How We All Lift Together - Special Interview with Warframe's Senior Community Managers
Prior to TennoCon 2025, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Danielle Solokowski and Zach McKone, who are senior community managers for Warframe. In this interview, we reflect on 10 years of putting on this show for the fans. It’s a celebration of Warframe for everyone involved, whether you’re a player, a developer, a creator, this TennoCon is truly special as it stamps a decade on true evolution. At TennoCon it’s a celebration of unity, of power, of resilience, and it all stems from a place of love for the game that we’ve taken beyond the screen. This interview highlights the dedication that can be felt in and out of the game. I truly believe even if you’ve never played Warframe before you’ll still find some amazing takeaways from our wonderful conversation here.
If you are looking for a recap of the big TennoCon 2025 bullet points, look no further than right here where I’ve condensed the big takeaways from the show. Without further ado…
Matt: Hello, my name is Matt Reyes from the Geekly Grind, joined today by Danielle and Zach who are senior community managers for Digital Extremes on behalf of Warframe.
For a game that attracts players from all over the world, it's an impressive feat that this community in particular is so tightly knit, and it's thanks to hard workers such as you two for seamlessly bridging the gaps between any and all players to converge either online, or in person for the (at the time) upcoming TennoCon 2025.
So just as a general, potentially boring, starting point how are we feeling about TennoCon so far?
Zach: Well, first of all, thank you, that was very kind, and we're feeling excited. I think this year I felt the most excited I ever have. We've been just refining how we put on the event every year since we came back to it after COVID, and this year the vibes are high.
I'm super excited for players to show up and get hyped, and I'm gonna have to try really hard not to spoil anything because players don't know a lot until then, so it will be… not a lot of talking if people have the hard-hitting questions. But Dani, what about you?
Dani: I feel TennoCon comes around and it's like, for some reason we know what is happening, but it's a jump scare. At the start of this week I was like, oh my god, Friday is the concert and the cosplay contest, and then Saturday is the day.
It's all happening already, so in the best way possible, because as we were saying before we got into it, all of the DE staff start to come into town, and the fans start to come into town, and it becomes very real very fast, and the energy in the room is just palpable. You can kind of feel like the city has a new buzz to it, and I'm like it's TennoCon time, baby, we're going!
But overall, and I keep using this term, it's like this anxious excitement because we're obviously excited for people to come, we're anxious on how they're going to respond to things, but we're equally as excited for them to come together and enjoy TennoCon every year.
Matt: Absolutely, so just to dive deeper into it, Warframe itself is a special game in many regards, and TennoCon to me personifies what makes Warframe such a distinctive experience for fans both in and out of the game. Those moments we're talking about of pure joy when everyone's screaming about what's coming next, I'm sure those are the moments you guys live for, as those are in a huge venue where you could feel the excitement, you could see the joy from the players.
So Warframe's obviously the common denominator for why everyone comes out to celebrate, but my question is, what makes Warframe special enough to celebrate it in an annual grander spectacle?
Zach: Wow, what a great question.
I keep thinking back to the first ever TennoCon, and it was probably a wild question to ask. “Can we host a convention for just our game?” Clearly, 10 years later, it worked out. So I think Warframe is built on its players from day one, it was always like, we need your feedback, we want to implement changes and listen to you guys. So I think the natural evolution was creating a space where everyone who was posting to those forums and sharing videos and joining our live streams could hang out in person and celebrate there, and you nailed it. In-person reactions are amazing. It's like the dopamine from that is an incredible feeling, and I think for both dev and player being able to share that is just an incredible experience.
So Warframe itself, I think, has always been wacky and weird and is inclusive of people who are the same, and to be able to have a space where you feel like you can be yourself with everyone around you is unique and special, and we'll keep doing it every year as long as people want to come, I think. Dani, I'm curious about your answer, though.
Dani: Yeah, I mean, it's Warframe, like Zach was saying, has been community-first always, so it only felt right that it continues to be that way with an in-person event, and beyond, you know, obviously the things that we reveal is kind of like a pinpoint in our development and where Warframe is going to go, so it's beyond just that, it's also just a celebration of Warframe, of our community, of our players, of our devs.
I think, too, for a lot of our staff, it's a crazy morale booster to be in that room and to hear people be like, holy shit, I couldn't have predicted this coming, you know, like 1999 happened, we're ripping around on Atomicycles, and, you know, Protoframes are running around, and they're really hot, and we're like, oh my god, what is this game, what is happening?
But for us to be able to witness that in the room with the people who love Warframe the most, and so much so that they come, they leave their homes and their home countries to come into London, Ontario, Canada to join us for that, it's like, it's just this collective pool of energy that we all get to benefit from.
Because, you know, as staff, we come away from that being like, we're so jazzed for the rest of the year to give these people who love Warframe so much more of what they love, and it's just, it's this like harmonious, you know, big event where we can kind of just celebrate all together, which is great. Big party, big fun time.
Matt: Absolutely. So speaking of parties and fun times, compared to other communities within gaming, at least the ones that I've been a part of, Warframe manages to still be more welcoming than most, with most players offering help in one of various forms, whether that's fireteam support in specific missions, or gifting anything from the arsenal. Of course there's always going to be sour apples in the bunch, so what is the key to maintaining positive interaction with and among the community?
Dani: That's a great question.
It is by trial and error, I feel. I think the biggest thing is ensuring that our players have the tools to assist in the first place. So what is there in game, or what isn't there in game, that can allow our, you know, like we see veteran players go through, and like you mentioned like, they'll be in our Q&A chat.
The Q&A chat you know, that's a relatively new chat system that we added into the game, so that people can connect with each other better, easier, versus just you know hopping in mission then hopping out of the mission, and losing your squad and being like, wait, I actually wanted to like talk more with this veteran, this legendary rank 4 player who knows everything about the game. So things like, you know, a Q&A chat.
So just really ensuring that those tools exist, I think, allows for people to feel like, oh, I can be a part of someone's Warframe journey, like going into the relays, like that's a communal hub. And we were like, well, can we make it even more of like a communal hub by allowing our legendary rank players to go in and actually give blessings. Like you can go in a relay and a staff member, whoever's over MR30 can be like, today, I will give you an affinity blessing. And everyone's like, yippee, like, so the more ways in which we can provide those tools, the more people will interact with them. And it just lifts everyone up together (wink wink).
But Zach, I'm curious if I'm on point, am I missing something?
Zach: I think you nailed it.
And especially the trial and error part. Building the game from the ground up and building the community from the ground up was leading by example, and making sure that we had open ears for that types of feedback and interacting with constructive feedback and potentially not interacting with pretty negative, unhelpful feedback. I think when new people join the game, they read the room of the community. I think if you're a sour apple, as you said, you won't last very long, or you'll travel alone.
And I think it's much easier to fit in if you are one of those people who provide constructive feedback and enjoy being here and sharing that. But that's also just because we want to make sure that they are heard. I think feeling frustrated about the game is one thing. Feeling like you're not being listened to, and when you voice those frustrations, I think is a compounding thing. So we're always wanting to make sure that if we are looking into something, we'll let people know. And that way we build that level of trust, and so people don't have to feel like they need to get upset about that.
I think that we're eternally grateful that the response that we get from players is not “ah this bug is really frustrating I hate playing this game.” It's, “DE will fix it in a week.” And I think that that is a really rare thing, as you said, with other communities in gaming, to be able to have that trust between developer and player base.
Matt: It's a great relationship. And I think people on the outside [of the fandom] are seeing that, and as Warframe continues to grow, so does the interest in the game. So how would you quickly convince somebody that Warframe is a game that's truly worth the time? What's the ‘elevator pitch’ for Warframe, in other words?
Zach: That's a really great question. So much of the new player changes that we've been doing over the last three years, I think, have been working towards that goal of making someone who may be interested in Warframe not feel so overwhelmed in the journey ahead of them.
And I love the way that you phrase that, it's worth your time. I think that's exactly how we should be pitching Warframe, is we want people to be able to play the new and fun, exciting stuff that we've put all of our hard work into, but we also don't want the journey from start to the end point to be frustrating, or you might hit some roadblocks you don't want to do. So Ithink the journey of developing Warframe to make those early moments into the mid-game, into the late game, as enjoyable as you can for its genre, is key.
I think the elevator pitch for me is play the first two hours of Warframe, and if you aren't vibing with it, then you might not like the game for the entire time? My true elevator pitch was, play until you get to the Second Dream, and then you'll get into the awesome stuff of what I truly love about Warframe, which is when you start to build your characters and your story and stuff. So I don't know if I have a 30-second elevator pitch, I don't know if you do, Dani.
Dani: Weird… wacky… emotionally compelling fashion frames?
Matt: Fashion is the end game.
Dani: I mean, yeah, let's be honest.
I think, yeah, that's the difficult thing, right? Fitting Warframe in an elevator pitch is like, we're reaching a top-tier challenge level of difficulty, and that's the beauty of it. I think that maybe the elevator pitch is that there is so much of Warframe.
What do you want? We kind of have it all so it's a choose-your-own-adventure, not in the true sense of how we choose-your-own-adventure games, but what do you want to play? Are you interested in just taking pretty screenshots? We have tools for that. We have Captura. Are you interested in tackling the hardest of hardest content, like you really want to test your builds? Or do you just want to look like a pretty pink Rhino fairy? The world is yours in Warframe, so it's hard.
It's a great question, but I think we've definitely moved beyond just space ninjas, right? I think that was our original tag phrase, and we've definitely evolved well beyond that, so we'll have to maybe workshop a bit, Matthew, between us on what that elevator pitch is, but yeah.
Matt: That's awesome, though. Just to dive more into things, TennoCon is a great example of taking your love for something and honing it into a specific craft, and we've seen that with musical renditions that have come out recently for some of Warframe's various songs, and even the upcoming TennoConcert, we've seen people recreating their characters from a future beyond using imagination in the form of cosplay. We even have careers that have and can be established, and it all stems from passion, right?
So let's say somebody wants to be a part of the backstage crew one day and contribute to an event such as TennoCon from the inside. What would your guys' recommendation be to get your foot in the door? Like, how would you recommend people to go and get involved with the games that they care about?
Zach: What a great question. I would say, as cliche as it is, be yourself. Warframe is a game where our own artists pitch their ideas of what they've always wanted to do, and that it might even turn into an update. There's tons of Warframes that we have that are just passion projects of individual artists that work for us, so to be able to share your fan art or your musical renditions with your own twist on it is exactly what I think you should do to fit into the community.
Weird and unique are our identities, so doing the same thing for being a fan of the game I think would be exactly what you should do. Dani, I don't know if you have an answer to that.
Dani: I'm trying to think of, like, what the backstage pass looks like. Like, who's standing at the door allowing people in or not allowing people in? Like, what is the criteria in my mind? But I think Zach nailed it, I think. What we've seen a lot over the years is just people sharing why they love the game, and that has put their foot through the door in many different ways.
Like, we'll see a deluxe skin rendition, and they've turned into, like, Heirloom collections, you know, these really special ultra-deluxe collections where we can, you know, support an artist and their incredible vision that they have of the game simply because it's built off of all of their passion and love for it. And it just organically opens the door for them, so is there a perfect secret sauce? No, I don't think so.
I think our recipe book is, like, my grandma's, where it's falling apart and has things scratched out and, like, the measuring's all over the place, but it's been fine-tuned over the years, and that's just something you continue to do. So, I don't have the perfect answer for you there, but I think just being part of the community, you can take part in the community in so many different ways.
It's really just what, you know, vibes with you the most, whether that's chatting in the Discord or posting videos about builds that you feel like people will really like, or, you know, we have a whole creator program for people like that, you know, so there's so many avenues where people could go.
I could keep yapping about it, but there's TennoGen, there's Captura Artists, anyways, all that to say that if people are interested in participating in it, there's no barrier of entry, there should be no friction, and that's part of our job as the community team is to ensure that people feel that way.
Matt: So, what I want to say is TennoCon reaching and celebrating its 10th year is no small feat, not to mention Warframe itself recently celebrated 12 years back in March. Warframe wouldn't be where it is now, as we've already said, if it wasn't for everybody that's given in to it. It’s everybody at Digital Extremes who work day in and day out to keep this machine well-oiled, the fans who log in daily, the millions and millions of accounts made, content creators, everything contributes to this ecosystem that is Warframe.
However, not every moment is a good one, and there are moments where things are just difficult. It can be hard to remember those good times when the bad overshadows everything. So, whether you're a human, or a Tenno, what is the key thing to remember to keep ourselves going, to keep our head above water, particularly in moments of adversity?
Dani: That's such a sweet question. Whoa, philosophical. Okay, am I qualified to answer this question? Oh, man.
I mean, yeah, at all points in, you know, our lives and, you know, even in our careers working on Warframe, those are those moments of adversity and moments where we have to self-reflect and go, like, are we doing the right thing? Have we made the right decisions?
And there have been moments where we have made the wrong decision, where we've gone down the wrong path. And those reflection periods are really difficult, and a lot of conversations have to be had, not only amongst ourselves, but also with our community. So, how do we keep ourselves accountable to ensure that in those dark moments where, you know, there's a struggle, that we look to our community, we look to our support systems?
And I'm kind of weirdly speaking in both terms of, like, Warframe development and also, like, life in general, but having a good support system and a community to lean on in times where you can't hold yourself up, to me at least, is vital.
And I know it's difficult when, you know, maybe you are introverted, or it's difficult to reach out and ask for help. I am a very introverted person, believe it or not. Weirdly, I have a lot of social anxiety and anxiety in general, but relying, having, knowing that I have a foundation to stand on, because I have all these wonderful, lovely people, and all these wonderful, lovely people that I work with, and a wonderful, lovely community that gets to be, you know, this joyous space for me, is, I think that's helped me at least tremendously hold my head up.
And I hope that our community feels the same way when we're able to do stuff for them like that.
Zach: That's a great answer. I love that.
I think… I always go back to this saying from my nana, and she always says, “The first 100 years are the hardest.” And I think that that has stuck with me for so long, because challenges might feel insurmountable, but everything can be solved with talking to someone and leaning on other people.
And so, obviously, with game development, not everything's a perfect day. You may be coming to work with personal stuff on the side. At least for our community team, as cliche as it sounds, we're a family, and there's no reason for you to have to go through it alone. And when we have our toughest days with the game, we're not sending people in alone to go look for negative feedback on the forms or clean up a nasty thread during, you know, Pride or something like that. It's a team effort. And so, truly, you're not alone.
And… we're not the first humans on Earth, as I like to say, so there's usually a solution to help you get past it. But that was a great question. Very philosophical.
Matt: Thank you. Sorry to get all deep, but, you know, listen, this is what, in my opinion, TennoCon really is about. It's reflecting on what makes Warframe so special. You know what I mean? For me, right, I just started within the gaming industry, right? Like, I just became a journalist last year. And immediately so, I got an invitation to go to Digital Extremes, to see the studio, to meet these people, to see the game in person, so to speak.
You know what I'm saying? Like, even my mouse pad is still from 1999. I'm never using a different mouse pad. This is the coolest thing I have.
But all that to say is it's not just a game at this point. You know, it's so much more than that to me. And I want more people to be able to experience that. So, hopefully, other people get a chance to be involved with this community and get to interact with these people because there's truly nothing else like this on the market, in my opinion.
You guys know what you're doing. And if you keep this up, this game is going to last forever.
Zach: I hope so. That'd be awesome.
Dani: That would be great. We would love that.
Matt: So, how about a double-barreled question, just for a little bit of fun? So… who did you romance in 1999 and why?
Zach: I will proudly say that I immediately romanced Aoi as fast as humanly possible because I truly fell in love with that character since we were introduced to her back in, like, May of 2024 at PAX, which was interesting.
I hadn't played any games before where you had to romance someone in the game, so it was pretty funny to have someone always be there in your back room and just hanging out. But Aoi for me, and I will never forget her. I'm going to stay romanced, for sure, for Aoi. What about you, Dani?
Dani: Yeah, Zach is an Aoi Stan from day one. Day. One. I immediately romanced Quincy as expeditiously as possible.
Matt: Was it the voice?
Dani: It was honestly the hard shell. I was like, there is a soft interior there somewhere from that hard exterior. I need to know more. And honestly, Arthur, it's interesting because Arthur has the same, well, not the same, obviously They're very different characters, but Arthur's also a tough cookie to crack. But I also just so much appreciated Quincy and being, you know, a new character because Cyte-09 was a brand new Warframe. So I personally was just so invested in how the narrative team was going to kind of literally build his story from the ground up. So when I was in the Kim chats, I was like, okay, yeah, I see it coming together. And it really just kept drawing me in.
And then… I'm sorry… I reset.
Zach: *is visibly shocked*
Dani: I know, I reset. Shame, shame. But… my girl, Eleanor. I had to, I just, I had to. But don't worry! I came right back to Quincy.
And I feel so weird about it because I'm like, I walk around the mall and they're all there. And I'm like, do they know that we've been dating each other? It's kind of weird, but Quincy is my day one for sure.
Matt: Funny enough, my first was Aoi, and then I forgot. And then I went to Eleanor. See? So I've got the best of both worlds on my end.
Dani: Agreed.
Matt: Okay, one last question. 1999 was the first time to add human faces to Warframe. How does it feel seeing that come alive, almost taking a life of its own?
Zach: Yeah, that's a great question. I mean, with every weird thing that we do for Warframe, I feel like there's a little bit of time where people are adjusting. And nowadays, it's like, it's the identity of Warframe.You can't talk about it without it. So I think the initial shock of seeing it, we were kind of worried, like, you know, have we gone too far? Is this like, is this not going to land?
But then it did the opposite. And then people took onto it way, way, way more than I think they ever would with, you know, just the metal faces with no emotions. So it's been interesting to see it grow within the community so much to the point that there's probably like five or six new Proto-frame concepts of Warframes that we don't even have just for a fan artist because they're just so desperate to learn more about their main, right?
And hearing the cheers of people in that TennoCon demo last year where we revealed one by one, oh, here's Amir as Volt. Here's the new Warframe. Oh, who's that? People cheering when they saw their main was so cool. So it was a relief to know that people cared about them. And we'll maybe see more. But Dani?
Dani: Yeah, I think that it's the risk taking, right? Like, there is risk in making those big swings. And I think more than anything, the concern lies in the relationships people have already built with their Warframes. Like, we're creating a brand new identity for these beloved characters that they've bonded with potentially. Like, Volt was my first PlayStation starter frame. And when I saw Amir, I was like, this is incredible. But are people going to have that same kind of connection or are they going to react similarly?
And that's kind of, like, how we go into a lot of these big things. Like, the Operator remaster, for example, is a great one. Because we were concerned, like, people have designed their characters to be a certain way because that's how they connect with them. That's how they identify themselves in the game. So, you know, what is the reaction going to be?
And luckily for us, our community, and again, I guess that comes back to, like, the trust factor, right? Like, our community shows up for us and embraces it wholly. And we're so appreciative of that. But it is risk-taking. But we're glad that in the case of Protoframes, it has worked out for us. And that people now have stands and Warframe and people they can romance, which is great. And it's going to continue to grow. It's going to continue to get even better.
Matt: Guys, thank you so very much for your time. This was an absolute pleasure. And I hope that TennoCon 2025’s the best TennoCon yet for y'all. You guys are killing it. And I hope for nothing but the best.
Dani/Zach: Thank you so much.
Dani: Thank you for all the lovely questions. Oh, my goodness.
Zach: Yeah, that was awesome. Very Sean Evans. I see you.
