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Hi Tenno,
With Cross Platform Save approaching, we want to address any questions our players may have about how their TennoGen items will be used across accounts. This forum post serves as a complete overview of how the TennoGen Program will work with Cross Platform Save, for both players and artists interested in this content!
For those looking for a TL;DR of how things work now, we have added it at the bottom under its own header for easy reference.
THE CONTEXT:
TennoGen items are community-made creations made accessible to use via the SteamWorkshop. Once an item is accepted, players can acquire it in one of two ways, depending on the platform you play on.
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PC Players purchase TennoGen for real money through the Steam Workshop directly in-game or via our TennoGen Store using their linked Steam account.
- 30% of each sale goes directly to the Artists who made the item.
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Console Players purchase eligible TennoGen via the in-game Market for Platinum
- Digital Extremes pays Artists a one-time sum as part of the Transfer process to Consoles.
Since TennoGen launched on Consoles in 2016 we have shared the incredible work of our Artists with Console Tenno, while also ensuring that their PC sales were not impacted. At the time of writing, over 400 items exist within the TennoGen program, the majority of which have been licensed for Console use.
With Cross-Save, we need to redefine how these purchases work to maintain the integrity of this program -- a program which has operated in a pre-cross-save world for almost 8 years now.
APPROACHING CROSS PLATFORM SAVE:
When defining how TennoGen would work with Cross Platform Save, we worked off of these two tenets:
- We do not want to impact TennoGen sales on PC and will do our best to ensure that Artist income is as unaffected as possible.
- We want to respect the fact that many Console Tenno have TennoGen they have owned for years.
After many, many discussions, we landed on a decision that manifests itself in two parts.
Firstly, all TennoGen purchased before 2pm ET on November 24th will be able to use via Cross Platform Save on any (licensed) Platform.
If you have pieces you know and love, they will come with you if you decide to merge your accounts.
(if purchased before that cut-off date, of course!)
Secondly, all TennoGen purchased after 2pm ET on November 24th will be either PC- or Console-Locked.
- Steam PC Purchases can be used on the PC version of Warframe only.
- Console Purchases can be used via Cross Platform Save on any (licensed) console platform.
We explored a variety of options before coming to this outcome, but we felt this was the most feasible way to ensure that Artist income on PC was not impacted, while also respecting the years of history that our Console Tenno have with their TennoGen.
To ensure that all future TennoGen transactions are informed purchases, players should already see a new pop-up message outlining how their purchase will work with Cross Platform save:
Purchasing on PC
Known issue: this copy alludes to PC gifting, which is not possible via Steam. We will update this copy with Whispers in the Wall’s release to remove all mention of gifting.
Purchasing on Console
To be clear, this new Cross Platform Save pop-up message was turned on at 2 p.m. ET today to ensure it was active the moment the cut-off happened -- this ensures that players are made aware of how their new TennoGen will work with Cross Platform Save before they purchase.
A part of why we have slowed down on TennoGen in the latter half of 2023 was to ensure that both Artists and the community had an educated understanding of how TennoGen works with Cross Platform Save before we moved forward with more releases and sales events. With that said, we hope this post has offered more insight into how Cross Platform Save will work with this program, and we look forward to a TennoGen-filled 2024!
TL;DR:
- TennoGen Purchases before Nov 24 at 2pm ET will Cross Platform Save to any platform
- TennoGen Purchases after Nov 24 at 2pm ET will Cross Platform Save differently depending on where you bought it
- Steam PC purchases are locked to PC
- Console purchases are locked to all (licensed) console platforms
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Reasons for this system:
- We do not want to impact Artist income (they earn 30% of their PC sales)
- We want to respect historical console purchases
- Cross Platform Save Eligibility Message is live on all platforms NOW for all TennoGen items to help players make informed purchases
What is a licensed Console Platform?
A licensed Console Platform is a platform on which we have acquired the rights to use the TennoGen item. Not all TennoGen are available on all platforms, so players may notice that their favourite item can be used on PlayStation, but not on the Nintendo Switch, for example.
Why is the cut-off date for TennoGen purchases so early?
We decided on this cut-off date to prevent players from intentionally stocking up on Platinum-purchased TennoGen to transfer their PC accounts. We know that there are players who can freely spend Platinum but can’t do the same with real money, and we understand why a player may have been planning to take that route. It’s vital to us that our TennoGen Artists retain their income from PC sales, and this policy operates with that goal in mind.
Why don’t Steam PC purchases also give you the console version of the item?
We explored this option, but it, unfortunately, is not an avenue that is available to us.
If Artist Income is so important, why are you allowing historical Console purchases to transfer to PC?
In short, compromise. Two statements can be true at the same time, even if they seem contradictory: we don’t want to impact PC sales, and we respect that many Console Tenno have owned TennoGen items for years. We didn’t feel comfortable as Devs asking players to suddenly buy these items again, especially the creations that they’ve been using for a long time.
With the new Cross Platform Save pop-up message for purchases, our goal is to ensure that players are aware of the new platform restrictions before deciding to buy. For the seven years of Console (and PC!) transactions before Nov 24, that pop-up did not exist, and therefore we decided the restrictions should not apply.
Will my pre-cutoff PC Purchases transfer to Console?
Yes! Much of this forum post focused on the Console to PC merge, but Steam PC TennoGen purchased before November 24 at 2 p.m. ET will be eligible for full Cross Platform Save (on licensed platforms).
