker. It gives Tau a very different tone from recent Warframe updates, mixing Sentient tech with crime fiction and casino imagery.
Warframe is also getting its first playing card mini-game, called Portau. The mini-game is based on poker, but uses its own Sentient rules and suits, including Blooms, Cores, Moons and Suns.
Portau will be tied to The Hunra’s gambling dens in Fornax. It is a small but unusual addition for Warframe, giving players something that sits outside the usual loop of missions, gear, crafting and combat.
Warframe has also crossed into Fortnite through a new collaboration with Epic Games. Players who buy an eligible Warframe item on the Epic Games Store can receive an Excalibur skin in Fortnite as a gift-with-purchase.
The collaboration also brings On-lyne’s “PARTY OF YOUR LIFETIME” from Warframe: 1999 to Fortnite Festival. The track is available through Fortnite’s in-game store for V-Bucks.
Digital Extremes also launched the Mesa Heirloom Collection during TennoCon, giving Mesa a new premium cosmetic set. Citrine Prime Access is also on the way, alongside Shockwave, a new Nightwave update hosted by Amir from Warframe: 1999.
The fall update, Iceblade of Narin, will introduce Warframe’s 66th frame, a female ice-themed character. It will also include a Banshee rework, a Banshee deluxe skin and a deluxe skin for Qorvex.
Warframe: Tau is scheduled to launch for free across all platforms in 2026. Digital Extremes will share more details in future devstreams, with the September stream set to focus on what players can expect next.
