Warframe's upcoming 1999 expansion adds a romance system, and it's all thanks to Baldur's Gate 3

A character with a gas mask on
(Image credit: Digital Extremes)

Warframe's next major story update, the 1999 expansion, will introduce plenty of new features to the mix, like '90s boy bands and instant messenger clients. However, one thing that definitely wasn't on my bingo card is a romance system that could end with a New Year's kiss from any of the Hex, a new syndicate made up of Protoframes. 

"[I] always wanted to put some type of romance system into Warframe," creative director Rebecca Ford says during an interview with GamesRadar. "[But] there was never an appropriate scenario to do it." 

It took 11 years for the romance system to be added to Warframe, and it seems like one of the main reasons for it being greenlit was Baldur's Gate 3's success: "I think two things really gave us the courage to proceed," Ford says. "Of course, the success of Baldur's Gate and their romance system [made us go] 'Okay, people do want this fantasy.' It does help, there's no doubt, but we did have ambitions of it that fit the Warframe architecture, on and off… Baldur's Gate was the push over the cliff for sure, and I'm grateful for that. It was one of the best gaming experiences for me ever. " 

Players will be able to romance any of the Hex in a messaging mini-game, including Arthur, who Ben Starr voices, so take note if you're a Clive Rosfield fan. "You'll be able to deepen your relationship with the Protoframes in The Hex through the power of Kinematic Instant Messaging," according to Warframe's website

Romancing characters through instant messaging in a third-person shooter is pretty wild, but it's not the most out-of-pocket thing we've learned about Warframe as of late. We actually talked with Ford around a month ago about whether Warframes can get pregnant: "It's such a constellation of truths when we're dealing with this subject matter. Big picture, very clearly when dealing with a pregnant warframe as a concept, it's like, what the hell, this free-to-play grindy MMO added a pregnant hero." Although the question still stands as all Ford confirmed was that they could be pregnant, but not if they can get pregnant—it's complicated and honestly not for the faint of heart. 

Despite these recent events, you shouldn't get your hopes up about the upcoming romance system, as the best-case scenario is just a New Year's kiss. But the dating mini-game will still likely be an unforgettable experience, I mean, who doesn't want to e-date various members of the Hex? 

Elie Gould
News Writer

Elie is a news writer with an unhealthy love of horror games—even though their greatest fear is being chased. When they're not screaming or hiding, there's a good chance you'll find them testing their metal in metroidvanias or just admiring their Pokemon TCG collection. Elie has previously worked at TechRadar Gaming as a staff writer and studied at JOMEC in International Journalism and Documentaries – spending their free time filming short docs about Smash Bros. or any indie game that crossed their path.

Read more
Two characters from Warframe 1999 lounging in a bar.
The warframe with a guitar that shoots fire is out today alongside a bunch of metalcore-inspired skins, cementing Warframe's spiral into Y2K madness
Two characters from Avowed looking to the left and standign in a jungle with a shaft of light piercing through it
Those mad lads at Obsidian were bluffing us: Avowed does have a tiny bit of companion romance, as a treat
Lou Graham
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 won't have typical RPG romantic relationships, but it will feature 'romantic feeding'
A BG3 Tav kissing Karlach in one of the updated Patch 6 kiss animations.
All Baldur's Gate 3 romance options: who you can pursue
Dragon Age: The Veilguard Neve kiss
All the Dragon Age: The Veilguard romance options and what you should know about them
Sharon Tal Yguado speaking at the 2025 D.I.C.E. Summit.
'These kids do not care about romance': Game devs want to know what today's teens want, and surveys say sex and romance isn't it
Latest in Third Person Shooter
Steel Hunters hands-on
Steel Hunters is like a more tactical Titanfall, but as an extraction shooter it's undermined by boring loot
helldivers 2
Helldivers 2 composer recalls stomping around his apartment and channeling 'Super Patriotism' to capture Arrowhead's satirical vision in music: 'The satire works because the music believes it's a pure patriotic love without irony or criticism'
farcana
'The Middle East's answer to Marvel Rivals' is an 'AI-powered', crypto-infused hero shooter that looks like hot garbage
Marvel Rivals characters - Invisible Woman preparing to cast a shield.
'Searches for Invisible Woman went up 3,000%': Marvel Rivals devs innocently reflect on how popular some of their heroes have become
A Helldiver charges through the fire and flames in Helldivers 2.
Helldivers 2 CCO Johan Pilestedt says the industry's got it backwards by putting features over fundamentals: 'We talk way too little about the core philosophy'
Marvel Rivals codes - Venom and other heroes
'A developer who actually listens': Marvel Rivals' devs fix accidental Peni Parker nerf just 9 short hours after saying they would
Latest in News
The heroes are attacked by monsters
Pillars of Eternity is getting turn-based combat to mark its 10th anniversary, and that means PC Gamer editors will soon be arguing about combat mechanics again
Image of Ronaldo from Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves trailer
It doesn't really make sense that soccer star Ronaldo is now a Fatal Fury character, but if you follow the money you can see how it happened
Junah beginning a battle in Metaphor: ReFantazio.
Today's RPG fans are 'very sensitive to feeling like they wasted time' when they die, says Metaphor: ReFantazio battle planner—but Atlus still made combat hard anyway
Image of Cersei Lanniser from Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Steam early access trailer
A new Game of Thrones RPG is coming to Steam today with a cast of 'familiar faces,' which is good because it's really the only way to tell it's a GoT game at all
The new Prime Asset featured in the upcoming update for the Outlast Trials.
The Outlast Trials puts its already paranoid players under surveillance for a time-limited story event
A Viera looking confused in Final Fantasy 14.
Old armor continues to fall victim to Final Fantasy 14's bizarre two-channel dye system, unless you're super into changing the colour of teeny-tiny eyelets: 'Why even bother at this point?'