# Dune: Awakening

Dune: Awakening is an upcoming massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed and published by Funcom. The game is set to be released for Windows PC in May 2025. Versions for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and Series S are also planned.

## Story

Set in an alternate timeline in which Paul Atreides was never born, Arrakis is caught in a civil war between House Atreides and House Harkonnens, while the Fremen have mysteriously vanished. The player character assumes control of an undercover agent working for the Bene Gesserit who must find the Fremen and "awake the Sleeper".

## Gameplay

Dune: Awakening is a survival game. At the beginning of the game, the player will create their own playable avatar, customizing their appearance and selecting their background. They can also choose a mentor, who will determine the player's starting ability. For instance, a Bene Gesserit mentor will teach the player character to use "the Voice" to taunt their opponents. Players must manage their character's thirst level and maintain their stillsuits. Arakis is filled with environmental dangers, such as frequent sandstorms and quicksand. The player character may suffer from a heat stroke if they explore during day time, and encounter hostile Sardaukar patrols at night. Players need to scavenge for resources, which can then be used to craft new items and build a shelter, though players will also have to pay tax to the Emperor should they decide to construct an outpost. Players must compete against each other to harvest and transport spice, a psychedelic drug that is seen as the most essential and valuable commodity in the Dune universe. Sandworms are a constant threat, and players must avoid making loud sounds while moving to avoid drawing their attention. While players can use technology such as thumpers to attract a sandworm and use it to their advantage, they cannot be summoned at will. While players normally will not lose any of their progress when they are defeated, every item and vehicle devoured by a sandworm will be lost forever. As players progress, they will unlock new skills, weapons, and gadgets used for combat and transversal. They will also become addicted to spice, unlocking spice-related powers.
Dune: Awakening is also a massively multiplayer online role-playing game. Funcom added that the game is divided into four phases: Survive, Protect, Expand and Control, and sees the player character advancing from an everyman to the leader of a guild. After completing the starting area, players can access the Overland, where they can pilot an ornithopter from a top-down perspective to reach other locations in a game. Players can also join either House Atreides and House Harkonnens, and access faction-specific quests and talk to other non-playable characters. Players can also access the Deep Deserts, a primarily player-versus-player environment that can accmmodates "hundreds" of players. This location is ravaged by weekly Coriolis storm, meaning that new locations of interest and modifications to the map will show up every week following the game's launch. Players may also explore underground ecology labs, the game's dungeons, alone or with other players. Eventually, players will reach the endgame, in which guilds can use their influence at the Landsraat to make choices that can affect the state of the game's world.

## Development

Dune: Awakening is currently being developed by Funcom, the developer behind Conan Exiles. German-based studio NUKKLEAR served as the game's co-developer and assisted the studio in creating Awakening's vehicular gameplay. In February 2019, Funcom announced that it had signed a partnership with Legendary Entertainment to create three games based on the Dune franchise in six years, with one of which being an open-world multiplayer game. Dune: Awakening was officially announced in August 2022, and is set to be released for Windows PC in May 2025. Funcom also planned to release the game for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and Series S.