Dune: Awakening was supposed to come out before the release of Dune: Part Two, but plans change and it’s been more than a year since Paul Atreides took over the Imperium at the box office.
Despite the delay, Funcom is still hard at work with the game, and now they’ve officially announced the release date.
Dune: Awakening Release Date
As per the official announcement, Dune: Awakening is going to hit shelves on May 20, 2025. Watch the official announcement trailer here:
“Rise from survival to greatness and challenge the power of an Imperium in Dune: Awakening, a multiplayer survival game on a massive scale. Survive the sandworm, craft your ornithopter, build a fortress, and ascend to power on an open world Arrakis shared with hundreds of other players.”
While Funcom has been giving bits and pieces of the game over the course of the past few months, this trailer highlights a lot of the customization and exploration options, with players being able to fix their own ornithopters as well as their bases of operation.
Though Arrakis only has limited terrain in the movies, the game actually has a lot of intricate locations in the open world, some consisting of complicated bridges and tunnels; plus a variety of settlements populated by different kinds of people.
Is This Canon?
Take note that although the story is set within the world of Dune, Awakening is set in a completely different timeline. To allow the story to give the player a choice on the fate of Arrakis, the character of Paul Atreides has been removed from the equation; instead, Lady Jessica gives birth to a girl—just like the Bene Gesserit originally intended.
It will be up to the player to see which alliances to form on the planet, and which houses they will choose to align with.
Of course, there is also the case of the native Fremen, who will be added to the game down the line. Since Awakening was originally set to release before Dune: Part Two, the devs were asked to hold back on revealing the Fremen, but delays happened and the sequel was released, though plans still haven’t changed.
Rest assured, players are expected to interact with the game’s Fremen and their sietches in future content for Awakening.
What’s Incoming for Dune?
Awakening will be the next big drop for Dune as fans wait for the third installment from Denis Villeneuve. With Part Two covering the first book, Villeneuve is now set to tackle the fall of Paul Atreides with Dune: Messiah which is set to cap off a trilogy.
Even if Villeneuve ends at that point, there are plans to move forward with a fourth movie without him, and rumors suggest that Rogue One director Gareth Edwards is being eyed to helm.
With all those years away from releasing though, anyone wanting to come to Arrakis will have Dune: Awakening to jump into in the meantime.
Catch Dune: Awakening when it launches for PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PS5 on May 20.