The joke I kept hearing at Tennocon 2026 was that “Digital Extremes is a music studio that just so happens to make games.” And after the opening-night Tenno Concert event, which features the very best of Warframe’s orchestral and choral arrangements with high-flying acrobats, ribbon dancers, and trapeze artists from Toronto’s Cirque Revolution, I got the joke.
The sounds in the Canada Life Center, which usually hosts hockey games, turned into a performance that was at times intimidating, whimsical, and every aesthetic in between. Still, none of it overshadowed the orchestra, the taiko drums, and the choir.
After the concert, I got the chance to dive a little deeper into what exactly goes into the creative process behind crafting the score and soundscape of Digital Extremes’ 12-year-old free-to-play sci-fi title. Despite its hard sci-fi aesthetic and narrative, Warframe developers have never shied away from blending genres.
From the announcement of a legally non-descript tabletop RPG with a group of adventurers making their way into the game in the upcoming update, or the new noir aesthetic that is coming with the recently announced Fall update, Warframe: TAU, in just one batch of announcements you could see how the developers brought different influences and aesthetics together.
And let’s not forget that the rock-band-heavy Tenno Concert we experienced at last year’s Tennocon highlighted the game’s talented developers. The game’s creative director, Reb Ford, shredded on stage with some of Warframe’s most noticeable musical performances that Warframe 1999’s update leaned all the way into. With enough nu-metal vibes to make any TOOL fan immediately download the title, it was easy to see why Warframe’s music deserved a dedicated Spotify account and resonated with so many fans.
To put it simply, Warframe is a music lover’s dream of a title, and at Tennocon 2026, we got the chance to talk to composer Matt Chalmers and the title’s audio director, Eric Preston, about what goes into crafting a sonic experience that embraces a world of music unrestrained by expectation. And with Warframe: TAU moving the game into a noir direction into the seedy underbelly of a planet, we also discuss how Digital Extremes has embraced more than just the sci-fi genre, letting art guide their hand.
This Warframe developer interview has been edited for length and clarity.
BUT WHY THO: The concert last night, we’re gonna start there. Before I knew Warframe as a game, I actually heard the music first, especially because so many people I know loved the soundtrack and score. Sitting there at the concert last night, and at last year’s Teno Concert as well, there’s something very emotive that comes from both the lyrical music and the emotions you feel just through an orchestral composition.
What is the process for designing a score that takes the player through a range of emotions and crafts a seamless atmosphere using both lyrical and orchestral pieces?
MATT CHALMERS: It starts with us talking about what the music should sound and feel like in the game, and the story of the update. We’ll talk about genre, instrumentation, and all of that. Then I have to figure out how to combine all those things into something real. I always talk to Eric when we’re early on—we just dream up ideas. That’s the fun part.
The hardest part is [finding] those first notes. Just when I’m trying to start something, it always feels like I don’t know what I’m doing. Have I ever done this? I always have that feeling of, “Can I do this again?” And then, through trial and error, something evolves into your first version of the piece, then goes through some edits, and eventually we arrive at the end. That’s just on the music side, though. On sound, I’m sure you have a different process.
ERIC PRESTON: Yeah, I mean, I share the same emotions. You go like, “How did we do that?” and “Oh, that’s so cool! How do I do that again?” A large part of it too is finding out what is really enjoyable about the project [you’re working on]. It’s [about answering], what do we love about what we’re making? And once you figure out that feeling, you’re chasing it the whole time through everything you do.
There is such an emotional component to everything too that it just comes down to, “Does this make me feel the way I want to feel?” “Does it make me feel the way that we thought we wanted to feel when we first found out what we were making?” A big part of it is just chasing your own feelings.
BUT WHY THO: One of the other things that I really love specifically about sound and music is the idea that what you hear, as much as what you’re seeing, is a bridge to your audience. As humans, we build memories on sounds, smells, and tactile elements. It’s not always just like two people talking.
We all have those moments when we hear a chord, a sound, or a song, and it just sparks a memory. What are some of those core memories for you both that push you to be more creative, or that you lean on when you’re in a rut?
ERIC PRESTON: I’m a pretty enthusiastic person, and I just get really excited by stuff. So I think I lean on that a lot. There was one interview with a Disney Imagineer that really resonated with me for a long time. He was the Imagineer who worked on part of the Animal Kingdom parks, and the question was, “Do you ever work on a project that you’re not interested in?” And his response was, “It’s not my job to be interested in a project. It’s my job to find out what’s interesting about the project.”
That’s exactly it. So it’s always about chasing what we find cool or what makes us excited about what we’re working on, and then following that. That’s a big role in how I operate and stay motivated.
MATT CHALMERS: Same for me. I mean, there have been a lot of times when Eric will say, like, “Oh, let’s do this genre,” and I haven’t even really listened to it before. Then I’m like, “Okay, let me quickly become an expert in everything related to genre. Then I find that, you know, either an artist or maybe it starts with a song that I really like.
I’ll find things I like about it and then collect all those little pieces that I think are the coolest, you know. And sometimes, when I listen to music, I listen with a critical ear, and I go. I don’t really like that, but like, why don’t I like that? You know, I’m. I’m not like, oh, I don’t like that. Turn it off. And I ask myself, “What would I do differently to make it better in my opinion?”
Then, whenever I’m making music, I get to just be in control of what’s in there. I get to draw on what I think are all the cool influences, so yeah, that’s how I think about approaching it and keeping it interesting.
BUT WHY THO: I have been a huge fan of the Tenno Concerts. Last year’s and this year’s concerts feel like something so incredibly unique. Tennocon as it exists is already unique, but the concerts add so much more. I would be lying if I didn’t say that my heart fills with so much warmth when I see so many people who are in love with what Digital Extremes has created.
But a concert is different than just a con. How does it feel to see that—to see how many people packed in [arena] seats, just to hear the music and the sounds of the world that you all have been working on?
MATT CHALMERS: It’s crazy. I mean, I never thought we’d be at a stadium, let alone doing a full concert. I love that there’s a desire for it, and [that fans] want more of it. We didn’t just try to repeat last year. There’s more now. I also love how we approach the concert, just like everything else. We were just saying that we’re not just going to do another rock concert with the same exact people. Instead, we said, let’s do something completely different. So that keeps it interesting too…
Seeing the fans’ reactions—and I heard a lot of people were crying last night—shows that it means so much to them, and it means so much to us as well. It’s an awesome thing. It’s amazing. I’m in awe about the musicians and the talent up there.
ERIC PRESTON: Yeah, same. Nothing to add, it’s just awesome.
BUT WHY THO: I think one of the things that really stood out last night too was remembering the rock concert from last time, and Warframe 99. If I’m honest, [this Tenno Concert] was so different from the rest of the catalog. But at the same time, even with just the orchestra, there wasn’t a single track that felt out of place.
Charting the set list from last night, there were electric guitars, [taiko] drums as a focus in some songs, and choral elements as well. How do you all handle developing something so robust while keeping it coherent with Warframe as an IP?
Can you talk a bit about having such a large library of songs and scores while ensuring it feels at home within the Warframe universe?
ERIC PRESTON: We’re fortunate that we’ve been able to make this game for as long as we have. It’s it’s been I’ve been at the company personally for 11 years, so I’ve seen I’ve seen basically its infancy to to where it is now and how the music has progressed, and I think because I’m so familiar with it, it makes it a little bit easier to keep things coalesced and and gelling because I know the sound of Warframe just strictly through having done it for so long so it makes it a bit easier in that sense,
MATT CHALMERS: It’s almost like you just know, when you hear it. Like, if you hear it and it works, even if it’s something completely different, you just know that it’s Warframe.
ERIC PRESTON: If it’s that far this way or too far that way, it’s easy to bring it back to center. We love to explore genres and bounce around, and it’s what keeps it fun. To go back to what we were talking about earlier: that’s where we find the fun, and that’s where we find what makes us passionate about it, and hopefully that passion translates to the people who are enjoying it.
It’s just cool to have a community and fans who are like, “Hey, we’re here to go along for the ride.” I don’t think we ever get feedback like, “Eh, it’s not the same enough”. The fans are super open-minded about different vibes and trying different [genres].
MATT CHALMERS: They’re so open-minded that it’s crazy. They like to enjoy all those different genres as one human. And I’m like, okay, hell yeah. We have some people with great taste out there.
BUT WHY THO: Are there any songs that mean a lot to you all personally? Like maybe it’s not one that’s always on a set list. It can be small, it can be big. Is there anything that emotionally resonates with you, maybe more than another?
ERIC PRESTON: I mean, a lot of them do. I find myself, usually at the end of an update cycle, when it’s about to launch, and everything is close to being done, sitting at my desk at night, listening to the music and the sounds [of the update]. I’m tearing up at just like just how cool it is to be able to work with people who can create this stuff. So there’s really no one [song], but I often get reflective and just try to enjoy it, maybe like other people do, rather than looking at it [as a developer]. You just like let it wash over you.
MATT CHALMERS: I mean, all the tracks are my babies until they go off and go live in the world of Warframe and everybody’s listening to them. Thinking back to the concert last night, I definitely got chills hearing “Jade Shadows” and the key change in that piece. Seeing the choir live and the orchestra and all these faces who are performing my music… It’s just–it’s crazy.
BUT WHY THO: A question I ask everybody I interview is a big one. I firmly believe that when we make things, we put all of ourselves in it. We leave our fingerprints on it. We put pieces of who we are at the time into it. But I also believe, even on something like Warframe that’s been going on for so long, each update, each piece that you’ve created also teaches you something, and it gives back to you at the same time.
So my question is, for this most recent update, or Warframe as a whole, you can take it however you would like—what have you learned about yourself in the process of working on it,
MATT CHALMERS: Oh boy! I mean, I’ve definitely done a lot of exploring my own interests and what it means to write music and release it for people, and thought about how that lives in a game. As a personal thing, I feel like I’m just constantly growing and evolving along with the music, and I’m always wanting to learn new things and be a better person. But there’s not necessarily one thing that has directly taught me something. I’m trying to grow with the music and make sure I keep improving myself as I improve my music in the game.
ERIC PRESTON: I have a much cornier answer. So for me, I’m 42 now. I’ve got an 11-year-old, and I’ve been doing audio for a long time, probably over 20 years. The more I do it, and the more that I get to be part of this crazy adventure, I’m learning to enjoy the ride. I’m learning to enjoy working with super-talented people who are the best at their craft, and just trying to enjoy the exploration and the journey.
I make sure that I stop and smell the roses, and no matter how hard things get, no matter how much self-doubt there may be in being creative. You have to try to enjoy the ride because if you’re lucky enough to work on a game like Warframe, it’s a wild ride. Your enjoyment and being thankful directly translate into the work at the end of the day.