FYNG-moderator Julius Busch and MeinMMO editor Benedict Grothaus had the opportunity at gamescom 2025 to speak with Creative Director Joel Bylos about Dune: Awakening. They discussed critical fans, endgame issues, and this mysterious empty slot in the character window.
There was much to discuss about Dune: Awakening: The new survival MMO had the most successful launch in Funcom’s history, yet there are still various issues over 2 months after the launch that could spoil the fun.
It was clear that FYNG moderator Julius Busch and MeinMMO editor Benedict Grothaus used the talk about Dune: Awakening at gamescom 2025 to discuss exactly these issues with Creative Director Joel Bylos. If you missed the almost 30-minute interview, you can catch up below. We also summarize the key insights in this article.
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When Heavy Gamers Write Angry Reviews
At the beginning of the talk with Joel Bylos, the focus is on the launch of Dune: Awakening and how the survival MMO has been received by players. The lead developer explains that there are numerous players who have played the game “very much” until they eventually had nothing left to do. Then they got angry, went to Steam, and rated the game negatively.
I saw a review on Steam with 1,000 hours of playtime: “The game is terrible.” And I calculated. This guy has played 12 hours a day since we launched.
Joel Bylos in the FYNG talk about Dune: Awakening
Bylos further explains that they are indeed keeping an eye on the criticism regarding the lack of endgame content. However, the upcoming Chapter 2 will not fully address this criticism as it will continue the story campaign and introduce new quests and dynamic events to the world.
There will be small improvements for the current endgame, such as increasing the storage capacities of vehicles and the ability to transport vehicles via ornithopter, to make farming in the deep desert more comfortable. A recovery system for lost or destroyed vehicles is also planned to arrive soon, so players can retrieve and repair them if needed.
The plan for the comprehensive adjustments to the endgame in Chapter 3 is already set. According to Joel Bylos, they want to first introduce a whole series of PvE challenges, and afterwards revert the deep desert back to the originally planned PvP area. In this way, they want to clearly separate the two very different target groups.
Future DLC Purchases Should Be Worth It
The next paid DLC is not only supposed to deliver cosmetic content but also a quest line associated with the skins. This marks a departure from their DLC policy that they had followed with Conan Exiles. In the discussion, Joel Bylos explains the reason.
One of the things we want to do is provide players with the value of actually playing the game. Purely cosmetic DLCs are nice, and there will be purely cosmetic DLCs again in the future. However, our idea now is to make players feel like they actually earn the rewards.
These rewards are purely cosmetic. We want players to experience a quest line that explains why these cosmetics exist and what they have to do with Dune. And we believe it has value to play the game.
Joel Bylos in the FYNG talk about Dune: Awakening
The lead developer further reveals that new content will also come with a boost to tier levels. Bylos emphasizes that the highest tier level will always be the most labor-intensive to produce in terms of recipes and equipment. This will always be directed at guilds and heavy gamers.
With the introduction of a new tier level, the previous tiers will also be adjusted, particularly concerning the amount of resources needed for crafting – to ease access for all players.
Moreover, they want to adjust the Landsraad so that the associated quests offer more variety and become more interesting for solo players. There should be more rewards and benefits that guilds can earn for their community – such as the possibility to offer services from the capitals in their guild base.
The Truth Behind the Mysterious Item Slot
Colleague Benedict used the interview to ask Joel Bylos about the empty item slot in the character window, where nothing can be placed so far and which the community has speculated about since launch.
Some players claim, for example, that in an early testing phase, they found a backpack slot there to expand the inventory. However, Bylos dismisses this myth. It is simply an open space that he asked the designers to create so that later (perhaps with an expansion) a cool new piece of equipment could be placed there.
According to the lead developer, it has always been the plan to largely outsource inventory or storage options to vehicles. A backpack or similar tools would run counter to this design goal.
Lead Developer on Rent, Power, and Decay of Bases
MeinMMO had already addressed that many players see it as a problem that they have to regularly start and play Dune: Awakening, to not lose their progress or the resources, machines, and equipment stored in their base. Colleague Benedict also addressed this with the lead developer and asked if there wouldn’t be a better solution.
Bylos explains that there are indeed alternative ways to manage your base. In Fallout 76, for example, when logging out, you take your base with you and have to re-place it the next time you log in.
What the developers do not want at all is a collection of ghost towns from unused bases that allow newcomers hardly any room for their own expansion. However, the team understands the problem and plans to make some adjustments:
- They want to expand the bank so that players can store much more resources, blueprints, and equipment there before a longer break than is currently the case.
- The developers are working on warning players with email notifications when their base is about to decay or their power capacities are running out.
- They want to provide returning players with a kind of resource package when they come back online after a long break. This package will contain materials and equipment to ensure that they don’t have to start from scratch. The contents of the package should be tailored to the character’s level.
The goal of the developers is for players to be able to reach their old progress in a relatively short time even after a long break, provided they have saved their base and stored enough resources in the bank.
Faction Wars and Raids
In the interview with Joel Bylos, we finally learned that the developers want to let the two factions of the game clash in PvP. Not in the deep desert, where everyone fights everyone, but in alternative PvP variations.
Imagine a mode where the Atreides have to build a fortress, and it’s the Harkonnen’s job to storm that fortress. You have a certain time window to build the facility, and then the opponents come and attack.
Joel Bylos in the FYNG talk about Dune: Awakening
According to Bylos, this could also work as a PvE challenge, with AI fighters taking on one side. As for real raid battles against a large sandworm, there are currently no concrete plans.
The developer explains that it would be extremely difficult to design raid challenges in Dune: Awakening’s combat and skill systems in a way that they are enjoyable, sufficiently polished, and well-balanced. However, at some point, this will be something the developers want to tackle.
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