Back at TennoCon, Warframe developer Digital Extremes announced a new publishing partnership with Airship Syndicate. DE's publishing division confirmed its first title as the coming third-person action game from Airship. We only got the briefest snippets of gameplay back in July, but tonight at The Game Awards, Digital Extremes showed us a whole lot more.
Wayfinder is an online free-to-play action RPG led by creative director Joe ‘Mad’ Madureira, famed comic creator, Airship Syndicate co-founder, and the guy that helped create Warframe's recent werewolf-themed frame. Wayfinder will be a character-focused RPG, where players take control of titular wayfinders to save the world of Evenor from an invading darkness called the Gloom.
Evenor is being consumed by the Gloom, and only Wayfinders can stop it using their arcane magics and the Gloom Dagger, an ancient artifact that provides some level of control over the Gloom. When players embark on journeys into the Lost Zones--dungeon-like areas consumed by the Gloom--they'll be able to use their Gloom Dagger to implement specific mutators that dictate the types of enemies faced and the items and resources they drop. However, the Gloom fights back by implementing its own mutators, modifying the enemy damage types, hazards, and more.
Each wayfinder has a unique story, playstyle, and suite of abilities. You can see the five we know of so far in the cover image above--one appears to be a heavily armored knight, while another is an assassin or rogue. Then there's a barbarian woman, a red mage, and a black mage. Sounds like a full party.
Wayfinders can be customized with weapons and gear that can be crafted as you journey across Evenor. Wayfinders will also be a live-service game with events and character-driven content updates released over time. Expect monetization similar to what you'd find in Warframe.
You won't have to wait long to try Wayfinder yourself. A closed beta test is coming to PC on December 13, while PlayStation playtests are coming in January. Sign up for either at the official Wayfinder website. Expect Wayfinder to drop into early access on PC and PlayStation next spring, with a full release on "multiple platforms" sometime next fall.