Here’s everything we know about Dune: Awakening so far

The sands of Arrakis will be yours to explore next year when Dune: Awakening releases next year. The game is an MMORPG that will be set in the world of Dune and centered around surviving on the harsh desert planet of Arrakis. While there still is quite a ways to go until the game releases, we do know a little bit about the upcoming MMO and we even recently got a gameplay reveal at Gamescom .

For fans of Dune and fans of MMO and survival games alike, it seems as though there’s a lot to look forward to about Dune: Awakening. And for absolute Dune superfans, it does appear that the game’s story will delve into brand-new material that should be new for fans and newcomers alike.

What we know about Dune: Awakening’s gameplay

Survival and crafting, with an Arrakis twist

Gameplay for Dune: Awakening was recently unveiled at Gamescom, and there were many notable pieces of the game revealed. First and foremost among them was creating your own character. It wouldn’t quite be an MMO without a character creator.

Past character creation, the gameplay demo made a point to show off the harsh conditions of Arrakis. The glimpses of gameplay saw the player brush against a sandworm, and HUD elements showing a hydration meter, sun stroke, and a note of the player being unsheltered.

Past the harsh conditions of the world of Dune: Awakening, we got to see an encounter between two players, with one player mounted on a four-wheeler-type vehicle. The two players exchanged, with one getting a weapon and a Stillsuit, and the other getting help taking down some deserters.

The gameplay showcase of taking down a base will look familiar to anyone that has played a Ubisoft game in the past decade, and mainly seemed to be a large group of enemies in a carefully laid out base. The showcase gave a brief glimpse at shooter combat within the game, but notably didn’t give a good look at hand-to-hand combat within the world of Dune: Awakening. For fans of the Dune movies and books, this lack of hand-to-hand combat will stick out, as much of the fighting in Dune is done up close and personal. The brief snippet of combat gameplay also gave a look at players utilizing the hunter-seeker assassin machine for ranged stealth takedowns. Near the end of the demo, it was also shown that players will be able to use thumpers to summon sandworms.

After taking down a base, it was shown that you will be able to harvest resources from bases. This presumably includes moisture from fallen enemies, as is frequently seen in the Dune books and movies. With harvested resources, it was shown that players will be able to team up and build bases to craft supplies and refine resources on top of having a reliable shelter. As for the base building itself, blueprints can be made within a larger blueprint system for quickly rebuilding a base in a different location. And, it seems blueprints can be sold between players.

Bases aren’t the only thing that can be built, as it was also shown that players will be able to craft and fly ornithopters. Inside the ornithopter, it was shown that players can tune in to an in-game radio to keep up with ongoing events. Players will also be able to map out Arrakis from within an ornithopter, as well as discovering crashed ships and other encounters.

Finally, a glimpse at Harko Village was shown. The village will presumably serve as a hub location. Whether it will be the only one, or if we’ll also get to see Arrakis’ capital, Arrakeen, is unknown. Harko Village will be populated with guild bankers, spice traders, smugglers, house envoys, and other players. It was also noted that players will be able to pledge allegiance to House Harkonnen, the brutal rulers of Arrakis prior to the events of the first movie.

When does Dune: Awakening take place?

An alternate past

Dune: Awakening looks to take place around the events of Dune: Part One, and is set to follow an alternate history from the one that takes place in the books and movies. In a story trailer for the game, we got to see Paul Atreides framing the game as taking place in a timeline where he never existed.

Further elaboration in the story trailer showed the game taking place in a world where Paul’s father, Duke Leto Atreides, never dies. Instead, the betrayal that led to his death never took place. In this timeline, Arrakis is seemingly engulfed in a power struggle between the Atreides and the Harkonnens. The story trailer capped off with Paul narrating that every timeline he’s seen ends in horror, “except for this one.”

As for the actual storyline that the player will go through, not a whole lot is known just yet. What is known is that the player is a prisoner who will wake up after crashing on Arrakis with the only goal being to survive the harsh desert planet. How the player will get engulfed into the power struggle on Arrakis isn’t quite clear, but the player will presumably be able to choose a side between the Atreides, the Harkonnens, or the Fremen.

Dune: Awakening release date and platforms

Sometime in 2025, across all consoles

Funcom

Currently, there is no concrete release date known for Dune: Awakening. All we know for now is that the game is set to come out in 2025, and it will come out on PC, Xbox , and PlayStation 5. There is an ongoing, closed beta for the game that can be signed up for on the Dune: Awakening website.

Closed betas have been ongoing for nearly a year now, and it is expected that PC players will gain early access in early 2025. For now, players will have to wait for more info on when Dune: Awakening will officially be released.