With Chapter 3, Dune: Awakening has received the long-awaited update along with a new endgame. However, despite improved player numbers, the identity crisis seems unresolved.
What does the new update bring? The new update “Chapter 3” of Dune: Awakening brings the long-anticipated endgame update to the game. It removes many of the barriers such as taxes, starting over with server switches, and the pointless grind, adding game elements like dungeons, character progression, and an overhauled endgame system.
This also has a positive effect on player numbers. Within a week, the player base nearly doubled on Sunday to over 17,500 players on Steam (source SteamDB). However, more important than player numbers is the opinion of veterans regarding the update, who address the biggest problem of the survival game.
You can see the trailer for Chapter 3 here:
The Problem with the Survival MMO
What is this identity crisis? Since Dune: Awakening was announced as a survival MMO, there have been several factions of players with different interests within the game. Initially, this was strongly felt due to PvP players who played Dune: Awakening like a PvP MMO, causing much frustration for peaceful players.
Later, as the game became more PvE-friendly through many patches, the Landsraad system also came into focus for players and developers. Originally intended as a competition between guilds and factions, the dominance of Zerg guilds was so strong that this feature was also adjusted more for individual players.
With the new endgame, the survival game undergoes another change, which raises questions among players again. This ongoing process of trying to make a game for everyone but having to constantly balance between player types burdens the development of Dune: Awakening, as players have observed.
What are players saying? Players are describing this very identity crisis on Reddit. They also discuss the longevity of the content there. User bisquikb writes:
I feel there is a significant discrepancy between two different groups and the player numbers. I play this like a survival game, but Reddit and my guild members treat it like an MMO. I played around 100 to 200 hours at launch, completed the content, and then stopped. I will play when there are important new contents, but there is hardly any reason to play every day […]
bisquikb on reddit.com
Thus, survival players keep returning with each new update, even though the latest update of Dune: Awakening is pushing the survival game more towards MMORPG. What stands out is that PvP players seem to have turned their backs on the survival game; the new updates seem uninteresting to them.
The identity crisis of Dune: Awakening remains unresolved even with Chapter 3. After Chapter 2 leaned more towards survival, this time it shifts more towards MMO. It will be interesting with Chapter 4, which is expected to release on the anniversary of Dune: Awakening. The new Dune film is also slated for release in 2026. More information can be found here: Dune 3: Trailer, Release and Cast – All Information about the Science Fiction Film with Timothée Chalamet
