Funcom, the developer behind Dune: Awakening, is restructuring its teams, leading to layoffs and the shutdown of The Outsiders studio, despite the game's initial success and potential for long-term growth.
Despite initial reluctance due to survival game mechanics, the author became obsessed with Dune: Awakening, appreciating its streamlined survival elements, base-building, exploration, and unique desert challenges like sandworm encounters, making it an accessible and enjoyable entry into the genre.
The creative director of Dune: Awakening confirmed the game's PvP endgame will focus on meaningful vehicle customization and combat decisions, with ongoing efforts to improve connection stability and balance. Major updates are planned every three to four months, including new PvE content and contracts, while maintaining the game's core desert combat experience.
Funcom is planning to improve PvP and address toxicity issues in Dune: Awakening's Deep Desert, including tweaks to Ornithopters and adding new locations for factional warfare, while also working on quality of life updates and future content like boss encounters and additional maps.
Funcom plans a major quality of life update for Dune Awakening in early July, along with new contracts and ongoing content updates. They are also working on improving deep desert PvP by making loadouts more meaningful and fixing technical issues, while expanding PvE content and refining the Landsraad system to better reward players and accommodate solo and small group play.
The article discusses the chaotic and unbalanced early meta of Dune: Awakening, focusing on the dominance of orniphopters in the Deep Desert PvP area. While frustrating for players, the author argues that this chaos encourages faction cooperation and aligns with the game's narrative of conflict, ultimately viewing it as a positive aspect for the game's long-term development.
Funcom is working on fixing a bug in Dune: Awakening where players are repeatedly killed by Ornithopters (helicopters) in PvP, which currently cannot be damaged or stopped, causing frustration among players. Despite this issue, the game has launched successfully with a positive reception and high player engagement.
This guide provides new players with the best starting build for Dune: Awakening, emphasizing the Trooper skill tree supported by Planetologist and Bene Gesserit skills, along with essential gear and tips for survival and resource management in the early game.
Dune Awakening, an MMO-survival game by Funcom, has achieved remarkable early success with nearly 100,000 concurrent players before its official release, aided by strategic pricing and early access options, despite competition from the upcoming Switch 2.
This article provides a comprehensive guide to all NPC trainer locations in Dune Awakening for classes like Bene Gesserit, Swordmaster, Trooper, Mentat, and Planetologist, helping players unlock abilities efficiently by visiting specific trainers across the game world.
To unlock the Bene Gesserit class in Dune Awakening, players must find Sister Mesa at Helius Gate to start the initial quests, and then meet Jocasta Cleo in Harko Village for advanced training, gradually building up their skills through a series of quests.
June 2025 sees the launch of Nintendo Switch 2 with over 20 games including Mario Kart World, Zelda editions, and Cyberpunk 2077, alongside major releases like Dune: Awakening and Stellar Blade, promising a busy month for gamers with new hardware and exciting titles.
During a Q&A session at the Game Developers Conference 2024, Dune Awakening Creative Director Joel Bylos clarified that the deep desert PvP map in the upcoming survival MMO is nine times the size of the Conan Exiles map. He explained that players can play as male characters with Bene Gesserit training, and detailed the game's server structure, map traversal, and focus on PvP and PvE content. Bylos also discussed future plans for adding sandworm riding, environmental changes, and potential expansion to other planets, while emphasizing that players can avoid PvP content if they choose. The game's full launch date remains uncertain as the team aims for a polished experience.
Funcom's executive producer for Dune: Awakening hinted at the possibility of the game eventually venturing beyond Arrakis to other planets in the Dune universe, such as Giedi Prime. The game aims to diversify its aesthetic by incorporating underground areas with vegetation and exploring different environments to break away from the predominant brown and sandy landscapes of Dune. While the initial launch will focus on Arrakis, the potential for future expansion to other planets exists, offering players the chance to explore new and visually striking locations.
Funcom's open world survival MMO, Dune Awakening, will be released when it's polished and ready, as the company aims to reduce its reputation for "jank." The game, set in the Dune universe, features a tutorial area, free climbing system, extensive building mechanics, combat, and a focus on water as a critical resource. Players will need to gather spice, navigate sandworm threats, and participate in world events. The MMO-like portion includes connected servers with social spaces, character progression, and a focus on the game's backbone, spice. The game is in development for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series S|X, with beta signups available on the official website.