Dune Awakening – Everything We Know So Far
Dune Awakening is an upcoming survival MMO from the makers of Conan: ExilesThe goal is to adapt the books and films into a movie, and challenge players to survive on Arrakis, the most dangerous planet in the universe.
In Dune Awakeningyou wake up as The Sleeper, before being sent into the desert with little more than a knife to your name. From there, you can gather, craft, and build your own Guild, fending off giant sandworms and other players as you attempt to control the flow of Spice across the planet’s surface. It’s certainly shaping up to be one of the most exciting upcoming games on the horizon, and could well be making an assault on the internet’s best MMO games lists when it releases.
This is what we know about Dune Awakening so far, including a look at the story and setting, gameplay, latest trailers, news, and everything we know now. As more details are revealed, this page will be updated.
Dune Awakening – get straight to the point
- What is it? An MMO set in the world of Dune
- When can I play it? To be determined
- What can I play it on? PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S
- Who makes it? Funcom
Dune Awakening Trailers
The latest trailer we have for Dune Awakening was revealed on June 8, 2024, along with a new developer direct presentation. Check out the latest story trailer below:
We added a few more Dune Awakening trailers in this article, but if you’re hungry for more, you should definitely check out The official YouTube channel of FuncomThe most interesting thing to look forward to are the Shigawire Reels, a series of short videos explaining various aspects of the lore.
Dune Awakening story and setting
Dune Awakening is an MMO set in the world of Frank Herbert Dune series. It is set on the desert planet Arrakis, where a royal family called House Atreides has established itself in order to take power. After a swift betrayal, the political landscape of Arrakis is thrown into chaos, with multiple factions fighting for control of the planet’s primary resource, Spice. Spice grants extrasensory abilities on the world of Dune, allowing pilots to navigate long-term space expeditions and more. It is only found on Arrakis, so it has been a source of conflict for millennia.
You play as The Sleeper who awakens and is forced to venture into the brutal desert environment. As you progress, you will form your own House Minor and can align yourself with one of the major powers fighting for control of the region. It has been revealed that you will meet characters from the books and films during Dune Awakening’s story, but we don’t know the details yet.
Dune Awakening gameplay
We’ve now seen a fair amount of Dune Awakening gameplay, thanks to the recent Dune Awakening: Instant Event (links to YouTube).
When you start Dune Awakeningyou are thrown into the desert with nothing but a scrap knife at your disposal. Enemy camps can be raided to slowly gather materials to help you survive, as you build up an assortment of technology, weapons and survival gear. Arrakis is described as ‘the most dangerous planet in the universe’, and it is clear that Dune Awakening focuses on survival mechanics to emphasise this.
Water is more valuable than gold on Arrakis, and you must constantly ensure that you have enough to not only survive, but thrive. Once you start building your Guild, you will need water for industrial purposes, all with the ultimate goal of conquering and controlling pockets of Spice.
There are many dangers to the environment Dune Awakeningwith massive sandstorms constantly raging on the planet’s surface. These are best avoided at first, but once you have a fleet of vehicles and more resources, you can use the storms to your advantage. Ground vehicles include sand bikes and tanks, and then there are also air vehicles. Ornithopters can be used to cover large distances and avoid the giant sandworms that can ambush you on the ground.
Combat is called ‘Combines Arms’ and consists of melee (swords and knives), ranged (guns), vehicular (ground and air vehicles) and abilities (sorcery). These are all used in tandem and the player can decide what to focus on. Dune Awakening is primarily a PvE game, with multiple players coexisting on the same server and looting separately. There is also a PvP aspect, where players can attack each other and fight over resources such as Spice.
Dune Awakening latest news
New Dune Awakening Direct details PvP and more
The final Dune Awakening Direct aired on June 20, 2024. It went into detail about PvP, safe zones, and the game’s alternate history timeline. You can watch it here.
The first Dune Awakening: Direct shows off the game’s approach to world building
Funcom has released the very first Dune Awakening: Direct, showcasing new gameplay and a look at how the games adapt stories from Frank Herbert’s novels. Check out the world-building showcase here (links to YouTube).
You can now sign up for the upcoming Dune Awakening beta
Funcom has announced that players can now register for beta access to Dune Awakening. Head over to the main site of the gameand enter your email address to participate in future testing. We currently do not have a date for the beta launch, but stay tuned as it will likely be sometime this year.
