Developer Funcom released an in-depth look at Dune: Awakening game as part of Gamescom Opening Night Live on Tuesday. It’s a survival MMO game set in the desert world of Arrakis and its larger sci-fi universe. So far, it’s looking like a sleek, but gritty take on Dune that’s all about working your way up the ladder of the world and fighting off other players for spice and other resources.
According to the trailer, Dune: Awakening is coming to Windows PC in early 2025 and will get release dates for PlayStation and Xbox consoles later down the line.
As shown in the presentation, you start as a nameless poisoner who must survive the scorching dessert heat and monstrous sand worms. The stream showed a scenario where a player made a deal to help another person take out a rival encampment in exchange for some vital resources in the early game. Once you establish a rapport with people, you can form a group and build a base of your own design and craft tech that allows you to drink the blood of your enemies — yummy! After that, your group can even form a guild and you can pledge your allegiance to one of the three houses of Dune.
Just like with anything Dune, spice is the name of the game. It’s a precious commodity and the key to power in the larger world of the game. Because of this, you’ll be constantly at war with hundreds of other players as everyone fights over spice. As far as warfare goes, it looks like anything from flamethrowers to mischievously summoning sand sand worms is fair game.
Other features of gameplay include exploration of the planet via ornithopters and building bases, but unfortunately, none of the gameplay showed any scenarios where you could overthrow Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides.
