Naming a game is harder than it looks, and Digital Extremes CEO Steve Sinclair knows it firsthand. In an interview with Game Informer, Sinclair openly admitted that including the word 'soul' in Soulframe's title was an 'idiot decision' - one that has caused persistent confusion about what kind of game it actually is.
The problem is obvious in hindsight. 'Soul' has become almost inseparable from FromSoftware's identity, tied to franchises like Demon's Souls and Dark Souls, and now broadly used to describe an entire genre of punishing action-RPGs. When players see 'soul' in a title, their brains immediately jump to stamina bars, brutal difficulty, and methodical combat.
Soulframe is none of those things. The game, which is currently available in early access under the name Soulframe Preludes, is a slower, more contemplative experience than the Soulslike label implies. Digital Extremes built their reputation on Warframe, a fast-paced free-to-play shooter that's been running for over a decade - and Soulframe represents a very different creative direction for the studio, one focused on exploration and atmosphere rather than punishing mechanical challenges.
According to Game Informer, who spent several hours with the game ahead of this report, Soulframe Preludes codes are also being distributed to Game Informer subscribers, giving a wider audience the chance to see what the game actually is rather than what its name implies.
The candid admission from Sinclair is a refreshing bit of self-awareness from a studio exec. Naming conventions matter enormously in the current market - a single word can shape player expectations before a single frame of gameplay is seen. In this case, that one word appears to have done real damage to how Soulframe has been perceived and positioned in the crowded action-RPG space.
Whether the game can overcome those first impressions and carve out its own identity remains to be seen. But at least Digital Extremes seems clear-eyed about the uphill battle the title itself created.
