HomeGuidesDune: Awakening
Everything we know about Dune AwakeningEverything we know so far about Dune Awakening and its upcoming beta
Everything we know so far about Dune Awakening and its upcoming beta
Image credit:Funcom
Image credit:Funcom
Want to learn more about Dune: Awakening ahead of its release?Funcom’s announcement of a brand new upcomingMMORPGset in the Dune universe has predictably turned a lot of heads. Who here isn’t a fan of watching a colossal sandworm swallowing up a spice harvester whole? And who doesn’t want to be there on the ground watching it happen?
Below we’ll walk you through everything we know so far about Dune: Awakening, from its expected release date to details on gameplay, combat, story, and how to sign up for the upcoming beta.
In this guide:
Dune: Awakening – Announcement TrailerWatch on YouTube
Dune: Awakening – Announcement Trailer
Dune Awakening release date speculation
Dune: Awakening has no official release date yet, but our best guess is thatDune: Awakening will release in early access in 2024.We know thatdevelopers Funcomare already asking for sign-ups to thebeta, so the game is well past the early pre-alpha stage of development.
It’s quite likely that the game will follow in the footsteps of many a survival game and release into early access at first, which is why we could see players get access to the game as early as 2024 - or perhaps even the end of 2023. That may be a stretch, though.
Dune Awakening beta
According to the website, signing up to the beta will also “register your interest in joining future beta tests” - so it’s likely we’ll see several betas, and multiple opportunities to play Dune: Awakening before it actually releases.
We don’t yet know when the Dune: Awakening beta will start or end, but hopefully we won’t have to wait too long. If Funcom are indeed planning on running more than one beta test between now and release, then we’d hope to see at least one before the end of 2023. So if you want to partake and see the game early, then better sign up now!
Dune Awakening platforms
Dune: Awakening will launch on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|Swhen it releases. The game is currently available for wishlisting onSteam.
So far we have no information on whether or not Dune: Awakening will have crossplay or cross-save functionality, but hopefully Funcom will reveal this information later on down the line.
Dune Awakening gameplay
Dune: Awakening combines the MMORPG genre with the survival and crafting genre, all set in a massive open world filled with the myriad dangers of Arrakis: desert heat, lack of water, and of course, attacks from the iconic sandworms that prowl the dunes. Several of these scenes can be seen in the game’s latest trailer, which is aptly dubbed the Survive Arrakis trailer.
Dune: Awakening – Survive Arrakis TrailerWatch on YouTube
Dune: Awakening – Survive Arrakis Trailer
The core gameplay loop of Dune: Awakening is built upon five “pillars”:
With a little luck - and a lot of spice - your endgame base in Dune: Awakening may look something like this. |Image credit:Funcom
Building and crafting
Base-building in Dune: Awakening should be familiar to survival fans, with all the usual hallmarks of the genre intact, including building weapons and structures from schematics. |Image credit:Funcom
The world changes with every storm
Expect the terrain to constantly change in Dune: Awakening, throwing up regular new challenges for players to contend with. |Image credit:Funcom
Upgrades and Spice addiction
As you’d expect from a game set in the Dune universe, spice is key to everything. It’s the most valuable substance in the universe and can be used for a variety of purposes. You can choose to simply sell it and gain fame and power through the market; or you can consume spice to upgrade your character and unlock new skills and abilities.
How does combat work?
Combat in Dune: Awakening looks to be a fairly involved affair. Funcom’s “Combined Arms” system looks to seamlessly integrate different types of combat: there are various land and air vehicles (including everyone’s favourite ornithopters) that can be piloted and used to attack others; or you can stay on foot and make use of a variety of melee or ranged weapons. Familiar, over-the-shoulder scuffles with lasguns - one of the standard weapons used on Arrakis - can be seen in the Survive Arrakis trailer, as well as more robust vehicular combat interactions.
The deserts of Arrakis are harsh and full of intrigue, but there’s nothing a little laser-piercing aggresion can’t solve. |Image credit:Funcom
There are also special abilities that you can gain through the Great Houses, the most well-known of which is the Bene Gesserit school which gives you access to the ability to influence others through use of The Voice, as well as various other heightened abilities.
Note the dagger concealed behind the back of the figure on the right. Assassination missions will play a part in Dune: Awakening’s story. |Image credit:Funcom
Dune Awakening story
Dune: Awakening puts players in the role of person referred to as “Sleeper” who wakes amid the deserts of Arrakis, and must fight to survive on the most dangerous planet in the universe. As players survive and thrive, they’ll come into contact with various characters - some of whom will befamiliar faces from the books and films.
Dune: Awakening begins with the player absolutely at the mercy of Arrakis, but the endgame will see them rubbing shoulders with vital characters from the Dune mythos. |Image credit:Funcom
This gives Funcom the freedom to play around quite a bit with the source material. We may, for example, get to rub shoulders with key characters like Paul Atreides and the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen without having to massage events such that they fit with the current canon. From the PCGamer interview, we know that there are notably changes from the source material, including the vital fact that Paul’s father, Duke Leto Atreides, remains alive in thie alternate telling, which is not the case in the original Dune canon. It remains to be seen what other linchpin events have altered the timeline for Dune: Awakening, however.
We do know that there seems to be some separation between the ecology of Dune in the film and the game. In a developer update blog regarding theArt of Arrakis, Tech Art Director Richard Cawte writes that “the Dune in the movie shows no natural vegetation whatsoever, which is not the case for our Dune.”
While predominantely sand-laden, Dune: Awakening will feature an Arrakis with considerable more vegetation than what was seen in Denis Villeneuve’s films. |Image credit:Funcom
Dune Awakening developers: Funcom
Back in 2019, Funcom announced that it had signed a deal with Legendary Studios (who own the movie and TV rights to Dune) to create at least three games set in the Dune universe.
Dune Awakening trailer archive
There have been three trailers to date: theDune: Awakening announcement trailerreleased in August 2022, theDune: Awakening pre-alpha teaser trailerwhich gave us our first glimpses of gameplay duringThe Game Awards 2022, and the most recentDune: Awakening - Survive Arrakis trailer, which offered up detailed glimpses of survival gameplay. Both the original announcement trailer and the Survive Arrakis trailer have been embedded above.
Dune: Awakening Direct – Episode 1Watch on YouTube
Dune: Awakening Direct – Episode 1
Otherwise, Funcom have been marketing Dune: Awakening with a series of micro-trailers called “Shigawire Reels” - 30-40 second videos which combine some stunning concept artwork for the game with tidbits of lore. The first Shigawire Reel is shown below, and you can also view thewhole playliston YouTube.
Dune: Awakening | Shigawire Reels – Part 1Watch on YouTube
Dune: Awakening | Shigawire Reels – Part 1
Here’s a gallery and writeup of all the sections of lore that have been released so far as part of Dune: Awakening’s Shigawire Reel trailers:
1of20CaptionAttribution
1of20CaptionAttribution
1of20
1of20
1of20
CaptionAttribution
CaptionAttribution
Caption
Attribution
That’s everything we know so far about Dune: Awakening, but keep an eye out for updates to this page as we learn more information about Funcom’s ambitious upcoming MMO.
