The starting zone is restricted to 40-player servers, which, considering the size of the maps, can either make your world feel very busy or totally isolated. It all depends on where you are in the progression compared to the other players on the server. I’ve already written about how much of a grind Dune: Awakening is to play solo, so if you’re like me and want to play optimally, it’s probably a good idea to find some friends to play with for the release of the game. But you might also want to find a guild to run with on the same server, especially if you prefer to have more player interactions as you level up your character. Alternatively, you could hope to stumble across some like-minded players as you explore.
Finding some friends on the hostile desert planet of Arrakis was not even something I’d considered before checking out the beta. Most of the zones are PvE-only, but there are a couple of PvP zones around wrecked ships, but these were mostly empty whenever I checked them out for rare blueprints and loot. The grind of Dune: Awakening’s early game is seriously reduced if you get a few people out mining ores and collecting scrap.
But it also opens up the possibility of something else I hadn’t really considered: Dune roleplaying servers.
House Politics And Guild Warfare
I tried to get into GTA Online RP last year, but found the communities there to be a little clique-y and the setup a bit of a rigmarole to go through. Some of the servers are also full of players that take the game extremely seriously, which is fine, but not really for me. It’s probably why so many people just choose to watch the RP, rather than get involved themselves.
I also had my first experience of proper guild politics and warfare while playing last year’s Amazon MMO, Throne & Liberty. I was a part of a multi-guild alliance with almost 400 total members, which required a level of admin from the leaders that basically amounted to a second job. One of my best memories of that game is the speech that the guild raid leader made before we led the assault on the castle, as part of the server-wide siege event. It wasn’t full RP, but some people leaned into it, which made the experience more memorable.
The pursuit of a combination of GTA RP and Throne & Liberty’s guild warfare has me so excited to attempt some RP in the Dune universe. It’s what I’ve always wanted since I first read the Dune books when I was younger. The idea of proudly representing the House of Atreides against the vile Harkonnen might finally be achievable. Considering the endgame of Dune: Awakening focuses largely on House vs House combat and politics, it looks like Funcom may have (intentionally or not) established a great foundation for RP.
Dune: Awakening will have several houses within the Great Houses, i.e, there are multiple houses you can represent in each faction. You can earn rewards by completing tasks for these houses. Endgame gameplay and politics focus on the Landsraad, which is essentially an enormous, galaxy-wide assembly of powerful nobles from all the houses. This is Dune, so those who control the spice control the universe.
This is represented in the game by the ever-changing endgame zone, the Deep Desert. This area is PvP-enabled and where players from the houses can fight over rare resources, primarily huge spice deposits. The guilds and houses with the most points can earn powerful decrees at the end of each wipe (roughly ten days, subject to change), like crafting boosts and ranged weapon damage boosts. This encourages conflict and rewards the most powerful houses.
I’m really interested to see how these mechanics can help players lean into more RP-heavy gameplay. If houses are able to break alliances, switch allegiances, or even betray other houses, I can see what is essentially some basic PvP turning into gameplay that tells stories. Just like in Throne & Liberty when our guild was betrayed in the final hour by one of our soft alliances, I can see the politics and story-telling of Dune: Awakening’s living world being a big draw for players. Choose your side wisely. I’ll see you out there.
Dune: Awakening
- Released
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June 10, 2025
- Developer(s)
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Funcom
- Publisher(s)
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Funcom
- Engine
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Unreal Engine 5
