Warframe is getting a horrific mutated boyband, and its lead singer is voiced by Resident Evil's Leon Kennedy

Do you like boybands? Regardless of if you love 'em or hate 'em, the next major Warframe update Warframe 1999 might be for you. This is due to the arrival of an infested boy band, just announced at Tennocon. Not only is the musical group's main star voiced by Nick Apostolides (Leon Kennedy from Resident Evil 4 remake), but they play the part of a major antagonist with unique loot for players to grind.

Specifically, this boy band will take the role as infested liches, summonable and randomly generated archenemies who grant you special lich weapons when eventually track them down and kill them. Speaking to VG247, creative director Rebecca Ford talked about the creation of this boyband, and how the player will ultimately interact with the crew.

VG247: This boyband plays an important role in the new gameplay presentation of Warframe 1999. Why add this kind of poppy musical presence in an otherwise Nine Inch Nails grunge inspired patch?

Ford: We need contrast in all our work. I think the ultimate commentary of the 1999 presentation is that the very fabricated industry pop music book ends the demo. You can't avoid it at the start through the TV, and then you're hit with the grunge and the NIN-style worldbuilding. There are five original songs in that show, and all the ones that play with you while you're playing are these grungy, Y2K allergic songs. Then you end with the boyband being this boyband fight, where this commercial boyband has become this infested mess in space.

We wanted to take all of 1999 and reset its bones in a way that fits Warframe's themes. There is going to be some pretty deep worldbuilding around the boyband feel about their journey, I won't say more than that, but they are characters in the game.

VG247: Designs are quite out there for the liches. How did you hit that Lich-level elite design for a faction that's already very messy, heavy with organic horror?

Ford: Well once again, Minki (former art director) sent us a piece of paper! We told them that we wanted to do an infested boy band, and were curious what a boy band that was totally infested would look like. He sent back scribbles of this boy band that emphasized body parts with some tech, and we sent it over to our art team. We came to this humanoid 199 tech monster that looks like the boyband members, but aren't. Whether they've got a Walkman in their belly or sneakers on, they've got very trademark elements of the 90s.

Reaching the boyband out in space, as shown in the Tennocon 1999 gameplay demo, is the finale fight for this boyband, akin to the Railjack confrontation for Grineer and Corpus lich equivalents. As for your general experience with unlocking this final fight, it'll play very similar to the current lich grind in-game right now, albeit set within the new Warframe 1999 content.

Ford: You'll have to spend time in Warframe 1999 getting the lich ready for the face off. So the way we've set up the world is that all the infested lich gameplay takes place in 1999, then you return to the origin system for the final showdown. That's how we connected 1999 with the main lich grind.

You can fend off this boy band yourself in Warframe 1999 when it releases in Q4 of this year!