Over the weekend, Dune: Awakening is trending on Steam, even though the survival MMO hasn’t been released yet. The reason for this is likely to please the fans.
What kind of game is this? Dune: Awakening is an upcoming open-world survival MMO by Funcom, set on the desert planet Arrakis. In an alternate reality where Paul Atreides was never born, the Houses Atreides and Harkonnen are fighting a war for supremacy.
You take on the role of an adventurer and can team up with up to three other gamers to survive in the dangerous environment. But playing solo is also possible, although you must always be on a server for that.
The game features an action-oriented combat system from a third-person perspective, allowing you to use advanced weapons and technologies against NPCs and players. Dune: Awakening offers both PvE and PvP mechanics but primarily focuses on survival elements.
You will need to take care of your water supply and stay in the shadows to protect yourself from the sun. There will also be an extensive base-building system. The goal of the survival MMO is the resource “Spice,” which you can collect to sell on the market or consume to enhance your abilities.
Here you can watch the trailer for Dune: Awakening:
Thousands of players and no release
Why does Dune: Awakening have thousands of gamers now? Those who monitored the trends on SteamDB over the weekend may have noticed that at times over 2,500 players were online in Dune: Awakening simultaneously, even though the survival MMO hasn’t been released yet.
The release of Dune: Awakening is set for “early 2025,” as the developers recently confirmed again. The current adventurers are testers who have been invited to a preview test to try out the survival MMO.
The closed beta likely provides all adventurers with a so-called “Non-Disclosure Agreement,” or “NDA,” a type of confidentiality agreement that prohibits testers from discussing their experiences. On Reddit, some users also indirectly confirm that they are part of an ongoing test, even if they don’t reveal anything directly about the game.
What kind of test is this? Since the beta is happening in secret, it is unclear which elements are being focused on. However, since the game is about to be released, it is conceivable that the developers want to gather feedback one last time before revealing the exact release date to the community.
How long the tests will run and when the exact release date will be is still unknown. Everything you need to know about Dune: Awakening, we have gathered for you here: Dune: Awakening – All about the release, beta, and platforms
