Publisher and developer Funcom premiered the second showcase for Dune: Awakening, their ambitious and experimental MMO take on Frank Herbert’s novels.
Here’s a rundown on the new details, plus the new gameplay and trailers:
The showcase offers 30 minutes of in-depth interviews and game footage showing character creation, the MMO-like server structure, the narrative ramifications of a world where Paul Atreides was never born, and the spiritual journey the player will undergo in the game, following in the footsteps of the Fremen.
Dune: Awakening, which recently shot past 1 million wishlists on Steam, draws on the visual and aural identity created by Denis Villeneuve and Legendary’s recent blockbuster movies and is deeply rooted in the original masterpiece by Frank Herbert. The game unleashes you on a vast and open Arrakis torn by war, where you must survive and strive for control of the spice alongside hundreds of other players.
Premiered at Summer Game Fest, the Story Cinematic – The Vision of Paul Atreides, revealed the alternate timeline that Jessica Atreides creates by choosing to give birth to a daughter instead of Paul, beginning a cascading chain of events. Paul’s absence leads to a huge power vacuum into which players will venture, creating their own story.
“Expression and customization” is one of the core pillars of Dune: Awakening. To showcase a part of that, the Direct shows off the robust in-game character creation tool. Choose every detail of your appearance, then your home planet, and even your mentor’s specialization, such as Mentat, Swordmaster, or Bene Gesserit, which determines your starting abilities.
Creative Director Joel Bylos also dived into the server structure and the Overland Map, which connects various massive sandbox maps, allowing for a larger number of players in each, both of which set Dune: Awakening apart from many other survival games.
“Making the world feel seamless and connected has always been one of our goals on Dune: Awakening,” said Joel Bylos. “We built this structure with the idea of making the game expandable, which is difficult with a single map. The idea with the overland map is that it allows us to just keep building the world and giving players new spaces to explore. Who knows what it will look like 5 years from now?”
Dune: Awakening has recently entered its persistent closed Beta, giving access to the full breadth of the game, from the Hagga Basin starting area to the Deep Desert endgame. Sign up for a chance to join on the official website, and wishlist the game on Steam.
With Gamescom coming up in August, Funcom now prepares for an epic Dune: Awakening gameplay reveal.
Diving Into the Alternate History
Character Creator
Narrative and Spirituality
What makes Dune: Awakening an MMO?
Dune: Awakening is in development for Windows PC (via Steam), Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5. A release date hasn’t been confirmed.
