Funcom asked us to "let them cook," and going on last night's Dune: Awakening showcase, the developers did. With just a few days to go before early access players get their "head start," Funcom put on a livestream showing off Dune: Awakening's mid-to-endgame, and a wide tour of the Hagga Basin "to emphasize the size and variety players can expect," including the "lush O’odham, the forbidding Hagga Rift, the tall spires and imposing rock formations of Jabal Eifrit, to name just a few."
Inspired by Denis Villeneuve and Legendary Entertainment’s blockbuster films, Dune: Awakening lets players explore Arrakis in an open-world game for the first time ever. Up until now, even beta players have only seen around 25% of Hagga Basin, so the stream showcased "these huge and diverse landscapes" in all their glory.
"Before even considering the vast dunes and dangers of the Deep Desert, players will experience a full-scale survival game," Funcom teased.
"They will rise through the ranks of the Atreides or Harkonnen; build powerful strongholds; brave Imperial Testing Stations; craft advanced schematics; explore and harvest in a variety of vehicles, and much, much more." Furthermore, the "Landsraad feature allows anyone to contribute in the effort to impact their entire faction, whether they prefer PvE or PvP."
Dune: Awakening is an open-world survival MMO set on the most dangerous planet in the universe. You'll learn to survive the desert by learning the ways of the Fremen, and expand your potential through combat, spice, building, and trade. It's set to release on June 10, 2025, on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X and S after a three-week delay to fix issues identified during its beta testing. Players with an "early start," however, get to play five days early from June 5.
"As a longtime fan of Dune, it also just feels so good to explore and learn more about a world that I’m quite fond of, and Funcom has clearly put a ton of effort into worldbuilding and lore, even despite taking quite a bit of creative liberty by placing Awakening within a parallel reality and canon than the books/movies," we wrote in IGN's Dune: Awakening closed beta impressions preview.
"There are little details that have a massive impact on gameplay. I won’t go into spoilers, but this kind of attention to detail touches just about every aspect of the world, including the factions and characters you meet along the way, which should be a treat for any fan of the setting."
For more, check out details on the MMO's business model and post-launch plans.
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
