We’re back again with our third edition of the Communinet Signal! As with previous issues, we’re going to round up all the going-on and happenings surrounding Dune: Awakening in the past weeks for your reading pleasure. Complete with plenty of pictures!
In the last issue we shared everything there was to see at Gamescom in Germany. This time, we’re going to take you to conventions in California, Japan, and Brazil. So even if you didn’t get an opportunity to check out our booths in person, we can share a little bit of Arrakis with you here.
We also have some fantastic artwork created by our community, new assets right from our own artists, and answers to some of your burning questions. If you missed our previous Communinet Signals, you can find them here:
September and October was full of travel with the goal of bringing more new faces to Arrakis in Dune: Awakening. Besides the dangers of dehydration, bandit gangs, roaming Sardaukar ships, sandworms, and many other threats it can be a very inviting place! Our first stop on this journey was:
TwitchCon: San Diego, California
While we didn’t have a booth this year, we still had a fantastic time talking to many of you Sleepers attending the convention. We had the opportunity to meet many excited streamers who are eager to get their hands on Dune: Awakening and sharing it with their community.
We also teamed up with LurkIt and The Fun Pimps (creators behind ‘7 Days to Die’) to bring an epic afterparty where we hosted crysknife giveaways, chatted with familiar faces in the community, showed off game trailers, connected streamers with developers, and danced the night away.
Our stage where we showed the Dune: Awakening trailers with a beautiful skyline backdrop!
Cozy fireside chat with a Dune Balloon Moon
Tokyo Game Show: Tokyo, Japan
日本へようこそ! We flew over to the other side of the world for this convention. Between September 26th through the 29th, our team arrived and was ready to rock the show floor. As with Gamescom, we were a part of the Level Infinite area. Take a look at our booth!
Dune: Awakening producers Farah Nasri and Nils Ryborg took the stage to talk about themselves, the work they do on the game, and development (with the help of a translator of course).
Within our booth, we showed a gameplay presentation complete with a Japanese voiceover as well as a Q&A session at the end. And of course, no one left empty handed; swag bags were given out as new Sleepers exited the presentation.
The booth wouldn’t be complete without our Dune cosplayer star, みひまる! Check her out X (Twitter) for more of her amazing work.
Brasil Game Show: São Paulo, Brasil
Our last stop was in South America, where the rainforests are as wet as Arrakis’s sand is hot. Like Gamescom and Tokyo Game Show, we had our booth on the main hall ready to be visited by new Sleepers. We even had a popcorn machine! No, unfortunately we didn’t have THOSE popcorn buckets. :)
Inside the booth, we had a cozy theater with pillows for the presentation. And as always, they left with a handful of Dune: Awakening swag. We also had hands on gameplay for press, VIPs, and other visitors.
The highlight of this Signal is of the gorgeous yet formidable Harkonnen Light Ornithopter. The light ornithopter specializes in speed, ensuring a quick getaway from enemies or sandstorms (if you’re skilled enough, that is). These vehicles are paramount in your mission to survive. When parked, the wings will fold neatly behind and along the body of the ornithopter. But when taking to the skies, they will unfurl and flutter like a dragonfly’s.
This concept image was created by one of our expert concept artists, Brian Wells. You can check out more of his amazing art on ArtStation here !
The final ornithopter at launch may differ from this screenshot as it is still a work in progress.
We have some fabulous art collected from the official Dune: Awakening Discord server as well as those who used the #CommuninetSignal hashtag on X and Facebook. For a chance to have your art featured, make sure to share yours as well!
Created by Anna-Maria Manners, this drawing features a Fremen-Bene Gesserit girl named Nasira. She is blind, but very sensitive to vibrations.
Meanwhile, Maxpain_ has 3D printed a mini sword along with a stand to rest it out.
A bottle of spice created by Arrakis Pilgrim on Discord.
An adorable Muad'dib, also created by Arrakis Pilgrim.
The beautiful landscape of Arrakis captured by Sinister Fate.
This piece called, “Moving up the ranks” by Sinister Fate was created on Procreate using Photoshop and a Cintiq.
Gorgeous fanart of a Bene Gesserit by Conkin and Merlin.
Shields and Holtzman tech are great for protecting your character well against both melee and projectiles. They won’t protect you forever, though, as too much damage to them will cause the shields to deactivate. Not to mention, using your shields while on the open sand is not recommended. Remember that the vibrations will attract the worms and make enemy fire look trivial next to the attention of Shai-Hulud.
Some items needed for crafting shields can be found only in certain locations, such as Imperial Testing Stations. Explore these areas to find those unique parts and give yourself an edge over opponents.
You can turn these shields off and on, but whatever your playstyle, using shields is recommended if you plan on going toe to toe with an enemy.
There are currently no plans to play the game fully in first person. We’ve designed Dune: Awakening with a third-person setting in mind for the best experience. However, there are certain items that will allow you to go into first person to help with your survival. This includes binoculars and sniper scopes!
You can set permissions to decide who can use your vehicles. By default, they only allow access to the person who’s built them. There are, however, vehicles that can be found in the world and are accessible to everyone, so they can be stolen from NPCs.
To keep your vehicle safe from others and the harsh environment, you can craft and use a vehicle backup tool. This allows you to store it in your inventory until you need it again!
While we won't have sandworm riding at launch, it's a highly anticipated feature that we're eager to implement but we also want to do it justice!
As you’ve probably seen from the Dune films, sandworm riding is one of the most dangerous yet thrilling feats to pull off. We want to make sure it’s as impactful as the cinematic moment it's inspired by in the Dune movies. To achieve this, we're taking a deliberate approach and won't rush its development.
As you explore Arrakis, visit points of interest, complete contracts, and so on, you will gain experience points. These points will level your character up and give you skill points and tech points. Skill points can be used to unlock new abilities, increased health and stamina, better heat resistance, and more.
You’ll also discover intel around certain points of interest which will help unlock recipes in the Technology Tree. This is where you’ll get more weapons, armor, and other items to craft to help in your survival. If you need help along the way, and are unable to craft them yourself just yet, these items can found around the world for you to pick up and use. Or if you have a particularly helpful friend with you, they can lend you their armor or weapons.
You will also find Wandering Masters in your journey who will teach you more abilities from different schools, such as the Bene Gesserit.
And that about wraps it up for our third Communinet Signal! We hope you enjoyed reading through it and maybe learned something new.
Remember that if you'd like your art featured, make sure to share in the Discord channel as well as use #CommuninetSignal on Facebook or X (Twitter). Or just drop into the Discord to say hi and chat about all things Dune (and share pictures of your muad'dibs in our pet channel). While we prepare for the 4th signal, make sure to wishlist Dune: Awakening on Steam and we will see you next time!
Communinet Signal #2
Welcome to the second edition of our very own Communinet Signal, Sleepers! This one comes with an intense Gamescom flavor, as we had our hands full in August showcasing the game from Germany to the world!
But before we get into that, we just wanted to take a moment to thank you all for the fantastic reception of our first Communinet Signal. This is a line of communication with you that we wanted to start as early as possible, and we are very pleased with the positive response so far and the feedback you have given us on our channels. Keep it up, and let's make this place your safe haven in Arrakis!
Now back to this week's issue! We have the usual round-up of what we have been up to lately, as well as some juicy insights from our time in Cologne, where we got to meet some of you! We hope you enjoy this new issue, and don't forget to send us your comments and suggestions on the Discord channel we've set up for all things Communinet Signal!
Grab your reading binoculars and let's go!
August was a pretty hectic month for us. At the beginning of the month, we were hard at work compiling all the cool stuff you saw at gamescom, while the second half of the month was spent showing it off. So let's go through it all in case you missed anything:
Opening Night Live - Gameplay World Premiere
During ONL, we released our 5-minute gameplay reveal. Narrated by Joel Bylos, our Creative Director, we showed the world the game mechanics and real gameplay for the first time. And at the end of the trailer, we revealed the game's release window! In case you missed it, early 2025 for PC, with consoles coming later. But wait, that's not all we showed... August was a pretty hectic month for us. At the beginning of the month, we were hard at work compiling all the cool stuff you saw at gamescom, while the second half of the month was spent showing it off. So let's go through it all in case you missed anything:
27-Minute Gameplay Presentation at Gamescom
This 27-minute gameplay video was the mainstay of our presence at the show this year. We knew we would have hundreds of fans visiting us every day, lining up at our booth next to the towering presence of Shai-Hulud to hear our developers talk about the game, and we needed something that could capture some of the many gameplay possibilities of Dune: Awakening in a limited amount of time.
We also didn't want any of you at home to miss out, and felt it was time to give a broader perspective on the work-in-progress from the beta build that many of you have been testing in our ongoing closed beta tests. So we have prepared a version of our presentation, narrated by Joel, so you can follow along from the comfort of your sietch.
Dune: Awakening Direct Episode 3
And to top it all off, we released the third episode of our Dune: Awakening Direct show last week, featuring some spicy behind-the-scenes footage and commentary from Soe Gschwind and Joel. We recorded this from our booth at gamescom and also added some extra commentary to the gameplay footage. We thought it was too good an opportunity to pass up! We hope you enjoyed it!
Did you hear we were at Gamescom this year? Shocking, I know! All kidding aside, this was a big year for us at the event. Our team spent countless hours trying to make it a memorable and smooth event. Many of you came to the event to greet us, and for those of you who couldn't, you watched our trailer and presentations, as well as our on-site coverage. There was a lot going on on many fronts, so we thought we could show you a little more of all the moving parts from our side of things. So sit back, grab your favorite mug of distilled sweat, and let's take a deep dive into this year's event.
The preparations
As we've said before, it's important to remember that getting ready for an event like this is a huge team effort. Even before we announced that we would be there, our team was hard at work making it happen.
Our PR and events team began coordinating our physical presence and arranging our booth space with the Level Infinite team. From the beginning, we knew that we wanted our space to stand out, so we decided on a massive 5 meter high sandworm as the centerpiece of our booth.
Next, we thought about what kind of experience we wanted to offer visitors at Gamescom. At first we thought about having a playable demo at our booth, but we decided that a short demo wouldn't do justice to a complex game like Dune: Awakening, especially with the unreliable internet connections that conventions often have. Instead, we decided to have a presentation with the developers explaining the core mechanics and gameplay loop.
Once that was set up, we focused on the additional details. Not everyone could travel to Germany, and we wanted to share the presentations with as many of you as possible. So we decided to livestream them directly from Gamescom. We set up a streaming area inside the theater with cameras to capture the presentations and the audience. We also began inviting streamers to the event, including well-known names from our Funcom Creator Program and regional creators.
We hadn't given up on the idea of a playable demo, so we set up a backstage room with six PCs. To answer questions about the game being too complex or the limited play time, some of our developers went to Germany to help players.
While we were getting everything ready, we also started working on a trailer and presentation for Gamescom. We knew you'd be excited to see some gameplay footage that explains what Dune: Awakening is all about and how it plays, as well as getting an idea of when it's coming out. Based on that, we laid out the main ideas for our footage. We wanted to be as transparent as possible, so we decided to record directly from the closed beta. This was a bit risky as the game was still in active development and things could change. But we felt it was important to be honest and open, especially with our beta testers.
We waited for a major update to the closed beta that included the first combat overhaul and significant rebalancing. While not the final product, this build represented the beta of the game at the time.
Opening Night Live
The ONL event took place on August 20th, where we unveiled the gameplay reveal trailer. Some of our developers were there in person, while the rest of the team watched remotely from a hotel conference room, ready to test out the new features and see how people reacted!
Along with the gameplay reveal trailer, we also revealed our new key art, the PC release window, and new information about the game. Our team spent a few hours after the trailer premiered uploading assets, posting, and engaging with Sleepers! It was a fun and intense night, but it was only the beginning!
Gamescom!
Gamescom started on the 21st! Luckily the first day is only for industry visitors. But that doesn't mean it was slow for us. Since it was the first day we had the booth up and running, there were still a few loose ends to tie up. As it turned out, most of the things that sounded good on paper needed at least one or two tests!
So on that first day, we tested every moving part. We made sure the streaming booth had all the software and hardware working properly, checked the volume on the gameplay presentations, and confirmed that the playable builds were all installed, set up, and connected to our servers. Once everything was in place, we started welcoming the first rounds of visitors!
We were also part of the Level Infinite area (shout out to our neighbors V-Rising, Exoborne, Path of Exile 2, and more!), which also had its own events! Nicole, our Senior Community Manager, took to the stage in the central area to give away giveaways to attendees (twice a day!) while the rest of the team was at the booth making sure everything worked as it should and everyone was happy.
This was a pretty dynamic process that we repeated every day, with more and more visitors each day, which helped us streamline our processes until the booth (almost) ran itself!
Our booth
We keep mentioning our booth, but some of you might not have seen it yet! Let's fix that and give you a glimpse into our little corner in Cologne.
First: the queue and entrance area!
This is where people would line up for the Dune: Awakening Gamescom experience. Visitors would line up for the hourly presentations, which were separated by language (English or German). It wasn't too bad for the first few days, but as time went on, the line grew to rival Shai-Hulud itself. Arrakis is a test, but believe me, some of our visitors are ready for it!
The theater! Once inside the booth, you would be seated in our presentation theater! It held about 65 people, with a stage where two of our developers would comment on the gameplay being shown. After the 30-minute presentation, they held a Q&A session to answer questions from the audience.
Once the session was over, visitors left the booth through the back door, but not without receiving a Dune: Awakening-themed gift - a swag bag from the game filled with goodies!
In the back corner of the theater was the streaming booth. This was where streamers from all over the world would livestream the gameplay presentations to their audiences each day and provide their own commentary. They were also joined by one of our developers who answered their questions live!
The livestreams started with Sacriel and were followed by many recognizable names, such as Alphacast, GNU, SajonArco, MollyBerry, MissVadams, MurningStar, Becsters, and more!
The playable room Next to the theater, in a separate room, we had some of our developers showing off the game to press, content creators, and people with appointments. They offered help and support to those who needed it, and guidance if anyone got stuck. They were also happy to sit down and chat about the game.
The build we offered was very similar to the one our beta testers are currently playing, with some areas restricted because they would require additional servers. Due to the (sometimes) unreliable connection and limited time, these areas were cut from the demo. However, to streamline the presentation of the game, our team created a series of presets that were offered to players who wanted to try different parts and regions of the game in the limited time they had.
From press to regulars, just about everyone was impressed and happy with what they played. Our developers were rejuvenated by interacting with people who were trying our game for the first time and had so many good questions, feedback, and excitement to share.
THE WORM And last but certainly not least of our booth parts, was the Shai-Hulud. This was the most visible and by far the most recognizable part of our booth.
The massive 5-meter-tall sandworm was an eye-catcher and a landmark at Gamescom this year. Many visitors stopped by to take pictures of the worm, take selfies with it, or photograph our incredibly talented cosplayers (Anhyra and MeanKitteh) who would pose for hours on location.
We'd like to give a special mention to our cosplayers for their professionalism, craftsmanship, and dedication to the event. Gamescom can be a very intense and hot place, just like Arrakis. But Anhyra and MeanKitteh not only stood the test, they absolutely nailed it. They are ready and worthy of the desert planet.
The people We couldn't have done it without our amazing team! Thank you to everyone locally and remotely who made this possible.
A special shout out to the Dune: Awakening and Level Infinite teams for keeping things running smoothly onsite and being awesome when things got hectic. Thank you, champions of Arrakis!
Last but not least, we'd like to thank all of you who made this possible. Whether you watched from home or came to Germany to visit our booth and spend some time with us, it's because of your passion and support that we've been able to do all of this. Thank you for believing in our journey. Here's to 2025 and beyond!
Dune: Awakening Book Club - Gamescom Edition Since almost a year, we’ve been running a Book Club in our Discord, coming together every few weeks to read the book where it all began: Frank Herbert’s Dune. When we realized some of our Book Worms would be visiting Gamescom, we had no choice but to have an in-person session!
Led by FlamingMojo from our community, the club’s normal meetings are reading a particular section beforehand and discussing it during the session. In Gamescom, we did things a bit differently and read the parts out loud, voicing the narration and characters - with some pretty convincing acting too! For those who couldn’t attend, we had our Discord voice channel available to tune in.
We had a couple of surprises as well - a copy of the book for everyone along with some Dune: Awakening goodies and our very own Joel Bylos joining the club to read and discuss together!
If you’d like to join the fun, you can find the Book Club in Dune: Awakening Discord in the #dune-book-club room, with an event set in the server whenever a new session is announced, with all the information you need to join!
With the Gamescom reveals and announcements, we wanted to refresh our key art for the game, showcasing a better look at what Dune: Awakening has to offer.
We decided to showcase three different characters, each with their own look, allegiance, and weapon, to highlight the wide range of customization options you'll have once you start playing. How will you approach combat? Will it be ranged, melee, or a skill-based hybrid? Will you side with the Harkonnens? Or are you an Atreides at heart?
It was also important for us to show Arrakis, the central character of the Dune universe. The background shows the desert planet in all its glory, complete with its two moons, spice blossoms, and troops and vehicles fighting for its most precious resource, spice melange. And looking down on it all is the mighty Shai-Hulud (and this is one of the smaller ones!).
And there's more! We've also got our official slogan: Survive. Expand. Control. Survive the desert by learning the ways of the Fremen. Expand your potential through combat, spice, building, and trade. As guild intrigue and warfare rage, control the spice and cling to power.
You can now see this new key art in all of our channels, including our store pages. We hope you like it!
Muad’Dib secret: Did you know you can find this new key art, as well as screenshots and wallpapers, in our PR page? Check it out!
This month we are giving a special highlight to those Sleepers who showed up at Gamescom ready for Arrakis. They were ready for the dunes, so we think they’re deserving of a spot in this month’s section as well!
Even though Gamescom dominated the month of August, we want to highlight a couple of community creations that happened outside of the Cologne event. Our first community creation is a fantastic fanart by one of our Discord community members!
And second, we want to give a shout out to the first (to our knowledge!) fan created podcast about Dune: Awakening!
Spice Blow Radio is a podcast ran by André (from the fan newsite VisitArrakis), Stephen (aka FlamingMojo, the one behind the Dune: Awakening Community Wiki) and Maegan (aka Deadwomanwalking Gaming on Youtube!). They are currently on their second episode. You can follow them on their Twitter or Youtube! Remember, if you want to be featured in future editions of the Communinet Signal, use the hashtag #CommuninetSignal on social media, or share it in the Communinet Signal channel in our Discord community!
PvP in the game will be restricted to certain areas. In Hagga Basin, the starting map, PvP is only allowed in certain locations, but it is mostly a PvE map. When you access a PvP area, you are notified you are entering a Kanly War of Assassins. If you are not ready for the extra pressure, just step out of that area! The Deep Desert, in contrast, is a mostly PvP zone with only a small strip in the southern region that is PvE. And then you have the social hubs (Harko Village and Arrakeen at launch), which are entirely social areas with no engagements allowed.
If you want to focus on base building and PvE activities, just claim your spot in Hagga Basin, and enjoy all that the social hubs have to offer. And if you end up wanting to experience some PvP action, remember that as long as you have your base shields up in a PvP area, your base is safe from enemy attacks.
Right now it is very early to tell. Our team is focused on delivering the best experience at launch as possible. But we plan to support the game for the long run. Immediately after launch we will monitor reception and adapt accordingly, continuing to work on quality of life upgrades, fixes and optimizations based on our player’s feedbacks. And we will continue to add new surprises and variety to the Deep Desert and all the secrets its sands will unveil weekly.
But as the Bene Gesserit like to do, we also have longer term plans. Some of these are expanding the overland map with new locations that explore the lore and corners of Arrakis.
Resources needed in a crafting station will pull from both your inventory as well as in your storage within the range of your Sub-fief console!
We recently published an article in our webpage that covers this in as much detail as we can get now, and it includes infographics too! You can check it out in this link.
We currently don’t have a release date for consoles set just yet, as we are focusing primarily on PC release. Afterwards, we will focus on making the game optimized and ready for consoles so that they can be the best they can be at launch.
Even though our game is set in an alternative timeline, you will be able to meet and interact with many of the characters from the books and movies. Some of these during your ascension in one of the two major factions, some as part of your personal journey, and some while exploring Arrakis!
We are indeed right now focusing on the combat! What you saw in the gameplay presentation is the first iteration of a combat overhaul we recently deployed to the closed beta build of the gamewhere we implemented the pillars of the combat system. This is the first step of many planned during development before launch. With the feedback from our beta testers and as part of the development pipeline, we are actively working on animations, timings, general balancing, as well as visual polish.
We decided to show this version instead of a more artificially polished one so as to stay true and open about the current state of the beta, but ever since the footage was recorded, two major patches were deployed on the beta with more iterations, so even that footage is outdated today. Videogame development is a crazy adventure!
We chose to first focus on ranged combat and vehicle handling since they are features that didn’t exist in our more recent games and we wanted to offer something that’s good and fun to play.
Melee is an important and crucial part of the combined arms approach to combat we are going for in Dune: Awakening, and now that we have ranged combat and vehicles at a spot our beta testers and we are happy with, we are focusing on melee combat and bringing the years of expertise we have into the game. Right now we are actively working on animations, timings, general feel as well as a spin to the general mechanics inspired by how you would expect a Dune melee combat to be like! Stay tuned for future updates and showcases!
Thank you for making it to the end! This was a lengthy Communinet Signal, but there was so much to talk about and share with you! We hope you had a blast reading it as much as we had preparing it.
And remember! We want to keep evolving the Communinent Signal with your feedback and input. Let us know what you thought of this edition and what you’re looking forward to see in the next one in our Discord channel! As for us, we’ll be celebrating this milestone by hanging out at Harko Village, grabbing some delicious spice-infused beverages at Hanovars, and grabbing energy for the next Communinet Signal.
See you there!
Exploring Everything Revealed in Dune: Awakening Direct – Episode 3
Hello once again, Sleepers!
August has been a very busy month filled with reveals of all kinds. In our third Dune: Awakening Direct, we showed our marvelous booth at Gamescom with Joel and Soe diving deeper into the core gameplay that was revealed last week.
Behind the Scenes at Gamescom
Our booth at Gamescom was hard to miss with our 5 meter tall Shai-Hulud photowall, but that’s only the tip of the crysknife. During the Direct, Soe takes us behind-the-scenes to show the exciting events we had going on, in case you weren’t able to travel through space and time to make it there in person. This includes exclusive gameplay presentations in Dune: Awakening, Fremkit merch giveaways, quizzes to test your Dune knowledge, calling the worm on the Level Infinite stage, professional cosplayers, and so much more.
Diving into Gameplay
Get a taste of what you can expect from Arrakis in Dune: Awakening, as Creative Director Joel Bylos and host Soe Gschwind talk through certain aspects of the game such as combat, building, spice harvesting, and more.
Through this interview and walkthrough, you can prepare yourself for your own journey on the harsh planet and how you might tackle it.
Dune: Awakening is coming to PC Early 2025, so we hope to see you on Arrakis then. In the meantime, join us on Discord to talk with other Sleepers who are looking forward to playing and wishlist the game on Steam to get updates.
Find Out When and Where to Watch Dune: Awakening Direct #3!
Greetings Sleepers,
We’re excited to announce that our next Dune: Awakening Direct will air on August 29, bringing you behind the scenes at Gamescom, where you will see highlights from the event, an interview with Creative Director Joel Bylos and Host Soe Gschwind which elaborates on the recent gameplay reveals, and more!
Gamescom is in full swing, and we have unleashed our Gameplay Reveal trailer and extended 30-minute gameplay presentation.
Dune: Awakening Direct Episode 3 will be of particular interest to everyone who isn’t at Gamescom, as this episode is being filmed on location at the event!
Our hosts Joel and Soe will be diving deep into the new extended gameplay with a lot of new insights on various aspects of the game. Learn about the hydration system and desert survival, spice harvesting and the effects of spice consumption, and more!
The round-trip to Arrakis will depart on August 29 at 6PM CEST / 12PM ET from our Twitch and YouTube channels. If you miss it, worry not - the footage will be available as a VOD after.
Dune: Awakening Release Window Revealed, See New Gameplay!
Greetings Sleepers,
We’re thrilled to announce that Dune: Awakening will come to PC Early 2025!
Our Gameplay Reveal trailer has now premiered on Opening Night Live, offering a 5-minute vision of a player’s journey from survivor to spice hunter.
This is but one vision of Arrakis. There are a multitude, and the choices are yours.
Survive, scavenge, and take what you must. The desert consumes the weak.
Expand your potential through combat, exploration, building. crafting, and trade. Consume spice to unshackle your mind and see the unseen.
Control the spice and cling to power. As intrigue and warfare rage, rise through the ranks of your guild and align it with House Atreides or Harkonnen.
This is your Arrakis.
The Dune: Awakening key art is here and available to download for various screens! Turn your desktop or phone background into an Arrakis churning with storms, sandworms, and the epic struggle for spice.
Extended 30-Minute Gameplay Presentation
Our Gamescom booth is soon open, and anyone who comes by will be able to catch our extended 30-minute Gameplay video! You can also catch the video at home since it will be streamed by a whole host of fantastic creators. Here are just a few:
Dune: Awakening World Gameplay Premiere to be Revealed at Gamescom
Greetings Sleepers,
We’re thrilled to announce that Dune: Awakening will be at Gamescom 2024! Whether you will be there or watching from home, we can’t wait to show you what’s coming.
August 20: Opening Night Live
On August 20, we will premiere our 5-minute Gameplay Reveal at Opening Night Live. Get ready for a hefty dose of spice.
If you’re visiting Gamescom, we'd love to see you, so swing by our booth where we have a ton of activities, free goodies, and a 30-minute gameplay showcase (which will be livestreamed by a whole bunch of fantastic content creators for everyone at home, too!).
How to find us
We’ll be camped out at Hall 6.1 | C071 A070. Just follow the colossal Shai-Hulud, who decided to grace us with his presence. Photos with the Old Man of the Desert are encouraged, but sacrificing yourself as a snack for the Maker is forbidden.
30-minute gameplay showcase
Come by the booth to catch our extended 30-minute gameplay sequence! If you’re not attending Gamescom, check out these creators’ channels since they will be livestreaming it throughout the week.
All Fremen must earn and learn to use a Fremkit to survive the desert. If you find our booth, you have earned it. Take it, and may you survive Gamescom. Within you will find all sorts of handy Dune: Awakening swag.
Join in the activities
We’ll be holding regular Dune-related quizzes where anyone can join, with some pretty awesome prizes for the winners. And if you’re lucky, you will be present for the ritual calling of the worm...
We can’t wait for you to survive, explore, and rise to power on Arrakis. This is your Dune, and the path will be yours to choose. In a world shared with hundreds of other players, will you control the flow of spice itself?
Join our official Discord channel and follow us on our channels to stay up to date with all the latest news on Dune: Awakening (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube Shorts).
Communinet Signal #1
Welcome Sleepers, to our very first Dune: Awakening community newsletter!
Look forward to this new hub of information for all things Dune: Awakening. We in the community team will keep you regularly updated about any news you might have missed, showcase new parts of the game, and celebrate all the talented Sleepers in our community. We hope you enjoy these as much as we enjoyed making them for you!
These past few months have been quite hectic for us here on Arrakis, with the cinematic reveal trailer, the new Dune: Awakening Direct, and our visit to Twitchcon Rotterdam. There's a lot happening, and this is only the beginning (remember to keep an eye on Gamescom, where we’ll reveal more gameplay!).
The Communinet Signal will change over time, as we iterate and improve it based on your feedback and collaboration. For now, here’s what you can expect:
Each month, we'll chat with you directly and maybe even bring in some devs to share spicy game details. In the Roundup, we'll sum up all the major Dune: Awakening happenings of the last month, show off some awesome game art and sounds in Asset Highlights, and spotlight YOUR amazing fan creations in Community Creations. You can even get your burning questions answered by sending them our way with #DuneAwakeningCommunity, in our Questions from the Community section. And to wrap it all up, we'll leave you with some parting words and a little something to get you involved in the next issue!
We hope you find these newsletters useful and help us evolve them over time to become the hub of all things Dune: Awakening!
Thank you for tuning in. May you find shadow and water on your path.
The last couple of months brought a wealth of announcements fit for a Carryall, including the incredible milestone of 1 million wishlists, a number which just keeps on climbing! We’re so grateful for all the support so far. Make sure to wishlist the game on Steam if you haven’t already!
The debut of our new cinematic trailer, The Vision of Paul Atreides, was revealed at Summer Game Fest, revealing the alternate history of Dune: Awakening, which carries massive implications.
And of course, we can’t forget to mention the second Dune: Awakening Direct hosted by the wonderful Soe Gschwind. In this Direct, we dove into different narrative topics that are important to the world and unveiled the secrets behind them. You can watch the Direct in its entirety here! Or if you’d prefer to watch a segment you’re particularly interested in, you can find links to the individual videos here:
We have much more on the way, including the gameplay reveal at Gamescom this month. See you then!
Harko Village is one of the social hubs you can travel to via the overland map. Within its streets, you'll meet many other players from your world. You'll find various vendors and NPCs of interest, the CHOAM exchange, and social areas to engage with friends and allies. Meet Hanovars bar.
The moment you step inside Hanovars, you'll be greeted by the majestic skeleton of a whale, proudly displayed to flaunt the Harkonnen's wealth and influence. Beneath its bones and a thick layer of smoke, you can meet other sleepers, discuss strategies, and even show off some moves on the dance floor.
You may not be able to show your rhythm on the dunes of Arrakis, but on the dancefloor of Hanovars bar, you better dance like there's no tomorrow. For your enemies, there may not be.
As more and more of our character creation has been unveiled, Sleepers have been quick to share their own vision of their character on Arrakis. This includes drawing them out!
[table] [tr] [td][/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]8-BALL code for a C++ course, by Keyloor[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table] [tr] [td][/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Art created on burned papirus, by Leilo1L1[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table] [tr] [td][/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Vehicle Fan Art, by Leilo1L1[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table] [tr] [td] [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Character art on paper by 9ironkiller[/td] [/tr] [/table]
We love seeing what our community creates, so make sure to share yours on the Official Dune: Awakening Discord server, or tag us on social media with #DuneAwakening.
[table] [tr] [td][/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]It's hard to see the future, what Paul thinks he is seeing could be flawed or incorrect. Follow the clues and discover the truth in your journey across the game.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table] [tr] [td][/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Yes! If you’re happy with your base but want to move, you can save it as an architectural blueprint. Or if you prefer, share it with allies or sell to those willing to pay at the exchange. If you’re playing with a friend, placing down holograms for them to fill in while help with a more streamlined building experience as well.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [table] [tr] [td][/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]You can do this via our webpage or in our FAQ, where we also have more information about the closed beta process. Joining the official Discord server will also help to keep you informed and answer even more questions surrounding the beta.
We are currently in persistent closed beta so players are being invited in waves. While you wait, keep an eye out for us at GamesCom where we’ll be showing new gameplay! [/td] [/tr]
And with that, we conclude our very first Communinet Signal. We hope you found it useful, informative, entertaining, or anything in between. We're excited to create this new hub of information as we see our community grow and take shape.
But this is only the first step of our journey. As you're reading these words, we'll be busy preparing our next newsletter, with more information and highlights for you to enjoy... and maybe even be part of!
For our next issue, we're calling all artists in the sietch: You've seen one of the social areas in Harko Village, but we're missing your moves. Show us what you've got! If you have any fanart imagining yourself dominating the Hanovar dancefloor, send it our way using #DuneAwakeningCommuninet on social media or by sharing it in the Fanart channel on our Discord! It can be anything: a drawing, a video... anything you pour your creativity into. Remember, these must be created by you, not using AI-generated art. Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a human mind.
If you have any comments about this newsletter and want to discuss it with us and the rest of the community, make sure to join the official Discord server and check out the new Communinet Signal channel.
We look forward to seeing all your reactions and comments. See you in the next Communinet Signal and at Gamescom (and we think you’ll be very interested in what we will reveal there)!
What makes Dune: Awakening an MMO?
Hi, my name is Joel Bylos and I’m the Creative Director on Dune: Awakening. We keep referring to the game as an Open World Survival Massively Multiplayer Online game and I understand that this has fueled a lot of speculation among players.
I’m going to explore what it means to call our game an MMO and try to be as candid about our server structure as possible. I’ll also be using a bunch of terminology about MMOs that you may or may not be familiar with – I’ll try to explain as I go.
MMO vs MMORPG
We’re very deliberate in our communication about Dune: Awakening to use MMO but not MMORPG. Games like World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XIV, and Elder Scrolls Online have defined a type of progression and core game loops that typify the modern MMORPG. Things like classes, quest-driven progression, endgame raids, level gating etc.
Dune: Awakening walks a different path. It is a survival, open world, crafting game, and while it features contracts (which are a form of quest) and journeys (which are also a form of quest), they are not the core focus of the player progression system; they are designed more for an open world sandbox experience than the traditional quests in MMORPGs. Also, Dune: Awakening is more focused on a crafting and building driven progression – exploring a technology tree and creating weapons, tools, vehicles, and bases. We don’t have level gating on items, so for example, if your friend wants to craft and hand you the best weapon in the game, five minutes after you start playing, that’s fine.
The part of the acronym that we share, the Massively Multiplayer Online, that’s where we start to differ from survival games.
What is a Survival MMO compared to a Survival game?
The survival genre has exploded in the last few years with a lot of unique spins and approaches to the core formula. And with this explosion has come a myriad of different approaches to server and multiplayer setups.
There are single-player survival games like Subnautica or The Long Dark. There are small-group multiplayer survival games like Valheim or Sons of the Forest, which allow a group of friends to play together. There are larger survival games with officially hosted servers like Conan Exiles, Ark, or Rust, which generally allow dozens of players to play together.
These games tend to have some common traits, such as a single large map running on a dedicated (or client-based) server. Dune: Awakening has a server structure more in common with MMOs than with most survival games. There are also large-scale multiplayer systems in place to support social gameplay – both competitive and collaborative – in areas shared with hundreds of other players.
For example, the Exchange allows you to buy and sell items with other players – a feature commonly associated with MMOs. And yet, it’s also unlike most MMOs due to the lack of level gating. If you can buy it, you can usually equip it.
The Landsraad feature also shifts us away from being only Survival or only MMO. While we can’t go into the full details of the feature just yet, we can explain the basics. It’s inspired by the in-universe Landsraad, a galactic council made up of the Great Houses. The Landsraad’s decisions can result in sweeping implications for the entirety of Arrakis and how people play the game. The most exciting aspect is that the decisions made by the Landsraad are entirely dependent on player actions, which go beyond simply voting (although that will also be important). After all, this is Dune, with all its Machiavellian scheming.
These are just a few examples of MMO-like features. We look forward to discussing the details of more of them in the future.
How many others will I be playing with?
When you first start playing Dune: Awakening, you pick a server that will be your home. Each of these servers belong to a World and a World consists of many different servers.
As a player, you will meet and interact with players from other servers in your World. The best way to explain how this works is looking at how our Arrakis is structured.
Our Arrakis is made up of different and separate maps, some larger than others. Here are a few of the main ones:
Hagga Basin: This is where you start out and where you will always return. It’s a big, persistent open world, similar in size to the map in Conan Exiles, and it consists of many different biomes. Here you must survive, build, and fight in the same space as several dozen other players who also belong to the server you picked. Players from other servers cannot come here. Player vs. player combat exists only in select areas of Hagga Basin.
Social Hubs: These are cities or villages that act as social hubs, where players cannot build, drive vehicles, or engage in PvP, but instead go to interact with the Exchange, NPCs, vendors, and of course, other players. Here you will meet players from other servers in your World, and once it’s full, an instance is spawned, similar to how the technology works in many other MMOs.
The Deep Desert: This is a massive, seamless, open space, several times larger than Hagga Basin. Here you will encounter hundreds of other players from all the different servers in your World and it’s where large-scale guild player vs. player interactions take place including the battle for spice. You will also build and drive vehicles here. This is where the Coriolis storm will regularly sweep across, changing the landscape, and the location of key resources.
Overland map: All these large but separate maps are connected by an overland map of the entire northern hemisphere of Arrakis, and it shows players moving around it in real time. Here you move between Hagga Basin, the hubs, and the Deep Desert. Traveling across the Overland map consumes fuel and water, and if you run out before reaching your destination, you’ll automatically enter a zone where you must scavenge for more.
The Overland Map, besides making the world feel seamless and connected, gives us the flexibility to expand after launch. Adding new areas to a single map is more difficult and restrictive than adding new locations to the Overland Map. With this framework in place, we can give you new places to explore after launch and beyond.
We look forward to sharing more details about the Overland map and other maps we haven’t mentioned yet in the future.
So, what does this all mean?
To define Dune: Awakening, we’ve had to talk a bit about what it is not, because it doesn’t fit into either the Survival nor the MMO box, as most people would know them. It has a survival core, a pretty unique server structure, and several important features which we think make using the MMO tag the best way to clearly communicate what the game is.
We believe Dune: Awakening’s complex server structure, where hundreds of players flow seamlessly between servers as they move to different areas of the game world, is doing something that other survival games are not.
On the spectrum of sandbox to theme park MMOs, Dune: Awakening is firmly on the sandbox side.
While there is content you might find in your typical MMO, such as contracts and the journey system (similar to quests), NPCs you can converse with, ecolabs that are similar to dungeons, character development through ability trees, progression through the ranks of the Atreides and Harkonnen, the Exchange, and the Landsraad feature, the key focus of Dune: Awakening is exploring, surviving, building, and thriving in an open sandbox world filled with other players. You can either collaborate or compete with those you encounter through politics, trade, and warfare. It’s a vast, open world full of social intrigue that you are a part of building and influencing, and you’re not grinding through content map by map.
There is one other area where Dune: Awakening will differ significantly from many other survival games. Due to its multiple MMO-based features, there is no single-player mode. You will have to be able to join our servers. Our plan is to allow private servers, at least for the Hagga Basin map, but we can’t promise this will be available for launch.
No doubt these answers leave you with even more questions, and we look forward to revealing more about Dune: Awakening in the time ahead.
Thank you for reading.
Best regards, Joel Bylos Creative Director
Watch the Second Dune: Awakening Direct Now!
Greetings Sleepers,
Dune: Awakening Direct, Episode 2 has arrived, unearthing answers once obscured. But with spice, the paths are revealed.
Watch the full show here, or dive into the section which interests you most below. The showcase covers several important topics:
The Alternate Timeline and setting in Dune: Awakening
The role of religion and spirituality
In-game character creation
What makes Dune: Awakening an MMO?
Alternate History
Discover the path that could have been. One moment which changes everything; the pebble which triggers the landslide.
Paul, never born. The Atreides and Harkonnen at war. The Fremen, missing. And yet, the spice must flow. This is your Dune.
The absence of Paul Atreides creates a power vacuum into which new factions and conflicts are dragged, including you. How much of that space will you fill?
Narrative and Spirituality
Senior Narrative Designer Léa Talbot guides us through how religion and spirituality play a part in Dune: Awakening. To Paul Atreides, the beliefs of the Fremen were a tool, but you are not Paul Atreides. You will have to survive by other means. Nevertheless, you will follow the teachings left by the Fremen, for whom learning to survive in the desert remains a profoundly spiritual journey.
Character Creation
Learn all about character creation with Producer Nils Ryborg as he shows us one of the first things you will do in the game, showing off the depth of choice when it comes to customizing your appearance and origins. Expression and customization is one of the core pillars of Dune: Awakening, and this is only the tip of the iceberg.
Server Structure and MMO Elements
Although Dune: Awakening is a survival game at its core, it is also an amalgamation of genres, notably the MMO. Join our Dune: Awakening Direct host, Soe Gschwind as she picks the mind of Funcom’s Creative Director, Joel Bylos, about what makes the game an MMO, including how servers will be populated and separated.
Dev Blog, Gamescom, and Beta Testing!
More details will soon be revealed in our upcoming dev blog, where we delve deeper into what sets Dune: Awakening apart from other survival games.
Prepare yourself for the official gameplay reveal in August at Gamescom. In the meantime, join other sleepers on Discord, and wishlist the game.
Dune: Awakening has now entered its persistent closed Beta, which gives access to the full breadth of the game, from the Hagga Basin starting area to the Deep Desert endgame. A huge thank you goes out to all the current testers for their valuable feedback. You can sign up on our website for a chance to join the Beta.
New Story Cinematic is Live, Next Direct arrives 20 June!
Greetings Sleepers,
The path you will tread in Dune: Awakening has finally been revealed at Summer Game Fest in our new Story Cinematic – The Vision of Paul Atreides.
A single moment that changes everything. An Arrakis torn by a War of Assassins. The Fremen missing. And yet the spice must flow. This is your Arrakis.
Dune: Awakening Direct, Episode 2
The time finally approaches for our next Dune: Awakening Direct, the live show where we reveal and showcase new aspects of the game.
Tune in to Dune: Awakening Direct, Episode 2 on 20 June at 18:00 CET/12:00 ETC on our Twitch and Youtube.
We’re thrilled to welcome back Soe Gschwind to host the show, in which she will interview several members from our development team, including Creative Director Joel Bylos, who you’ll recognize from our first episode and several other videos we’ve put out.
If you missed the first Dune: Awakening Direct, it premiered our Survive Arrakis Trailer and a featurette, titled Creating Worlds, From Book to Film to Game.
Catch up with the full First Episode
What are we showing in Episode 2?
Allow us to ingest some spice in order to glimpse the myriad paths ahead. The most likely outcome reveals itself.
Prepare to discover the ramifications of a world without Paul Atreides in Dune: Awakening. What role will major factions like the Atreides, Harkonnen, and Fremen play? We will also shed more light on the narrative overall, including aspects like religion.
Dive deeper into the server structure, and what makes the game a Survival MMO. Get a clear look at in-game character creation, and enjoy new interviews, an update on our ongoing Beta testing, and more!
Where and When?
Dune: Awakening Direct, Episode 2 premieres on 20 June at 18:00 CET/12:00 ETC on our Twitch and Youtube. IGN will also stream it live on their Twitch.
And beyond Dune: Awakening Direct, get ready for our gameplay reveal at Gamescom.
Sign up now on www.duneawakening.com for a chance to join future Beta tests, wishlist the game, and join other sleepers on the official Discord.
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