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Im Interview sprechen wir mit Megan Everett, Community Director von Warframe, über ihren Job, den Erfolg des Spiels und das kommende Update.
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00:00Hi Megan, thank you so much for joining us today.
00:03We really appreciate you taking the time for this interview.
00:06Before we jump into some Warframe content,
00:09I would love to talk more about you and your work for Digital Extremes.
00:13So can you give us a brief overview of what your job as a Community Director is
00:18and what your day-to-day business looks like?
00:23Yeah, absolutely.
00:25Well, my name is Megan Ebert.
00:27I'm the Community Director of Warframe.
00:29And I've been here since 2013.
00:32So I've seen Warframe really grow and take off
00:37and I've been through, you know, the ups and the downs
00:40throughout the 13 years we've been doing this.
00:43But yeah, I mean, I started as a just junior community.
00:49Rebecca took me under her wing and taught me everything I know.
00:52And when it was, I think it was 2021,
00:56when we did the changing of the guard, as we call it,
00:58and Rev became Creative Director and I became Community Director,
01:02that really obviously shifted a lot of my responsibilities.
01:05And now I'm responsible for a team of 2021 individuals who have a lot of impact on this game
01:13and various roles.
01:14We have our creator team, we have our QA, we have localization, and we have live ops, we have charity,
01:22we have so many amazing people on the community team.
01:25And really my role is obviously to, you know, make sure that they have everything they need.
01:31But at the same time, you know, being here for 13 years, I have in my honor, I am able
01:37to be a face of this game
01:39in a way where the community know that I am hopefully a person that they trust to give their feedback
01:45to.
01:45And, you know, I get to do the live streams and meet our players all over the world,
01:50which is one of my greatest joys.
01:52And obviously with TennoCon coming up, they're coming to us, which is a nice, you know, one,
01:57or I guess it's two days a year now, with a two day event.
02:00But one of the most special moments of my entire career, having thousands of, you know,
02:06specifically Warframe and Soulframe players come and want to see us.
02:09It really is a highlight of my career.
02:13And yeah, the day to day really, it depends on what's going on.
02:16You know, if we have updates going on, we're always either in the live ops world
02:19where we're making sure that the current public build is taken care of
02:23and everything has what they need and fixes are going out.
02:26Or it's also looking ahead to updates we know are coming out and developing those behind the scenes
02:31and making sure that the quality of life is in there.
02:34Is this what the players want?
02:35And it's a mix of that, also talking to the players and, you know,
02:39managing the team and talking to devs.
02:41So it's a very, it's a hard to describe role because there's so many hats that we like to wear.
02:47But yeah, it is, you know, I can't see myself anywhere else, any other game.
02:52And I'm happy to be where I am with the community that we have built.
02:57Oh, that's very beautiful.
02:59So like you already said, as a community director, you have stepped into the footsteps of none other
03:05than the space mom herself, Rebecca Fort, who's now, of course, the creative director of Warframe.
03:10So how was this, how was this experience for you to step into such a great legacy?
03:17Oh, my God, I, I remember the, because this was still like just, you know, petering off of COVID times
03:262021.
03:27Beginning of 2021 in January, February is when we started to have the conversations of the switching of the old
03:34guard and, you know, the old guard wanting to do soul frame.
03:38And I remember Reb kind of broke the news to me over a Google Meet call and she let me
03:46know what was going on.
03:47And she said to me, she's like, Megan, you know, obviously with her going to creative director, we need the
03:53community director.
03:54And it's, it's you and would love if you wanted to take that on.
03:59And I, I'll, I will do whatever Reb asks of me.
04:02Essentially, it's like, if you believe in me, then I, I believe in myself, right?
04:08Like she, she has quite literally taught me everything I know.
04:12So for her to have that much trust in me to then completely take over, even just the aspect of
04:18managing people was something that was kind of not my specialty at that time.
04:23I was community manager.
04:24But for us, we kind of have a difference of managing people and then managing the game, which a lot
04:30of the community team does is just manage the game, manage the players and manage that world.
04:34Whereas there's also, you know, the responsibility of managing people and making sure that they're taken care of.
04:39And that was, I think the biggest learning curve for me was being responsible for what is a large number
04:46of people and making sure that they have everything they need and, and the ups and downs and all of
04:50that.
04:50So that was definitely a big hurdle. And I think as well, like Reb has just, she has, you know,
04:57helped to build this game.
04:58She was the one and only person on the community team.
05:01She started the forum, she started the customer support, like she was, she was the one.
05:06And then for her to obviously trust me, you know, with the responsibility to take on that community team, it
05:11was very daunting, but it was, it was a no brainer.
05:15Like in my head, I was like, yes, I'll do it. I'll, I'll go through the challenges of it.
05:18And to this day, like, I think the fact that our relationship is so close that having a creative director
05:27and the community director be as close as we are, is a very good thing in terms of, and her
05:34coming from community, understanding the feedback of the community team and the feedback of the players.
05:40And being able to almost foresee what players are going to react to as we're making these updates, as she's
05:46doing the creative director role.
05:48And I'm so just honored to have this role and her trust me in that. And I'm so happy with
05:53where Warframe has gone.
05:55You know, as we've made that change and the things that we've produced, the updates we've done, the things we've
06:01done together as a team and, and yeah, it's been a very scary, but interesting ride.
06:06And it hasn't all been perfect, but we definitely have gotten a good rhythm and a good flow of how
06:12we want to operate in these roles.
06:14And I feel like it's, I feel like it's paying off. So yeah, absolutely.
06:19Can you tell us more a bit how you basically ended up in this situation?
06:25So was it always your dream to work in the video game industry?
06:30Did you find it hard to get into the industry, especially as a woman who, at least from my perspective,
06:37are still quite underrepresented in higher positions?
06:40So how was this journey for you?
06:44Yeah, I mean, I grew up a gamer. I, my first gaming experience was, I'm going to date myself when
06:51I say this, but I, my first console was an N64 playing Ocarina of Time and, and, uh, Hybrid Heaven
06:58and 007 and had a Game Boy with Pokemon.
07:02It was very Nintendo coded when I was growing up. And then I got into the Xbox and played Halo
07:07religiously.
07:08And so I was always this little gamer girl nerd got bullied in school, you know, like that was my
07:13vibe.
07:14And then I, I honestly never even knew that video games could be a job. It was always, it had
07:22that connotation of, you know, you're playing in your basement.
07:25You're never going to make a career out of this. Like, it's just a hobby. Don't waste your time.
07:29And so I kind of had that mentality in my head. So it was just a hobby was just, you
07:32know, after school fun.
07:34And especially in London, Ontario, we find ourselves, you know, we're not the biggest, biggest of places.
07:40We're not the most happening of places. People would rather go to Toronto, go to Montreal. Like that's where things
07:45are, things are going on.
07:47So especially even the thought of even a video game studio existing in London, I didn't think was a thing
07:55at all.
07:56I was a manager at a grocery store, not really knowing what I was doing with my life.
08:00I went to college, got a marketing degree and didn't really know what to do with that.
08:06And then I met Rebecca through mutual friends and didn't even know what her job was.
08:10I had no idea her background or anything. And through just, you know, hanging out, she realized that I was
08:18a nerd because I would talk about video games like Zelda tattoos.
08:21She was like, oh, like, hold on a second. You might be like me.
08:25And she approached me and said, I, you know, I, I work for a video game studio and the video
08:31game that we're working on is taking off.
08:34And I really need some helping community. Would you be willing to interview for this?
08:38And I was like, oh, my God, like that exists here in London. Like I had no idea.
08:42I think like my skills at the time, I would say were very like I participated in like the Zelda
08:50sub forums and like an anonymous degree.
08:53Like I didn't have any anything, you know, background wise to really support being in the role that I am
09:00at the time.
09:01And she was just like, nope, you're you're it. Like, come come join me.
09:05We're going to get along great. And I'll teach you everything I know.
09:08She was also learning along the way. So it was just kind of a very organic introduction into this industry,
09:16which I think in 2026 probably wouldn't happen.
09:20I think 2026 is very, you know, you need the you need the skills or anything like that.
09:25And I just happened to get very lucky and befriend Rebecca and get into the industry.
09:31And then she taught me everything I knew from forums to even social media to, you know, actual in game.
09:39Not that I know how to code, but like just understanding what all of the back end of it all
09:43means and everything like that she taught me.
09:46And so I would say it was very I would say it was underqualified for this job.
09:53And then, you know, you learn on the way. I mean, it worked out.
09:56Yeah, I learned along the way. And I think, you know, like I said, Reb taught me everything.
10:01And I definitely feel like when I got to the 2021 era where I was asked to be community director,
10:10I definitely felt confident in my skills of what I had learned.
10:15And obviously, I watch Reb do what she's got to do and, you know, try to emulate that to my
10:21best.
10:21I think one of the biggest things that I had to kind of understand when I became community director was
10:27obviously Reb is like for me, I'm biased,
10:30but she's like the perfect example of what a community director could be.
10:35And I had to understand that as much as I want to just be a carbon copy of Reb, I
10:41can't like I'm my own person and my own my own management styles and stuff like that.
10:46So I did have to kind of come to realizations like I need to do this on my own terms
10:50as well,
10:51while obviously taking everything that I've ever learned from her and applying it.
10:55But yeah, it was a underqualified, lucky position that I got in.
10:59And then I just really worked hard and, you know, took everything that Reb was saying and teaching me to
11:06heart.
11:07And really, I'm very passionate about this game.
11:09Like I wouldn't still be here within this role if I didn't love this game as much as I do
11:14with the people that work on it.
11:16So, yeah, I mean, I owe everything to Reb and she would hate that I'm saying that, but it is
11:21truly true.
11:21Oh, that's so cute. Oh, my God.
11:25So Warframe is going on for over a decade now, which is crazy.
11:30And I think the community work is probably one of the biggest reasons, actually, why this even worked out.
11:36So how do you feel the aspect of community management changed over the years, over the last years you worked
11:44in the field, especially?
11:45And do you also see changes in the gaming and the gaming culture in general?
11:52Yeah, I like to think back on when I first started and when our team was two or three people
11:59and really all we had to communicate to people was, you know, Twitter and Facebook at the time.
12:05And we had our own in game chat and our forums. And that was it. That was where we spent
12:11our time reading threads, responding to threads.
12:14We had support tickets. But that was really it. And then at the as we're going through 2013, we started
12:22that's what Twitch like just started.
12:24We were one of the first video game developers doing any type of live stream on Twitch and we kicked
12:30that off.
12:31And that became also an avenue to talk to players. So I think what's really interesting to me is, you
12:36know, fast forward to now or the most recent years.
12:39And there's so many ways to communicate with players. You have the social medias, you have the discords, you have
12:45the in game chats.
12:46There's so many ways that we can communicate with our players on our live streams and all these other opportunities
12:52where it became almost a little crazy and hectic to try and manage it all.
12:58Because you want to make sure you're covering all your bases and you're not ignoring one platform, you know, Reddit
13:03and stuff like that.
13:04Even though you don't own the Reddit, you want to make sure that it's well managed and well taken care
13:08of.
13:09So it's definitely a space where there's a lot of noise. And we as community team, you know, experts, I
13:17would like love to say, need to understand how to manage that and figure out how to speak on those
13:23different channels.
13:24And I think in terms of, you know, where Warframe is out in the community that we built, I'm obviously
13:32very proud of that because I think obviously our community, they will let us know when we miss step, which
13:39I'm very grateful for.
13:41We have our ups and we have our downs and our community is honestly just along for that ride, which
13:45I'm very thankful for.
13:46But it's a kudos to kind of the early days of approaching how we wanted to do community and being
13:55very truthful and honest about that.
13:58Like we kind of say the word transparent to death here.
14:01I try to try to think of a different word when I try to use transparency, but we always said
14:07from the get go, like Warframe was going to be a game that players could help us build, build together
14:12as they're telling us feedback and things that they do or don't like.
14:15And we're going to bring, as community people, we're taking that straight to dev and we're having the conversation with
14:21them.
14:21We're fighting for community and we're trying to get, you know, points across.
14:24And I think because we've been doing that for over a decade, 13 years now, our developer team as a
14:31whole understand how valuable the community input is.
14:35Even if it's not what you want to hear, they know that the community feedback is one of the most
14:42important parts of any update that we do or any change that we make.
14:45And that has been, I think, a lot of our shining star, guiding star in terms of how we do
14:52our updates and how we talk about our updates and how we present ourselves on these live streams.
14:57We really do not take ourselves seriously at all. Like we go on these dev streams or these Tenno lives
15:03and we're goofing, we're laughing, we're cracking jokes.
15:06And I think what we've built over the years is just really made or not made, sorry, but shown our
15:13community that we're just human beings.
15:15And we're just making a game that we love and we're making a game with our players that have been
15:20around for 13 years.
15:22We're founders still. I was just at Anime Expo and I met like six founders and I was like, oh,
15:26my God, like you're still here.
15:28That's crazy. You're the reason this game is alive.
15:31And I think we owe it to the community to just continue that what I hope is a legacy at
15:37this point of just Warframe updates and, you know, taking the story in weird directions.
15:42And again, making the game that our community wants that we want and just having having fun with it and
15:48being honest when we do, you know, misstep a little bit.
15:52Do you also have like any expectations or guesses how the future might look like?
15:58I mean, especially in a time where AI is pretty much everywhere and could do a lot of things like,
16:05I don't know, creating posts or something.
16:07What do you think makes the human work and the human interaction and connection so valuable, especially in the Warframe
16:15community?
16:17Yeah, that's that's a great question. And I think obviously, yeah, it is it's scary out there like you can't
16:23deny it.
16:24It's you know, you you boot up any social media app and the first thing you see is something happening
16:29with our industry.
16:30And it's it's honestly devastating and very sad. And I feel very biased, but I feel very lucky to be
16:37where we are with Warframe.
16:38You know, we've had some of the best years we've ever had.
16:42And I think that's really impressive to say for a 13 year old game.
16:47And obviously, I hope that that continues.
16:49And, you know, people will look at the steam charts and analyze that to death and do what you got
16:54to do.
16:55But, you know, we see the stats internally.
16:56And and from there, we're able to figure out the IQ.
17:00We know, you know, some of the pain points with Jade Shadows Constellations that just came out.
17:04It's like, OK, that's we tried the Railjack thing and maybe that wasn't the best move.
17:08So let's let's do something else and and try to, you know, pick up where where we might have dropped
17:14some pieces.
17:15And I think we, you know, we truly believe in humans making games, not, you know, AI making games.
17:23And we were very passionate about that because everything we've done, like we do our demos live.
17:29Every single TennoCon demo, TennoLive demo has been either Rebecca or myself with an Xbox 360 controller doing a 25
17:39to 30 minute demo.
17:40Absolutely live with pitches and and things that aren't perfect.
17:44And that's the way we want to do it.
17:47And that's the way we're going to always do it, because that's what we believe in.
17:50We're very I like to think we're a homebrewed Canadian company that just wants to be authentic and honest and
17:58not, you know, cater to the the easy route or what people think is, you know, they're going to be
18:04the next big thing.
18:05We're we're in our in our London, Ontario bubble, and it's we don't really stray from that.
18:10And I think that has some to my bias, you know, really helped us along the way and not get
18:16too caught up in and the noise that's going on.
18:19Yeah, definitely, definitely agree on this.
18:22So talking some Warframe for the upcoming TennoCon, I know you guys have some really great announcements ready.
18:31I think one of the biggest reveals will probably be Warframe finally going to the Tau system.
18:37So please tell us everything about this highly anticipated update.
18:41What can players expect?
18:45Oh, this is probably our biggest update we've ever done.
18:50And I think for someone who understands Warframe or has played, you know, a good amount of Warframe, they know
18:59what Tau is or just that Tau exists and that we've never been there before.
19:04And we don't know what it looks like. And there's all this obviously story around what happened in Tau.
19:11And the fact that it's 2026, 13 years later, we're finally going to Tau.
19:17Not only are we going to Tau, but it's our new solar system.
19:20You know, we have our current solar system, we got Earth, we got Mercury, etc.
19:24And we've lived in that solar system for 13 years.
19:29Now we're creating an entirely new solar system.
19:32What TennoCon shows and TennoLive demo shows is essentially one region of the Tau solar system called Fornax, which is
19:41kind of like the sentient ring city.
19:43It's giving mafia, it's giving drug addiction and things like that.
19:48And it's not a happy place, which is unfortunate.
19:51But we do intend to obviously you'll see that at TennoLive and experience that kind of region of the Tau
19:57solar system.
19:58And then, you know, later on in the year, we'll show you a second region within the Tau solar system.
20:05And it really is huge.
20:07I think obviously we did, you know, the Railjack expansion had a new, you know, star chart, if you will,
20:13to explore where this is a whole new solar system.
20:17And I think that moment during TennoLive when you're flying through and you see Tau finally just like open up
20:23like I, I have my hopes and dreams as to how people react to that.
20:28I'm going to be sad if it doesn't pan out the way I want it to.
20:31But I really do feel like the fact that we're finally going to Tau is going to be huge for
20:38our players.
20:39And I hope they like how the route we've taken with it.
20:43I think I'm almost certain that no one expects it to be a happy place.
20:47So I feel like we're not going to disappoint anyone thinking it's going to be rainbows.
20:50It is in fact the opposite, but we're finally going and together we're going to experience what that is.
20:59And obviously TennoLive is only a small part of what the Tau world is going to look like.
21:04And I just can't wait to see how they feel about that, how they feel about Briscoe, our first, you
21:08know, inner monologue Warframe.
21:10Elmer Contradi's back, the Vessel's back.
21:13So there's so many good, amazing, exciting pieces about TennoLive that I feel like as a Warframe fan and enjoyer
21:20are really going to excite people.
21:23And then obviously, you know, you didn't get to see the tail end of the TennoCon demo, but we take
21:28you on kind of a journey there at the end.
21:32And I think that we'll put some puzzle pieces into the very large Warframe puzzle that we've built.
21:39And also probably take some away because we always like to have more questions and answers.
21:43But it'll definitely get people, I think, talking a little bit about the relation between old piece and what we
21:49learned there and what we're now experiencing in Tau.
21:54And you will also announce a new Warframe, of course, which is going to be the first female ice themed
22:00frame in the game.
22:02I think this sounds really, really cool. Can you tell us a little bit more about her?
22:07Yeah, we're keeping her a little bit hushed just in terms of, you know, much about her other than she
22:13is our first female ice frame.
22:16We get a lot of understandable feedback from players.
22:21You know, when you put out, it was a Uriel last year. Everyone said that he's the male Ember, right?
22:27Like, he's the fire guy.
22:29And then you have Ember as the fire girl. We get asked all the time, like, I want a male
22:34Zephyr. I want a female Nidus.
22:36And you get, well, that would be Saren. But anyways, you get that commentary of like, I love this theme
22:40of a Warframe.
22:41Give me the other gender and, you know, different vibe. And Frost has been the only ice guy ever in
22:50a Warframe.
22:50Like, no other Warframe really be doing anything icy. So the fact that we're now doing a female ice frame
22:59is very exciting.
23:00And I think the only other thing I can say about her is that when we were thinking of this
23:06next Warframe, you know, Rev really took inspiration from a certain story in the cultural world.
23:16And it made a lot of sense to then do a female ice frame. So it's kind of like right
23:21time, right place.
23:23And it just is working out to be the ice blade of Naren. And you'll see everything about her in
23:30the February, or sorry, February, September Devstream from South Korea, which is very exciting.
23:36And yeah, we'll just, she's very exciting. I'm excited to be able to see her.
23:42Amazing. So including the things we just talked about, do you have any personal highlights from the upcoming announcements that
23:50you are really excited about for TennoCon?
23:54Ooh, I mean, I really, I really think it's, like I said, that fly into towel, like I truly, I've
24:02seen that sequence when it was like bare bones and didn't look anything good.
24:06And I still got excited about it. So my, my hopes are very high for people's reactions to finally seeing
24:13cow and being there.
24:15That to me is the pinnacle of what we've been working on and everything else is very exciting.
24:19You know, the Amir, you know, Shockwave, Nightwave is just fun and goofy. And I think people really enjoy seeing
24:26the 1999 Hex characters given some, some more life.
24:29And, and yeah, there's, there's a lot of exciting things. And it's just another, another exciting year.
24:34And I hope people just resonate with what we're doing and want to want to hang out for the ride.
24:41Okay. So last but not least, I want to close the interview with a bit of a weird question. If
24:47you had to describe the community as a Warframe, which one would it be?
24:51As a Warframe? Ooh, I would say that they are probably Jade. And I say that because Jade is a
25:04very passionate but powerful Warframe.
25:07You know, she obviously has her story arc and it was a little sad, but I think everyone really resonated
25:15with what, you know, what Jade's story was.
25:18And she had some sacrifices and, but at the end of the day, she is this powerful, beautiful entity that
25:25has compassion and understanding and just love.
25:29And our community shows us love every single day. And I feel like Jade is a good representation of our
25:34players.
25:35Amazing. That's a great one.
25:37So we are at the end of our interview. Thank you again so much for your time and the great
25:43answers. It was a pleasure talking with you.
25:46Thank you. Your questions were beautiful and amazing. So thank you for asking those.
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