Dune Awakening Preview – Surviving the Sands of Arrakis

As one of the most anticipated games of 2025, Dune Awakening is shaping up to be a revolutionary entry in the survival multiplayer genre. Funcom recently hosted an exclusive hands-on event in Oslo, Norway, where selected journalists and influencers got the first chance to experience the game. With a unique approach that blends elements of Frank Herbert’s Dune series with survival mechanics, this game is positioning itself as a standout experience in the MMO landscape.

A Unique Take on Arrakis

Creative Director Joel Bylos detailed Funcom’s vision for Dune Awakening, explaining how the game is influenced primarily by Dune, Dune Messiah, and Children of Dune. However, working with an active Hollywood film franchise meant that Funcom had to follow specific restrictions, such as not being allowed to show Fremen or reveal any spoilers related to Dune: Part 3. According to Bylos, these constraints led to creative opportunities: “Constraints lead to freedom and [thinking] around corners.”

Unlike traditional MMORPGs, Dune Awakening is marketed as a multiplayer survival game, dropping the “massive” tag to avoid the grind-heavy expectations of the genre. Instead, Funcom is focusing on an open-world experience where survival, political intrigue, and faction warfare take center stage.

The Five Pillars of Dune Awakening

Funcom has designed Dune Awakening around five core gameplay pillars that define the experience:

• Survival: Players must constantly manage water, shelter, and protection from sandworms.
• Political Survival: Align with one of 25 great houses and influence global decrees that can reshape the world (e.g., enabling full-loot PvP).
• Infinite Exploration: A dynamic world map that shifts weekly due to coriolis storms, uncovering hidden structures and dungeons.
• Combined Arms Combat: A mix of melee and ranged combat, emphasizing tactical decision-making.
• Customization and Expression: Players have full control over base-building, character progression, and crafting.

Hands-On Gameplay: The First Steps on Arrakis

Our hands-on session focused on the early survival phase, where players start in a damp cave and must carve their way out. From the outset, Dune Awakening immerses players in its harsh desert environment, forcing them to scavenge for resources while learning crafting and survival mechanics.

The early game is heavily tutorial-driven, ensuring that players understand the fundamentals before venturing into the open desert. The objectives include learning to:

• Gather essential materials (stone, metal, and water).
• Construct a base from scratch.
• Craft essential survival tools and weapons.
• Build the first vehicle to navigate the harsh terrain.

One standout feature is the base duplication tool, allowing players to copy an existing structure and relocate it. However, this tool only saves the layout, meaning players must still gather materials to reconstruct their bases. This system encourages strategic resource management but could be refined to be more user-friendly.

Combat: A Work in Progress

Combat in Dune Awakening blends ranged and melee mechanics, but in its current form, it still needs refinement.

• Shields play a major role, with enemy NPCs almost always having them. Players must find ways to overload shields using projectile attacks or execute heavy melee attacks to bypass them.
• Dynamic abilities, like flying knee attacks, add flair to combat, but some interactions feel clunky.
• Players start without shields, making early fights against armed enemies frustrating.

While Funcom has ambitious plans for combat balance, the current build still requires polish to ensure that both ranged and melee playstyles feel equally rewarding.

Base Building & Exploration

Building a base in Dune Awakening offers a lot of freedom, but there are still some limitations in the current version:

✅ Freely construct structures from scratch.
✅ Unlock new crafting stations over time.
✅ Create respawn points to minimize setbacks.
❌ No object snapping, making precise placement tricky.
❌ Limited rotation controls, requiring players to reposition manually.

Beyond base-building, exploration plays a massive role. The ever-changing map introduces new dungeons, structures, and points of interest after each coriolis storm, making long-term engagement more appealing.

A Promising Future for Dune Awakening

Funcom is crafting a worthy adaptation of Dune, staying true to Frank Herbert’s vision while introducing innovative gameplay mechanics. While the game still needs combat improvements and quality-of-life refinements, its survival systems, political intrigue, and exploration mechanics make it one of the most anticipated releases of 2025.

Expected Release: Later in 2025 on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.