Dune: Awakening – Everything about the release on PS5, Xbox and PC (2025)

The game developer Funcom is currently working on Dune: Awakening. The survival MMO is based on the Dune universe, known from the now four films and the book series. Here we have all the information for you that is currently known.

Update from June 5, 2025, 4:20 PM CET: The preload and early access have started. We have checked our overview page for current information and added details to it.

What kind of game is Dune: Awakening?

Dune: Awakening is set to be a survival MMO. The focus here is strongly on sandbox gameplay, allowing you an absolutely free gaming experience. In addition, the endgame will have a certain PvP focus.

PvE mainly occurs during the leveling experience, through social interactions, political power struggles, and influence over NPCs in cities. According to the developers, you can have hundreds of hours of fun with Dune: Awakening without having to engage in PvP even once. Overall, the game aims to combine MMO and survival elements.

MeinMMO editor Benedict Grothaus was able to take a look at the game, here are his impressions:

Dune: Awakening – Everything about the release, price, editions, benchmark, platforms, character creator

When is the release of Dune: Awakening?

Dune: Awakening is set to be released on June 10, 2025, via Steam for PC. A release for consoles like Xbox and PlayStation has been announced, but the exact date has not been disclosed yet.

Buyers of the Deluxe or Ultimate Edition will be able to play five days earlier, starting June 5, 2025.

Everything we know about the release date can be read here:

How much does Dune: Awakening cost, what editions are there?

The following three editions are set to be available at release:

Dune: Awakening – Standard Edition

• Price: 49.99 Euro
• One copy of the base game
• Pre-order bonus only: Muad’Dib terrarium and global sunset texture.

Dune: Awakening – Deluxe Edition

• Price: 69.99 Euro
• Goodies from the standard edition
• Season Pass: Includes 4 DLCs. The first DLC features placeable objects inspired by the wilderness on Arrakis, including Shai-Hulud itself. The next 3 DLCs will be released at a later time.
• Sardaukar Bator armor: The menacing armor of the Sardaukar, a military elite unit that hunts players in the game.
• Pre-order bonus only: 5 days early access.

Dune: Awakening – Ultimate Edition

• Price: 89.99 Euro
• Goodies from the standard and deluxe editions
• Dust rider sandbike texture: A unique color pattern for your sandbike.
• Blue Dasher ornithopter texture: A unique color pattern for your ornithopter.
• Caladan Palace building set: Building parts and placeable objects from the 2021 movie.
• Film distillation suit (2021): The distillation suit worn by Paul Atreides in the movie.
• Digital artbook: A 50-page artbook featuring artwork from the game’s development.
• Digital soundtrack: 90 minutes of music from the game.

Does Dune: Awakening have a benchmark?

Yes, there is a benchmark for Dune: Awakening. It has been available for download since February 20, 2025, via Steam.

Can you test the character creator of Dune: Awakening in advance?

The character creator of Dune: Awakening can currently be downloaded and tested. This can be done via Steam together with the benchmark.

Is Dune: Awakening a multiplayer game and will there be crossplay?

As a survival MMO, Dune: Awakening is a multiplayer game. Depending on your playstyle, you can also venture alone.

Whether there will be crossplay is currently still uncertain. Crossplay is only important as a feature if the game is released on different platforms.

Is an Early Access planned?

Yes, if you have pre-ordered the Deluxe or Ultimate Edition, you can start playing Dune: Awakening on June 5, 2025.

Is there a preload?

Yes, the preload started on June 4, 2025, at 16:00 and has a size of about 34.1 GB. You can find all the information about the preload here: Dune: Awakening – Preload, Early Access and server start, when can you play?

For which platforms will Dune: Awakening be available?

Currently, you can set Dune: Awakening for PC via Steam on your wishlist and pre-order. A release of the game for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S is planned. The date for the latter has not been announced yet.

What USK age rating does Dune: Awakening have?

Dune: Awakening has not yet been rated by the USK. Therefore, an age rating has not yet been assigned. Due to some brutal content, it is likely to receive a USK 16 or even USK 18 rating.

Dune: Awakening – Business model, system requirements and plans after release

In what form will Dune: Awakening be released?

Dune: Awakening is scheduled to be released on June 10, 2025, with a buy-to-play model. There will not be a preceding early access phase; instead, you buy the finished full version. The survival MMO comes without a subscription and aims to provide new updates and content for free.

In addition, there will be optional DLCs that fans of the game can purchase. It is also clear that Funcom wants to support the game for many years to come and provide it with new content.

What are the system requirements for Dune: Awakening?

Minimum:

• OS: Windows 10 64-bit (or newer)
• Processor: Intel Core i5-7400, AMD Ryzen 3 1200
• Memory: 16 GB RAM
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (6 GB), AMD Radeon 5600XT (6 GB)
• Storage: 60 GB of hard drive space

Recommended:

• OS: Windows 10 64-bit (or newer)
• Processor: Intel Core i7-10700K, AMD Ryzen 5 2600X
• Memory: 16 GB RAM
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 (8 GB), AMD Radeon 6700XT (12 GB)
• Storage: 75 GB of hard drive space

What PC features and settings does Dune: Awakening support?

The PC version of Dune: Awakening is set to support the following features:

• NVIDIA’s DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation: Dune: Awakening is one of the first games to support this technology that enhances the game’s visuals.
• AMD’s FSR: The latest upscaling and frame generation technology from AMD will also be available from the start.
• Intel’s XeSS 2: Experience faster and smoother gameplay with higher image quality and an even better gaming experience with Intel® Xe Low Latency (XeLL).
• Razer Chroma RGB and Razer Sensa HD Haptics: Provides synchronized lighting and intelligent haptic feedback.

Additionally:

Settings

• Configurable keyboard and mouse commands
• Better support for users of AZERTY/QWERTZ and ESDF
• Toggleable subtitles
• Subtle backgrounds
• Optional chat displays or speech bubbles in social areas
• Optional loadout hotbar, mini-radial menu or radial menu
• Toggleable controller vibration
• Toggleable screen shaking
• Toggleable motion blur
• Field of view adjustment
• Frame rate limiting
• Ultrawide HUD option (21:9 and 32:9)
• Various audio channel sliders
• Various sensitivity sliders

General gameplay

• Controller support
• Dialogue system with waypoints
• SFX for key actions/events
• Tutorials with highlighted text
• Tutorial archive for locked or missed tutorials
• Emotes system
• Help pop-ups in various menus explaining specific features or game mechanics

Dune: Awakening – Everything about the setting and survival aspect

How close is Dune: Awakening to the source material?

The developers claim they want to stay as true to the lore of the books as possible and take the look from the films. They are in constant exchange with the Frank Herbert estate, which oversees everything related to Dune and provides the developers with plenty of feedback.

The developer philosophy is: Don’t adapt Dune to your ideas; adapt your ideas to Dune. This means that all features that come into the game should be meaningfully anchored in the world.

In cooperation with the Herbert estate, however, the world of Dune has been slightly altered: Paul Atreides, the hero of the Dune books and films, is never born in the game universe. His mother Jessica follows the orders of the Bene Gesserit and instead gives birth to the girl Arestei.

Arestei receives the same education as Paul. However, she is considerably closer to the Bene Gesserit and has also been trained by them. Ultimately, she foresees the planned attack on her house. Consequently, the Atreides are prepared, and the house survives the coup.

Duke Leto Atreides, Paul’s (not) father, then asks to be allowed to continue the ongoing war of assassins that Paul ends in the books on Arrakis. He receives this permission—setting the stage for Dune: Awakening: Harkonnen and Atreides in the fight for Arrakis and supremacy.

What kind of world does Dune: Awakening take place in?

Dune: Awakening takes place on the planet Arrakis, the main setting of the story of both Dune films by Denis Villeneuve as well as the corresponding book template. The desert planet is absolutely inhospitable—what life thrives there is highly specialized.

However, even though there are far more hospitable planets, people are firmly facing the deadly challenge: On Arrakis, there is the substance Spice, which in German means spice or melange. This consciousness-expanding drug is essential for ensuring the survival of humanity in the Dune universe.

Accordingly, people take on the most severe challenges to obtain Spice. Arrakis’ burning sun makes survival without a protective suit impossible, massive sandstorms sweep the landscape for hectares, and monstrous worms threaten the Spice harvest.

Additionally, every faction mining Spice on Arrakis battles with the locals. The so-called Fremen mostly keep to themselves. Survival on Arrakis is in their blood, and they view their occupiers with at least mistrust, if not outright hostility.

The deeper you venture into the desert, the better the loot. However, the survival aspect also becomes increasingly difficult. Furthermore, the entire desert zone is PvP—according to the developers, Arrakis should keep you on your toes with its many challenges.

Where do you stand in Arrakis’ food chain? At least at the very bottom to start. Your first task is simply to survive. For this, you need to manage resources and withstand the deadly environment, as known from other survival games.

However, unlike in other survival games, you won’t have to painstakingly craft an axe from stones and sticks. Crafting materials are primarily stone, and you extract everything using a laser tool. The survival aspect comes from other sources.

On Arrakis, this means primarily fighting for water, shade, equipment, and also Spice. The latter is not essential for your survival—it gains significance in the mid and endgame and grants you new abilities.

To obtain water, you have various options. However, the most important is likely the blood of slain foes, which you can clean in special machines to extract water. Many players have already killed sweet desert mice for their blood, much to the dismay of the devs.

What does the character editor in Dune: Awakening look like?

You can choose from various peoples known from Dune lore in either male or female form. There are also options to choose backgrounds relevant to dialogues and a starting class. However, you will learn all classes as you progress through the game.

You can read more about it here:

Dune: Awakening – Gameplay and endgame

What does the gameplay loop of Dune: Awakening look like?

Your first task is to gather water, shade, and equipment. Next, you need to simplify your survival.

In addition to crafting materials, you also need blueprints, which you can loot or buy. These serve as guides with which you unlock item recipes and craft them. These can be components for your bases, armor, weapons, or transports—think of the dragonfly-like ornithopters from the films.

Your entire experience is tied to a questline that explains the game and its world, introduces characters, and serves as a tutorial for various mechanics. If you know “the journey” from Conan Exiles, you know what to expect.

The large cities on Arrakis are protected areas where you can build your permanent bases. However, you can also set up outside in the desert. The deeper you venture into the desert, the better the loot becomes, and the more important a steady supply of basic resources is.

In the Deep Desert (orig. Deep Desert), you will mainly find Spice, the resource around which everything revolves in the endgame. This separate part of the game world is open PvP territory, and anyone who dares to venture there plays against everyone else.

The desert worms, or Shai Hulud, are always a certain danger. The deeper you penetrate into the desert, the larger they become—and yes, you can ride them.

To ensure that you don’t keep walking through the same desert, there are the Coriolis storms. These natural forces are supposed to sweep regularly across the entire desert, completely changing the layout.

After each storm, there are different things to discover: You can loot shipwrecks that will disappear under the dunes by the next storm. Spice fields, ruins, and other locations that you must reach are redistributed in the world after each storm, bringing fresh loot.

Once you cover your basic needs, you will venture repeatedly into the inhospitable desert to indulge in its many gifts.

A special mechanic comes into play: You can create blueprints of your bases. So, if a base is destroyed during a storm, you can quickly rebuild it in another location using pre-crafted blueprints.

Creative Director Joel Bylos mentioned in a Q&A about the game that this feature is not only intended as a gameplay mechanic: The dev team has seen that players create amazing builds. For example, someone recreated the Taj Mahal in Conan Exiles. In Dune: Awakening, you can now save your bases as blueprints and sell them to other players.

What should the endgame of Dune: Awakening look like?

Those who venture into the endgame should not be limited to a single linear path. In Dune: Awakening, once your basic survival needs are covered, you have a variety of options. However, they all still send you into the desert.

If you wish, you can dedicate yourself to spice harvesting. Spice is the most sought-after raw material in the galaxy, and there are always enough buyers. Unfortunately, there are not enough deposits: You will always be competing with other players for the few deposits. Spice is available in small amounts everywhere and in large amounts in the deep desert.

If you don’t want to become a spice baron, you can create and sell desert maps or specialize in crafting. The deeper you venture into the desert, the better the loot becomes. The chances of finding new, not yet widely distributed crafting recipes increase continuously.

This is important because in Dune: Awakening, items can only exist or be crafted a limited number of times simultaneously. So if you have the blueprint for a rare item, you can craft it and sell it expensively to your fellow players.

Once you are significantly advanced, you should even be able to engage in high politics around Arrakis, specifically through the so-called Landsraad. The main characters in these intrigues are primarily the houses (at release: Atreides and Harkonnen) and guilds. Like in an MMO, you can create guilds, but only with a limited number of players. More about this:

Character development and cooperation – PvP or cooperation?

How do you develop your character in Dune: Awakening?

You start the game with an initial class and the associated ability that you learned in your life before the adventures on Arrakis. You learn new abilities through skill points and from masters that are spread throughout the world. Some of them can be found quickly. Others are hidden. This gives you the opportunity to gain advantages by exploring the world.

Your character levels up as well. However, weapons and armor are not tied to your level. You can simply rob other players or have them equip you. In fact, the dev team, according to Bylos, hopes for this: Experienced players could help newcomers but would also have cannon fodder in the fights for the spice fields.

You will recognize your progress by the complexity of your base and the items you can craft. Furthermore, the original survival aspect of the game continues to fade into the background.

Playing together or against each other?

Dune: Awakening gives you the freedom to choose whether to play with or against other players: You can supply each other with equipment and even build bases together. If you set up a blueprint, your fellow players can provide the resources and complete the construction.

You can also create guilds that pursue common goals and can secure political power at an appropriate size. However, since not every guild has the same goals, conflicts are inevitable. An example:

Guild A wants to bring back 10,000 units of spice. Guild B needs the spice for their faction. But after the last storm, there may be only a few extraction fields, which will then be fought over.

Almost the entire desert is a PvP area. In addition to the ever-looming sandworms and storms, you also need to be on guard against other players.

Conclusion: Dune: Awakening sounds great – now it just needs to be great

Indeed, the survival MMO sounds very interesting. Especially the idea that the well-known survival loop could eventually be replaced by political and economic intrigues is exciting.

However, with the current state of information, I can’t quite envision how this can all come together. It sounds like big ambitions that need to be realized first.

It seems that the dev team is aware of this. While they are now showing first gameplay and the first closed betas are underway, they are still not at a point where they want to set a release date. They want to take the time to program a good game.

The development team is very passionate about the game and the Dune universe, according to colleagues on site. Joel Bylos’ eyes literally light up when he talks about situations in the closed beta: Recently, participants had a race with one of the giant sandworms.

After the two films, I personally am also eager to explore the world of Dune myself. Dune: Awakening seems to offer that. Having played so many survival games lately, I must admit that the endgame options towards politics and trade are very intriguing to me if everything goes as the devs plan.

Dune: Awakening could turn out to be really good. The team has the ambitions and background to release a very good survival MMO. We keep our fingers crossed that everything goes as they hope. At least our first look at the game is promising: I have played thousands of hours of survival games, but Dune: Awakening is different from all of them.