Gamescom 2024 brought exciting updates for fans of Frank Herbert’s iconic science fiction universe as Funcom unveiled new trailers and hands-on sessions for their highly anticipated MMO, Dune: Awakening.
We had a sit-down session with the game’s executive producer, Scott Junior, to hear firsthand how Dune: Awakening will welcome players at the start:
Play the way you want
Dune: Awakening is set on the sand-covered planet Arrakis. Throughout the game, players will form alliances, interact with NPCs, choose a House to pledge allegiance to—all while experiencing the inhospitable beauty of the desert.
You’ll start by customizing your character, from age and hairstyle to details like the size of your pupils. This gives players the ability to truly live in Dune on their terms.
Then you choose your path through a session with the Reverend Mother and pick a mentor, putting yourself on a track with a starting set of skills.
Like the iconic scene in the movie, you put your hand in the pain box, facing the threat of death as the Reverend Mother tests you.
Crash landing into the desert
You’ll start your Arrakis adventure with a crash landing, immediately making the harshness of the environment apparent.
From the start, the player is alerted to certain death just by staying in the beating sun. You’ll need to find shade and water, otherwise it’s death by heat exhaustion. This is just one of the ways the developers have recreated the Arrakis experience.
The sand is also key to Arrakis, of course. The developers of Dune: Awakening have paid special attention to how characters affect the terrain’s physics and design—vehicles kick up a plume behind them, and characters leave footsteps in the sand. This goes beyond design; players can use the trail left behind by others to track them.
Populating the vastness of Arrakis
At the beginning, players will feel the sparseness of the landscape, just like how you’d imagine an inhospitable, barren desert. At the start, there won’t be that many encounters with others, but this will change mid-game.
As players explore more of Arrakis, they will enter social hubs, which will feel more compact with others there. Going into the late game, players will be in the deep desert map, where they will encounter hundreds of players in the same area.
And as players progress through the game, they’ll unlock more of the map. Different regions will have their unique NPCs and features, so players can experience different sides to Arrakis. What’s more, Dune: Awakening’s Scott Junior says more regions will be added post-launch, giving players more to explore.
Atreides or Harkonnen? It’s up to you
Players can choose to pledge allegiance to the House of their choice. If you are a big fan of Paul Atreides, go with House Atreides and go the noble route.
You can even change your mind halfway and betray your House and align with Harkonnen. This will bring its own challenges and advantages, giving you different ways to experience the game.
You’ll also be able to replicate and build bases across different locations. Construct equipment like the famous ornithopter, which will let you travel across Arrakis by air. And against this backdrop, the feared sandworms of Dune will play a part in deciding winners and losers in the battle for spice.
Dune: Awakening launches in early 2025 on PC, and will also be available on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Sign up for the beta on the official site.
