Dune: Awakening has been struggling with significantly declining player numbers since release. To prevent players from completely losing touch after a break, the developers are now introducing a tool in the survival MMO that could alleviate much of the frustration.
What is the status of Dune: Awakening? Since the release, player numbers have been plummeting. Currently, according to SteamDB, only around 5,200 players are left on Arrakis. At launch on June 10, 2025, there were still about 142,000, and five days later, almost 190,000 simultaneously active players.
The community split early into PvP players who were keen on the endgame in the Deep Desert, and PvE players who just wanted to build, farm, and craft leisurely. Criticism of the endgame came from both camps.
However, the rule that bases decay if players do not log in regularly hit many players particularly hard. This is precisely where the developers are now focusing and delivering a tool that should facilitate the return.
New tool should ease the return to Arrakis
This is how the developers address the biggest criticism: The biggest criticism is that players must log in approximately every two weeks in Dune: Awakening to refill the power in their bases and pay taxes. Those who want to take a break risk having their bases fall victim to storms or enemies, up to complete destruction.
With patch 1.2.20.0, which according to announcements on Steam is expected to appear next week, the developers are introducing the base reconstruction tool in Dune: Awakening.
The team specifically wrote:
We do not want you to have to log in to keep your base running and maintain your progress. Bases decay because it is not economically viable for unused bases to remain forever since they take up space and prevent other players from building in the respective location.
The base reconstruction tool should significantly ease your return to Arrakis and secure your progress.
How the base-saving tool works
How does the tool work? You create the base reconstruction tool in Dune: Awakening and click it on your base to save it. The base will then immediately disappear from the map.
Your entire base is saved, including:
- Subloan console
- all decorations
- storage containers like water cisterns and blood cleaners along with their contents
- workbenches
When you later return to Arrakis, you can place your base back using the tool. Where you can set it up depends on the extent and complexity of the base. For example, bases that you built on or in cliffs may not be able to be placed on flat ground.
This will not be saved in the tool: Decorations that stand outside your base, such as lamps on nearby rocks, will not be saved. Before saving, the game will also inform you how many placeable objects will be lost.
Vehicles also cannot be secured with the base reconstruction tool. You still have to use vehicle replacement tools or dismantle your vehicles and store them in the bank vault of a capital city, which now has more slots and weight capacity.
What else does the update bring to the game? In addition to the new base tool, there will be a new radio station and transport Ornithopters will be able to travel between maps with a vehicle. All test stations in the northern part of the Deep Desert will then be PvP areas, while test stations in the south will become PvE zones. After patch 1.2.20, the team will also introduce character server transfers so that you can move your player characters to a new world.
Another helpful change that the developers introduced in October 2025 in Dune: Awakening concerns your destroyed vehicles: Did you lose your vehicle in Dune: Awakening to a storm or sandworm? Finally, there is a comfortable rescue for that
