We have just reached 1 million wishlists, and we are blown away. Thank you all for your incredible support. It means the world to the team as they pour their heart and soul into creating the ultimate Dune fantasy.
The very desert shudders beneath your feet. We hear you. And so does Shai-Hulud.
Keep an eye on our channels as we will soon be revealing more about the setting of Dune: Awakening; a timeline which diverges from the books and films at a very crucial point. It takes but a pebble to begin a landslide...
Short videos Roundup
Sleepers!
After seeing all your questions about Dune: Awakening, we’re excited to be able to show you some more details! Earlier this year, we started a series of brief but informative videos covering certain systems and aspects of the game that we had seen you ask us about.
This is the perfect time to catch up on our short videos, as we are working on a new wave of clips based on your comments. After the wealth of information we shared in our first Dune: Awakening Direct, we’ve had a blast welcoming so many new members to the community. If you are new to Arrakis, the short videos are a great place to start!
You can watch our short videos on any of our social channels (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube Shorts), so grab some popcorn (bucket optional), choose your social media platform of choice, and catch up on all things Dune: Awakening! And let us know in the comments what else you would like to see in future videos!
GDC & PAX East Preview Roundup
Greetings Sleepers,
Shai-Hulud has reared his head above the sands. Blessed be the maker!
The last few weeks have been an exciting whirlwind with both GDC and PAX East taking place, where we got to sit down with journalists and content creators to present some extended, mostly raw footage of the starting experience in Dune: Awakening.
After presenting the game, we spent a few nail-biting days waiting, but we were blown away by the reactions. Here are some of our favorite previews:
“Dune: Awakening is looking supremely cool – as it was written.” IGN
“I'm finding myself more and more interested in Dune: Awakening the more I learn about it.” PC Gamer
“For those of us who've dreamed of waging political, economic, and physical war on the Dunes of Arrakis, the game may be our best bet.” VG247
“Thankfully, it seems to be on track, judging first from the scorching gameplay released at the start of the month and now glowing preview coverage from outlet IGN, which has us more hyped than ever.” Pushsquare
“Dune: Awakening looks to spice up the world of survival MMOs.” Shacknews
“You are essentially given the opportunity to do whatever you want whether you are someone who enjoys PvP or PvE.” RectifyGaming
“If I wasn't already excited for the upcoming Dune MMO, what I saw would have put any reservations to rest about the ambitious project.” Techraptor
"Dune: Awakening ambitiously blends genres and lore.” But Why Tho
“Dune: Awakening has the spice to convert me into a survival game addict.” The Loadout
At the end of the closed-doors presentation, we also held a Q&A, in which we shared a lot of new information. Dive deeper into all the spicy details in Wccftech’s great summary.
Discover Everything Revealed in Our First Dune: Awakening Direct
Greetings Sleepers,
Our first Dune: Awakening Direct took place earlier today, and we could not be more excited.
In case you missed it, you can watch the full show here. For a summary of what we shared, read on.
Creating Worlds – From Book to Film to Game
In this featurette, we contemplate the journey Dune has taken, from book, to film, to game. Every medium has its strengths; in the books we gain unparallelled insight into the characters’ minds and motivations, and in the films we are witness to unforgettable vistas and see the story come to life. In Dune: Awakening, you will become a part of that life, as you step into an immersive and vast sandbox environment where you will be forged in the scorching crucible of Arrakis’ deserts.
In Creating Worlds, we also interview the Academy Award-winning Cinematographer of Dune: Part 1 and 2, Greig Fraser, as he explores the potential of Dune: Awakening in creating your own journey on Arrakis, and some of the creative overlap between film and game.
Our own Creative Director, Joel Bylos, also shares some of his thoughts on the book, the game, and what it means to Funcom.
Survive Arrakis Trailer
We’re thrilled to unveil our game trailer, giving you a taste of the spice, and what awaits you on Arrakis. Soar across dunes in crafted ornithopters, learn the techniques of the Great Schools of the Imperium, raise unique personal outposts, use the wonders of Holzman tech, but always remember... beware the worm.
Arrakis is a test that few survive.
Dune: Awakening Direct Interviews
Our host, Soe Gschwind, did her best to pry some nuggets of information out of Joel during the interview, and not without success.
We recommend watching the full interview from the Dune: Awakening Direct for all the new info, but look below for a summary.
Genre
Dune: Awakening is our take on survival MMO in an open world sandbox.
Survival includes collecting water from plants and even bodies. Keeping to shade when possible helps reduce water consumption.
Crafting You will collect resources to craft your entire arsenal: weapons, gear, clothing, your base, vehicles, and more.
MMO aspects shine towards the end-game, where factions will fight for resources. There is a Landsraad system that enables players aligned with, for example, the Harkonnen and Atreides, to vote on things which impact the whole world.
Base building
The deep building system lets you create blueprints of what you have built, which you can then sell to other players on the exchange.
You generate a shield around your base to keep it safe from sandstorms and enemy players.
Co-op building is facilitated with holograms that let allies see and contribute to a construction.
Sandworms
You cannot kill the worm.
You can only avoid the worm.
You can use thumpers to direct a sandworm.
Shifting Sands
Some specific areas will be subject to the Shifting Sands feature, where once a week, Coriolis storms will completely change the landscape, wiping out player outposts and revealing new resource locations.
Combat
You will pick and choose from a wide arsenal of crafted weapons, gadgets, vehicles, gear, and abilities from different Great Schools of the Imperium.
There’s friendly fire in PvP areas, so be careful who you shoot in the back.
What’s next?
Closed Beta tests have begun and are going well. We will grow these tests over time.
Expect to see a lot more of the game this year.
There you have it! Thank you all so much for joining us on this journey. Make sure to sign up for future Beta tests on the official website, and join the rest of the Sleepers on our Discord.
Two New Trailers to be Unveiled at First Dune: Awakening Direct!
Greetings Sleepers,
We are thrilled to announce the debut of our new series of Dune: Awakening Direct showcases. Tune in to the first one 18:00 CET/12:00 ET, March 4 on our Twitch and Youtube.
The Dune: Awakening Direct showcases are an exciting way for us to share more about Dune: Awakening with all of you. The first show on March 4 will be hosted by the prominent Soe Gschwind and include never-before-seen footage of the game in two brand-new videos: our Game Trailer, and a featurette titled Creating Worlds, from Book to Film to Game.
Dune: Awakening is an Open World Survival MMO, and this Dune: Awakening Direct aims to show you what we mean by that. On Arrakis, you shape your own destiny by what you do. In the Game Trailer, we offer a taste of what it’s like to soar across open Dunes in your ornithopter, survive the sandworms, and build your first shelter.
Creating Worlds, from Book to Film to Game, features interviews with academy award-winning cinematographer on Dune: Part 1 and 2, Greig Fraser, and Funcom Creative Director, Joel Bylos, giving you a glimpse at what it takes to bring the ultimate Dune fantasy to life.
With Dune: Part 2 hitting theaters around the same time, there is so much to be excited for as a Dune fan. Join us in celebrating this incredible universe. You’ve read it, you’ve seen it, and in Dune: Awakening, you will live it.
Tune in to our Twitch or Youtube on March 4 at 18:00 CET/12:00 ET to watch the full Dune: Awakening Direct showcase.
In the past few weeks, we have shared a number of concept arts, screenshots, and lore on our social channels, from expansive vistas to closeups of various armors and clothing. For your convenience, we've rounded them all up in this article. Read on to gain more insight into Arrakis.
CHOAM are well accustomed to protecting their investments, deploying their heavies whenever needed. These experienced fighters are outfitted with proprietary heavy armor and fully equipped to deal with extreme combat encounters.
Stripped of their crests and ranks, Harkonnen Traitors conceal their former identities with scavenged equipment and clothing. They're unpredictable, opportunistic, and dangerous enough to stand on their own.
Hidden among the dunes of Arrakis are ancient ecology labs waiting to be explored. Believed to be abandoned, their secrets are yours to uncover.
No place on Arrakis could be described as safe, but its villages are as close as you will get. Here, you can observe the daily life of its inhabitants as they trade, work, and socialize, all amidst war and deadly conditions.
Having served the Imperium for ten millennia, House Atreides is known for its moral fibre and nobility. Their architecture reflects their reputation with light colors, wide spaces, and lots of sunlight. How they fare under the scorching sun of Arrakis, only time will tell.
Throughout your adventures on Arrakis, you’ll come across Trading Posts. Think of them as oases; a rare chance to – at least partially – lower your guard. Here you can trade with the merchants, refuel, and plan your next move.
Arrakis burns those that don’t respect its deadly nature. A stillsuit is essential for preserving body moisture under extreme heat as it can convert it into drinkable fluids.
Large landmarks are often steeped in history and can carry religious significance to the local population. While they may provide shelter from the elements, it is unwise to approach them without caution.
Early Closed Beta Coming Soon
Greetings Sleepers,
As the team continues to make great progress on Dune: Awakening, we’re approaching a stage where the game can benefit a lot from player feedback.
As such, we will soon begin holding early closed Beta tests, initially with small pools of players. As we continue doing tests, we will increase the number of players invited.
First closed Beta test
We will soon reach out with a sign-up form to all those who signed up for the Beta on the official website. We will email the account you signed up with, so keep an eye on your inbox (and spam).
This is an early closed Beta test and those invited will be under NDA not to share information about the test publicly.
Sign up on the website for future tests
If you haven’t signed up yet, you can do so on the official website, using the Beta Sign-up tab.
Make sure to also join the official Discord to stay up to date on more news.
We can’t wait for the first arrivals on Arrakis!
Until next time, Sleepers
Developer Update 2 - Sounds of Arrakis
Arrakis.
You can hear it: the rising hiss of a sandworm; a canyon echoing the deep buzz of a low-flying ornithopter; a Coriolis storm murmuring on the horizon.
To capture the feeling of setting foot on Arrakis, there are countless sounds which must be imagined and crafted. Today, we are pleased to show you the work going into the audio of Dune: Awakening. First, we will delve into how we capture the Dune feel through sounds, then delve into the tools and methods we use to create them. After that, we’ll listen to some sounds that stand out, like sandworms, ornithopters, and weapons, and look at the creative process that has led us to where we are now.
It is important to mention that everything discussed here is a work in progress, and subject to change. Our purpose here is to share our process and direction, not the result. As with our previous blog on the art of Arrakis, we have invited a developer to talk about the work they’re producing with their team. Here to guide you through this aural journey is Arild Iversen, Audio Director on Dune: Awakening.
Finding The Voice of Arrakis
Hello everyone, I’m Arild, here to give you a look behind the scenes of the audio in Dune: Awakening. It’s a big topic that is constantly evolving, which makes it all the more exciting. The first question we should answer is: how do we capture the feeling of living on Arrakis? This is our biggest challenge.
We must follow a consistent tone, and that tone must be defined. While the movie by Denis Villeneuve is a great guide (more on that later), we follow three foundational design pillars for our audio: Evoke, Advise, and Flow.
Evoke - This pillar is all about nailing the Dune feeling. It’s strange, yet familiar, nostalgic, yet mystical. The Dune soundscape feels grounded, raw, warm, and mechanical; analogue as opposed to digital. The sounds have texture and feel real. Music is also essential to evoking Arrakis. It’s melancholy and meditative and should deliver a deep sense of history and vast gulfs of time.
Advise - Through this pillar, we guide and inform the player. It's how we let you know where the threat is, or isn’t. The audio must ease the chaos around you, filtering it so that you can prioritize and make the right tactical decisions based on the situation.
Audio supports gameplay both directly and indirectly. It reacts when there’s an immediate event, but it can also build up to a situation. Combat is a great example. We’re exploring a system where there are several threat levels that inform what kind of music and sounds you hear, intensifying as the threat grows.
It may seem simple, but in practice it quickly becomes complicated. How do you define combat? What happens if an ally shoots you, or near you? Or an enemy shoots at you but misses. There are also environmental threats such as dehydration to consider.
Flow – Another priority for us is that in-game SFX must be unobtrusive and designed to support long-term gameplay. Repetitive and continuous sounds blend and fade into the world over time.
Take ornithopters: when you start the engine, the sound will be loud and give a sense of its power, but as you fly, it subtly fades into background noise. The same goes for survival, crafting, or atmospheric sounds. After a time, they fade somewhat, making space for potential external sounds to enter and be heard in the mix. A phrase often heard here is: The sound may be dirty, but the mix must be clean.
The Origin of Sounds
So where do our sounds actually come from and how are they produced? We use a combination of synthesizers, a wide variety of software plugins, real-life recordings known as foley (both in-house and outsourced), and curated pre-recorded sound libraries. Pre-recorded sounds come with a big stipulation: we never lift a sound as is, instead using fragments to be reprocessed into layers that create what should feel like endless variations.
With all this, we develop a language for various sounds such as that of a weapon or a footstep on a sandy pathway. We'll get back to what we mean by a language later.
As our team has grown, so has our capacity to record our own sounds. It's an incredibly fun and rewarding method where you sometimes stumble into the perfect sound by accident. For example, I once spent half a day trying to find the right swishy-swoosh sound for a cinematic but ended up simply recording myself going schhhhiew into a microphone. It took five seconds and the sound worked perfectly. It’s a good reminder of how simple solutions can be the best.
This brings us to the 2021 movie by Denis Villeneuve, which of course plays a huge role in our work. While we do have access to all the sounds from the movie, we are not obliged to use them. The movie’s sound design by Mark Mangini and his crew is nothing short of incredible, and in my humble opinion, perhaps the best sound design one can find in the known universe. Listening to it is both inspirational and a little daunting.
Although Dune is one of the most beloved and influential franchises within sci-fi, it’s a very different IP compared to the likes of Star Wars or Marvel, where the audience has clear expectations of what something should sound like, such as a lightsaber. That sound is set in stone, and a major departure would cause confusion or even outrage. We don’t have the same pressure, but due to our admiration for the film’s sound design, we often look to it for inspiration.
We decided that we would align with the movie for the sounds that we think have already become iconic for the universe, such as Ornithopters, The Voice, or that deadly and intricate little Hunter-Seeker. Yet even where we align with the movie, we have a rule that we recreate every sound ourselves, sometimes reverse engineering what we have from the sound library to truly understand it, put our own spin on it, and most importantly, know how to expand upon it.
Creating a Thing’s Sound Language
The sounds in the movie are designed to work in a linear picture. It’s a language but - if we continue the same metaphor – its vocabulary is only designed to say specific things. Our ornithopters, however, must react immediately to players’ behavior. All the potential transitions and states; speeding up, slowing down, rising, descending, crashing, damaged, flying through a storm or a valley. Our language must be dynamic.
The sound language must account not only for the player’s perspective, but also that of other players. For example, the way the sound of an ornithopter gets somewhat muffled when it flies behind an obstacle. This is why we talk about a sound language. As an open world survival game with multiplayer and a lot of sandbox elements, the design is very systems-based. It’s classic game audio design, but the challenge is to keep the feel grounded and consistent with Dune.
The Story Behind the Sounds
Let’s take a look at how we’re approaching a number of important sounds in the game.
Sandworms
The sandworms are probably the most recognizable element of the Dune universe, so we’re keenly aware of the importance of getting them right. They are the divine symbol of Arrakis, a force of nature and balance. They are no mere monsters. We don’t want the stereotypical dinosaur roar with pig squeals in the middle. No offence to dinosaurs. Or pigs.
In the movies, they have a rhythmic language, and while this approach is fascinating, it does not translate very well to our game, as most situations where the player is close to a sandworm is the instant before being consumed.
For Dune: Awakening’s sandworms, we expanded on the feeling of a force of nature. It should feel like the gaze of the planet itself has fallen upon you. You must feel that weight. We used reactive environmental sounds, like shaking and the hiss of sand.
Ornithopters
We studied the film carefully when looking at the ornithopter, and eventually came up with our own variations that have the same feel. It’s the same grounded, insect-like sound, reflecting its dragonfly visual design. As mentioned, our sounds are considerably expanded due to all variations the sound needs, and other aspects of flying which I can’t talk about just yet.
Groundcars
We had a lot of fun with the groundcar, a nimble and fun little vehicle. We tried a number of different sounds for it, even some we didn’t expect to work. At first, we explored the sounds of offroad bikes, golf carts, lawnmower engines, and even insect buzzing. We then realized we needed more weight, so we added extra buzzy analog layers from a synth.
After tinkering with the balance between these sounds, we still weren’t satisfied, and thought we had failed completely. On a whim, we removed the initial bike engine sound, and suddenly, it worked! The additional layers we had packed around that core engine sound held up by themselves. Overall, the vehicles of Dune sound somewhat gritty, analog, and buzzy, but still with the feel of a diesel driven machine.
Spice Blows
These massive explosions of spice erupting from the surface are of extreme importance to players. As with the sandworms, we started by looking into more organic sounds, as if the planet is giving in, releasing a groan before the surface breaks and explodes.
These explosions can be seen from huge distances, creating a plume of spice in the sky, so we explored having a delay on the explosion to give a sense of distance and realism. Testing revealed that this didn’t feel great though, so we abandoned the idea. However, you then have the shockwave hit you after a short delay, which does deliver that feeling of distance, scale, and grounded realism.
Holtzman Technology
We’re crafting a shared language for all Holtzman tech, which is found most notably in the various kinds of shields and suspensors. Although they may sound different, they will all be threaded with the “Holtzman sound” to identify it for what it is.
For shields, we’re taking inspiration from the movie, using all these weirdly organic popping sounds. We’re developing our own expanded language for this using synth patches, analog distortion, and maybe a cat.
Weapons
Weapons have been a very interesting journey, and we’ve just about landed on the kind of language we want to use for them. Ranged weaponry is a major aspect of combat in Dune: Awakening, and there are a variety of weapons that use different technologies.
We’ve veered away from explosive gunpowder-type sounds, instead looking at spring and gas-based sounds that propel darts. The challenge here is in doing so while still giving a strong sense of danger and power. We also want them to sound somewhat exotic. You expect some kind of boom and thump with guns, so we’ve leaned into having a satisfying rhythm to firing and reloading using synths and mechanical clicking and hissing.
Player Buildings
This is currently one of the most challenging aspects of the sound design. Players are free to build their own bases almost anywhere they want, piece by piece, meaning they can take pretty much any shape. There are also different materials, causing further complexity and different ways to mute the outside world.
The inside of a base should make you feel safe, while simultaneously sounding interesting and active, and also reacting to the player’s crafting activities. Outside, you have the sound of the wind, storms, and sand. Inside, you should hear all that interacting with your base, sand hitting the walls, muted wind, etc. All of this will depend on how and where you’ve built your base, so the audio design must be dynamic and reactive.
We hope hearing these sound snippets has made you feel, just for a moment, like you were on Arrakis. When everything comes together, that’s our goal. And we hope you found this peek behind the development curtain interesting.
It is an unmitigated privilege to work on Dune. With the novels and the movie’s soundtrack as guides, inspiration is never far. We are in the midst of delving ever deeper into Arrakis in Dune: Awakening, capturing its essence, all while discovering new sounds we hadn’t previously imagined.
What sounds did you enjoy the most? Did you want to hear one that wasn’t showcased? Let us know in the comments! Join the rest of us on the official Discord server to chat about the latest news, and don’t forget to add Dune: Awakening to your Steam wishlist!
Until next time, Sleepers.
Funcom Community Hangout – Gamescom 2023
For 30 years, gamers from all around the world have been experiencing and forming diverse and passionate communities around the vast virtual worlds developed at Funcom. These communities are invaluable and have always been one of the cornerstones in making great games even more amazing. With Gamescom 2023 happening next month in Germany, we want to take this opportunity to meet some of you in person!
Folks from different Funcom teams will attend the event, so why not get together and hang out? We promise that everyone will have a bloody good time! After all, FUN is in our name, right? But to not be unfounded, here are a few things planned for this special occasion:
Meet people from the Funcom team
Try our special drinks to cool yourself. If you’re one of the first 100 people to attend, two of your drinks are on us!
Have some snacks from our special selection to go along with a nice chat
Grab a goodie bag filled with surprise gifts. We have a limited supply. First come, first serve!
Meet new people and enjoy the company
But most importantly, have fun!
In addition to these, we’ll have some extra surprises to make this night even more unforgettable. Please join us for this lovely night to celebrate Funcom communities and video games. We’d be delighted to see you there!
Note: Due to venue limitations, reserving a spot through the event page won’t guarantee your attendance. We will send you a second e-mail if your attendance is accepted.
Please note that we will be taking pictures during the event and by attending this event you agree to potentially appear in our photos from it.
When: August 25, 6 PM to 11 PM (CEST) Where: Café de Paris - Benesisstraße 61, Köln, NRW, 50672 How to get there: The venue is pretty close to the Gamescom building, you can get there in around 20 minutes with a car or public transport.
For any questions, feel free to use the Contact option on the event page or send us an e-mail at fcengagement@funcom.com
New Interview With our Creative Director!
Greetings Sleepers,
Our Creative Director, Joel Bylos, sat down with INVEN to discuss Dune: Awakening, answering a variety of questions ranging from comparisons to other Funcom games, to resources and battles between guilds.
Bylos emphasizes that the difference between Dune: Awakening and previous Funcom games is the focus on complex sandbox mechanics. Unlike games like Conan Exiles, there are vehicles with complex physics simulations and shooting mechanics. The ability to explore the vastness of Arrakis from an ornithopter is something totally new.
