What is the Dune Awakening release date? They who control the Spice, control the universe. Anyone who has even briefly rubbed shoulders with the blockbuster book-and-now-profitable-movie series Dune will know that spice, and the desert planet of Arrakis, are central to many stories in that universe. And now, with Dune Awakening, it’ll be central to yours, too.
Dune Awakening is an open-world, crafting, survival MMO. That is a lot of descriptors, but Dune Awakening plans on merging them all, creating an experience for players to rival that of any established character in the sandy franchise. You’ll fight, harvest, craft, survive, and thrive on Arrakis. When is the Dune Awakening release date?
Dune Awakening release date estimate
We anticipate Dune Awakening will be released in early access by late 2024. With the beta’s recent move to a persistent schedule, it’s clear that Funcom is growing increasingly confident in the game’s stability. Dune Awakening will be available on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.
Though Funcom has yet to confirm a full release date for the game, the beta signup for Dune Awakening is still available on its website. The beta recently went into a ‘persistent’ state, meaning that it is online 24/7. The devs suggest you join the Dune Awakening Discord here and create a beta profile to stand the best chance at playing the game early.
Anyone who does gain access to the closed beta tests will have to sign an NDA but will be in a prime position to give Funcom vital feedback to improve the game, and potentially make their mark on Arrakis before anyone else.
Considering Conan Exiles – Funcom’s last survival game – launched in an early access state, there’s a strong chance Dune Awakening will follow suit. This will give the devs space to make adjustments at scale, and players the peace of mind that they’re not playing a finished product. Conan Exiles spent just over a year in early access, though judging from what we’ve seen of Dune Awakening so far, it’s difficult to imagine it’ll take nearly as long should early access materialize.
Dune Awakening trailer
Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. Those words ring true and must be abided by if you hope to stand any hope of survival. The announcement trailer gives us a taste of the dangers that lurk on Arrakis, the lengths you must go to survive, and how we can use the environment to our advantage in Dune Awakening.
Dune Awakening story
The Dune MMO, according to Joel Bylos, wanted to take the story in a different direction – he wants to put players on Arrakis and give them a sense of agency without the ever-looming shadow of Paul hovering over them. Because of this, Dune Awakening will take place in a sort of alternative future, one where Jessica had a daughter, instead of a son, and one where House Atredis was able to prepare for the Emperor’s betrayal and survive the Battle of Arrakeen.
This opens up the future to many possibilities and is indeed where the player comes into the fold. The Fremen, according to the propaganda, have been eradicated, but Bylos hints that this might not be totally true. They are missing, yes, but destroyed? Who knows.
Dune Awakening character creation
During the second Dune Direct showcase, we were given a sneak peek at the Dune Awakening character creation. It covers familiar territory in terms of your physical appearance; with hair, beards, height, and even the thickness of your arms all being customizable. Where it stands apart, however, is choosing your backstory.
It looks as though once your physical appearance is set, you’ll be interrogated by a Reverand Mother – they want to know you, where you’ve been, and who you associate with. Essentially, what brought you here. Not only does this background information allegedly award you unique dialogue options in-game, but it also grants you access to specific emotes, traits, and abilities.
It’s then that you are commanded to kneel, and to put your hand inside the box. The Reverand Mother gives you your mission: go to Arrakis, find the Fremen, and awake the sleeping.
What is Dune Awakening?
Dune Awakening is Funcom’s attempt at recreating the desert, spice-laden planet of Arrakis, from the book series and movie universe Dune. Creating a character, you must survive the inhospitable land by any means necessary, before deciding what heights you’ll aim for next.
The action takes place in third-person and takes cues from many other survival crafting games, only this time it’s with thousands of other players who can help, or hinder, your progress. You can strike out on your own, or attempt to establish a guild, growing it into a House Minor and forming an alliance with one of the bigger organizations.
Collect spice, avoid the sandworms as best you can, and rage against the machine… or be a part of it. Whatever works.
That’s everything we know about Dune Awakening release date right now, but rest assured we’ll update this as soon as more information comes to light. If you’re after something to play while you wait, there has been a glut of survival games released recently, and of course, we have our list of the best PC games that you can play right now.