Dune: Awakening
Genre: Survival-MMO | Developer: Funcom | Platform: PC, PS5, Xbox Series | Release (PC): Early 2025 | Model: Buy2Play
What kind of game is this? Dune: Awakening is a survival MMO that strongly focuses on sandbox experience, survival, and PvP content. PvE will primarily occur in the form of survival mechanics, meaning when it comes to securing water, shade, and necessary equipment. You’ll also create bases or transporters using collected resources and blueprints.
The MMO takes place on the planet Arrakis, the main setting of both Dune films by Denis Villeneuve and the popular book series. The desert planet is absolutely inhospitable. However, Arrakis does have the substance Spice
, which is essential for the survival of people in the Dune universe.
For more valuable loot, you’ll need to venture deeper into the desert. There, sandworms, deadly storms, and many more dangers await you. The release is planned for PC in early 2025. The console version will follow at a later date.
The trailer for Dune: Awakening from gamescom 2024:
That’s why I’m very excited about Dune: Awakening: Since The Longest Journey, I have liked Funcom’s games, even though they often appear anything but polished. I probably spent the most time in The Secret World and Conan Exiles. The latter could be considered a spiritual predecessor to Dune: Awakening.
My hope is that the developers manage to transfer all their experiences from the years of survival struggle in the Exiled Lands into the world of Dune. If successful, all interested parties can expect a fun survival game that leads them into an exciting sci-fi universe.
As a fan of the books and Villeneuve films, this alone should be sufficient for me to have a good time for many hours. Even though the strong focus on PvP bothers me a bit. Unlike in Conan Exiles, in the new Funcom project you will reportedly not be able to retreat to your own private servers. More on the game can be found here: Everything about release, beta, and platforms of Dune: Awakening.
