Strap on those stillsuits, grab a thumper, and get familiar with the slow blade—Dune: Awakening is almost here. Funcom's survival MMO based on the Dune universe was first announced back in 2022, but it's finally releasing in May of 2025, and we're pretty excited to see the spice begin to flow on Arrakis
What can we expect from Dune: Awakening? Funcom has been developing another sandy survival sandbox since 2017, Conan Exiles, and while it isn't an MMO, it's still got a lot in common with Dune: Awakening, like an unforgiving environment, base-building, crafting and resource gathering, and a mix of PvE and PVP combat. Dune: Awakening will be much bigger, however, with a world capable of supporting hundreds of players at once.
Below you'll find everything we know about Dune: Awakening, from its release date to its features and what we've learned from talking directly to the developers.
Dune: Awakening release date
When is the Dune: Awakening release date?
Dune: Awakening launches on May 20, 2025. Prior to the announcement, Funcom had only said it was coming sometime "early" in 2025, so I suppose May still qualifies simply because it's not "late" in 2025.
Dune: Awakening trailer
Here's the latest Dune: Awakening trailer
We've seen a few trailers and gameplay clips over the past year. The latest is from Dune: Awakening's release date announcement, showing your character crash-landing on the desert planet of Arrakis. We're given a glimpse of the hazards of the inhospitable planet, like quicksand, sandstorms, the scorching sun, and dehydration. But survivors can also exploit the desert's resources to build bases, craft vehicles, and harvest the most precious resource of all: spice.
Dune: Awakening story
What's Dune: Awakening's story?
Dune: Awakening explores a timeline different from the books and movies: it's an alt-history where Paul Atreides was never born. Instead, his mother Jessica gave birth to a daughter, which gave rise to different events. Duke Leto wasn't betrayed by a saboteur and still lives, House Atreides survived the attack by the Harkonnens, and the Emperor deploys the Sardaukar to Arrakis to protect the spice harvesting. The Fremen, meanwhile, have vanished completely. That's not just a story element: Funcom won't be adding the Fremen to the game until post-launch.
Here's a trailer that quickly runs you through the alternate timeline of this new Dune universe.
So, who the heck are you? You're a prisoner (the classic game-starting status) of the Bene Gesserit, secretly deployed as an agent to find the Fremen and "awake the Sleeper," though in a timeline with no Paul Atreides, it's unclear who the Sleeper actually is.
Dune: Awakening sandworms
Show me some sandworms!
Got you covered. Funcom has shown off a lot of the MMO, including a survival trailer that shows the early challenges of Dune: Awakening, including some base-building, resource harvesting and scavenging, and yes, an appearance of the dreaded sandworms. You can also catch a glimpse of one at the end of this gameplay trailer. Sandworms are just a great way to end a trailer, I think.
Sandworms will be a major threat in the desert as players try to harvest spice, as any movement on the surface can attract them. Each spice blow players deploy their harvesters to represents a ticking clock, not just because other players may battle them for the spice, but because the mighty sandworms will eventually show up and try to swallow everything in sight.
Dune: Awakening gameplay
What else do we know about Dune: Awakening?
We've learned a lot about Dune: Awakening over the past year or so, thanks to trailers and interviews with Funcom's creative team. There's base-building, though it's not as simple as just picking a nice spot and constructing a home: you'll have to pay the Emperor some taxes (in spice, naturally) for your residence.
While there's PvP in Dune: Awakening, you won't need to worry about your base being invaded, at least in the early game: Funcom wants to "pull people away from competing and fighting over bases" and have them compete for spice in the deep desert instead, creative director Joel Bylos told us. Later in the game, we're told base raids can happen, but players will need to opt into that system.
As for spice, it's not just the driver of the economy of Arrakis, it's something you can use to "see just a little bit into the future," Funcom says. Unfortunately, this ability wasn't explained further, though there are other skills that also sound fun, like the ability to manually pilot tiny hunter-seeker drones, as seen in the Dune movies.
Despite its May release date, people have already been playing Dune: Awakening. Joshua recently got a chance to play the MMO for seven hours, and suspects its mix of survival and RPG might win him over to the genre, despite not being an MMO or survival fan. Playtesters have also been exploring Arrakis, where they're dying of thirst almost as often as they're being swallowed whole by sandworms. Some are even drinking mouse blood just to stay hydrated. Poor mice!
