Dune: Awakening Developer Discusses Core Pillars, New Alpha Footage Revealed

Funcom’s survival MMO Dune: Awakening received extensive new alpha footage and an interview with the developer, who talked about the five core pillars – Survival, Politics and intrigue, Infinite exploration, Combined arms combat, and Expression and customization (or SPICE, yes, seriously). Though its sense of scale is immense, conflicts can erupt from small actions, like knifing people to take their water.

Players can run guilds with tanks, sand bikes and more and come into conflict with each other. However, massive sandworms also lurk on the planet, and you’ll need to think fast to survive. Unlike most MMOs which rely on hot bars and cooldowns, Dune: Awakening’s combat is more “second-to-second and intense,” per game director Viljar Sommerbakk when speaking to PC Gamer.

You need to start from the ground up, not unlike Conan: Exiles (another Funcom survival MMO), but Dune: Awakening has its unique flavor (or spice, if you will). A release date hasn’t been revealed, but players can sign up for the beta here.