Funcom’s reimagined take on Arrakis is going take a while more to open its doors to fans, as Dune: Awakening has been subjected to a slight delay. The upcoming MMO is now releasing on PC on 10 June 2025, three weeks after its initial date of 20 May, with the five-day “head start” period offered in the Deluxe and Ultimate editions set for 5 June.
Describing the title as “a beast of a game,” the Norwegian studio wrote: “This is multiplayer survival on a massive scale, and we’re making gameplay and technical strides not seen in the genre before. We want to make sure we stick the landing.”
“With a bit more time to cook, we can act on a lot more of the feedback we know is important to our beta testers,” it added.
To compensate for the slight delay, a large-scale beta weekend is being planned for May, with more information expected soon. There’s still no word on the game’s console release on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, however.
Inspired by Frank Herbert’s classic sci-fi novels and Legendary Entertainment’s award-winning film adaptations, Dune: Awakening is set in an alternate timeline in which Paul Atreides was never born, plunging Arrakis into a civil war between House Atreides and House Harkonnen. Players take control of an undercover agent working for the Bene Gesserit who must find the missing Fremen, with the gameplay experience rooted in being “able to have an impact on the story (as shared by producer Nils Ryborg in a previous interview).
“Prepare for your epic rise to greatness on Arrakis by taking the Gom Jabbar test and creating your character. Fine-tune every aspect of your looks, then choose your home planet, caste, and mentor, be it Swordmaster, Bene Gesserit, Mentat or Trooper. The final choice determines your starting abilities, but you will gain access to every School eventually, and can even mix and match abilities from any of them,” reads the synopsis for the game.
At launch, Dune: Awakening will be expanded through free content updates and “optional DLCs” instead of adopting a monthly subscription model. Before it bows in on 10 June, fans can first look forward to a combat showcase livestream on 15/16 April.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
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