Dune: Awakening transforms Arrakis into an open-world, MMO experience

“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer,” goes the announcement trailer for Dune: Awakening, tapping straight into the iconic quote from Frank Herbet’s novel that was carried over to the 2021 film.

Revealed during Gamescom’s Opening Night Live, the game from Funcom is set to feature an open-world Arrakis in an MMO setting, with a hint of giant spice-harvesting vehicles, even more giant sand worms, and sand worm riding.

Gameplay mechanics will include building shelter against the constant sandstorm, maintaining and upgrading your stillsuit, and of course, avoiding death by the hands…sorry, jaws, of the worms.

In addition, players will be able to control the spice by hunting for spice blooms, fight against opportunistic raiders and rival factions, and consume spice to acquire powerful abilities.

A synopsis of the game on Steam reads, “Rise from survival to dominance in a vast and seamless Arrakis shared by thousands of players. Dune: Awakening combines the grit and creativity of survival games with the social interactivity of large, persistent multiplayer games to create a unique and ambitious Open World Survival MMO.”

No release date has been set yet, but interested parties may sign up for the beta now on the official website. Dune: Awakening will be coming to PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S, and joins Dune: Spice Wars in expanding the sci-fi world within the gaming scene in recent years. The rest of Gamescom’s Opening Night Live may be viewed below:

This article was first published in Geek Culture.