The category of Best Ongoing Game was extremely competitive this year. In fact, each of our 2024 nominees received substantial expansions or updates this year, with each one cementing its respective titles place on our nominee list. But the title that stands above the rest and earning Destructoid’s Best Ongoing Game award of 2024 isWarframeafter having a huge year with three massive updates.
Back in June,Warframelaunched its Update 36 titledJade Shadowswhich alongside adding the MMOs 57th Warframe, Jade, also added a handful of new weapons, a new Eximus suit, an all-new game mode called Ascension, and the Belly of the Beast operation. The massive update also progressed the story ofWarframewith the Jade Shadows cinematic quest, and as the first major update for the game of the year, felt well worth the wait for both new and returning players.
Then just two months ago in October, developer Digital Extremes released Update 37,Koumei and the Five Fates, adding the 58th Warframe Koumei and another new game mode called Shrine Defense. Two Warframes, Caliban and Nova, were completely reworked and updated, and the game received a plethora of enhancements and quality-of-life changes especially to the new player experience.
Finally, not even a week ago, the highly anticipated major final update of the year,Warframe: 1999released, bringing with it the new “The Hex” questline. Of course, it added a new Warframe, Cyte-09, but takes players back in time to the year 1999 considered a much distant past in the world ofWarframe. There players can explore the massive city-state of Höllvania which features new factions, the Hex Syndicate, a ton of new missions, game modes, and more.
That’s three hefty updates in a single year that have added a ton of content to a game that already offers insane value due to being free-to-play. And let’s face it, the best way to make your ongoing game, well, keep going, is to keep adding great content which Digital Extremes has done all year. I haven’t had the opportunity to play the newestWaframe: 1999update yet but I’m looking forward to doing so over the break, as well as seeing what’s in store forWarframeas we head into 2025.
