Warframe's next big update, the 1999 expansion story, will introduce lots of new features, including 90s boy bands and instant messenger clients. But definitely not on my bingo card was a romance system that could end with a New Year's kiss from someone in Hex, a new syndicate made up of proto-frames.

“We always wanted to include some kind of romance system in ‘Warframe,’” said creative director Rebecca Ford in an interview with GamesRadar. But we just didn't have the right scenario.”

It took 11 years for a romance system to be added to Warframe, and one of the main reasons was the success of Baldur's Gate 3: “I think two things gave us the courage to do it. Of course, the success of Baldur's Gate and its romance system made us think, 'Okay, people want this fantasy. Of course, the success of Baldur's Gate and its romance system made us think, “Okay, people want this fantasy.” That definitely helped, but we had ambitions that fit the architecture of Warframe. It was one of the best gaming experiences for me. 5]

Players can romance any of the Hexes, including Arthur, voiced by Ben Starr, in a messaging mini-game. According to Warframe's website, “You can deepen your relationship with The Hex proto-frame using the power of Kinematic Instant Messaging.”

While the idea of romancing a character through instant messaging in a third-person shooter is pretty wild, it's not the most outlandish thing we've learned about Warframe recently. In fact, we spoke with Ford about a month ago about whether Warframe could get pregnant: “It's kind of a constellation of truth when you're dealing with this subject. In the big picture, when dealing with the concept of a pregnant Warframe, the question is what the heck is the point of adding a pregnant hero to this free-to-play grind MMO? The only thing Ford confirmed was that she could be pregnant, but not if she could get pregnant, so the question still remains, but this is complicated and, frankly, not for the faint of heart.

Despite these recent events, we should not get our hopes up for future romance systems, as the best-case scenario is just a New Year's kiss. Nevertheless, the dating mini-game will be an unforgettable experience.