Dune: Awakening release date speculation, pre-order & latest news
I must not fear (how far off the release date might be).
The creators of longtime survival MMO Conan Exiles – Funcom – have just shown off the upcoming Dune: Awakening, so it’s time for us to delve into some release date speculation, as well as taking a look at the pre-order situation, gameplay details and a trailer to cap it all off.
If you’ve come out of the cinema thoroughly impressed by Denis Villeneuve’s Arrakis follow-up Dune: Part Two, then you’ll be delighted to know that Dune: Awakening offers players the chance to forge their own story on the spice-rich and blood-soaked planet.
Though the books are the original source material, the game looks to take a lot more visual cues from Villeneuve’s adaptation – so fans of the underwear-clad Sting in the 1984 David Lynch film may be in for disappointment.
There’s plenty to be getting through, and as they say on Arrakis – the content must flow. Or, something to that effect anyway. Read on!
When is the Dune: Awakening release date?
Currently, there is no confirmed release date announced for Dune: Awakening.
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On the game’s Steam page, the release date is marked as "To be announced" - but you can add it to your wishlist.
It would’ve been quite the coup for the game to land around the same time as Dune: Part Two to catch the excitement, but the new interest in the source material will likely see a good number of people’s interest piqued by the survival MMO.
You can, however, sign up for the Dune: Awakening beta on the official site if you want to get in on the fun early and help shape how the game turns out.
When there is a release window or concrete date announced, we will update you.
Until then, you can check out all the great upcoming games that will no doubt keep you busy until then.
Can I pre-order Dune: Awakening?
Yes, you can pre-order Dune: Awakening for PS5 or Xbox Series X/S now from GAME.
As there is no properly announced pricing, you may end up getting it for cheaper for PS5 or Xbox owing to GAME’s pre-order price guarantee - which means you will either be charged what was originally listed or less if it turns out to be cheaper.
Unfortunately, there is no pre-order available for PC, but you can hop over onto the CDKeys page and request to be notified when the ability to do so goes live.
- Pre-order Dune: Awakening for PS5 from GAME
- Pre-order Dune: Awakening for Xbox Series X/S from GAME
- Pre-order page for Dune: Awakening for PC on CDKeys
Which consoles and platforms can play Dune: Awakening?
Dune: Awakening is coming to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
This shouldn’t come as too big of a surprise if you’ve seen the gameplay reveal, as the graphics look to be top-tier stuff.
You probably won’t be shocked, either, to hear the game is using Unreal Engine 5 to bring Arrakis to life.
All this resoundingly leaves the last-gen consoles such as the PS4 and Xbox One to, well, the last generation.
The Nintendo Switch also wouldn't stand much of a chance, but if the rumours are true that the upcoming (and unannounced) Switch 2 could run the Matrix: Awakening demo, perhaps the fate of Arrakis could lie in our hands in the next-gen portable console.
Dune: Awakening gameplay and story details
Dune: Awakening is a third-person open-world survival MMO that takes place on the signature planet – Arrakis – and sees the player starting as a lowly nobody before embarking on a quest to make it to the upper echelons of society through various means.
Characters from the book and movies are present, and many of them can be friend or foe, depending on which house you align yourself with.
You can also become loyal to organisations like the Mentats and Bene Gesserit, and learn special skills from them.
The map is suitably huge, too, and features dunes – funnily enough – long-forgotten ecology labs and canyons full of caves often inhabited by bandits.
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The official page says there are lots of villages to discover and, presumably, Fremen Sietches.
To get around between all these locations, there are ground and airborne vehicles such as tanks and ornithopters. Players can also create temporary outposts beyond the shield walls.
There’s also the opportunity to engage in some pretty fierce-looking battles as players and factions duke it out for control of the spice.
The spice, of course, is central to the game, and as a psychoactive substance it can bring about a number of effects to your character. Not all of them positive, but not all negative either.
Is there a Dune: Awakening trailer?
Indeed there is, as you can no doubt see above! The trailer gives us a fairly comprehensive look at everything players can expect to get up to during their time on Arrakis.
"Arrakis is a test – few survive it," the narrator warns after showing a man succumbing to the desert heat.
Following on from this, a very Kyle Maclachlan-looking fellow wakes up in a cave and embarks on their journey to becoming one of Arrakis's top dogs – with a large dollop of plot armour for trailer purposes, no doubt.
We see our pseudo-Kyle run from sandworms, construct huge bases in the desert, chase down a crashing ship on a dirtbike of sorts, infiltrate multiple bases, fly in ornithopters, use hunter-seeker drones and observe a battle raging below.
Finally, after all he has been through, he offers his hand to a lone survivor of the battle, suggesting that it isn’t all just war in the desert - and that players can band together.
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