As we've seen all too clearly of late, making a successful service game – one that can stick around for years, becoming part of the fabric of its players' lives in the process – is anything but easy. There have been many attempts, some of them with the backing of the very largest, wealthiest publishers and platform holders. A few have succeeded, but many, many more have failed.
And then there's Warframe. More than a decade on from its 2013 launch, Digital Extremes' free-to-play shooter still reliably hovers around Steam's top 20 most-played chart, having attracted 80 million players over the years, and continues to launch on new formats – an Android release is set for this year. If any service-game success is unlikely, then Warframe's is practically a miracle, given its origins. This was the last chance for a small studio, made as quickly as possible and self-published because its maker had no other option. A game that wouldn't even exist if it weren't for failure.
