Soulframe opens to everyone on November 6 after two years in closed alpha

Soulframe is opening up. Digital Extremes, the studio behind Warframe, has announced that its free-to-play fantasy RPG will be available for everyone to download on 6th November.

That ends a two-year stretch in closed alpha, where you needed a "prelude" key to get in. The new phase is called the "open prelude," and you'll grab the game through Soulframe.com.

The timing lines up with something bigger. Shortly after the open prelude starts, Soulframe gets its 17th major update, Verse of the Veilands.

The fun part first: your Omen wolfpup allies can grow into rideable adult wolves. To get there, you'll need to find the ingredients for a special biscuit. Raising a pup into a mount with baked goods is a pretty great hook.

The bigger change is structural. Rock Paper Shotgun describes the update as violently rearranging the game's world, adding what it calls an "Ubisoft-esque region purging system" meant to steer new players more firmly toward the game's "votives," which is Soulframe's term for missions.

PC Gamer reports the update will radically change the structure of the game so it's easier for new players to follow, and calls it one of the game's 'biggest, most violent' updates ever.

Not everyone at the studio is fully at ease with the shake-up. According to Rock Paper Shotgun, Digital Extremes are "nervous" about certain changes, though the outlet's headline doesn't spell out which ones.

If you've been watching Soulframe from the outside, this is the first time you can just download it and play, with a reworked world landing right behind you.