Funcom reveals gameplay screenshots for Dune Awakening

Fresh from the success of Dune: Part Two, the Dune franchise is getting a new entry, this time an open-world survival RPG called Dune Awakening.

Developed and published by Funcom, the studio behind Conan Chop Chop, Metal: Hellsigner, and Moons of Madness, Dune Awakening is an open-world exploration and survival multiplayer game based on the books and films.

The game allows players to build abodes in the harsh environments of the desert planet of Arrakis and interact with other players in real-time. They can build alliances, share resources, or compete for dominion.

Based on the screenshots released on the social networking site X, Dune: Awakening promises highly detailed player and environmental visuals, thanks to the Nanite Tessellation technology made possible by the Unreal Engine 5.4. The dunes are accurate down to the rolling of the sands and the smoke kicked up by the passage of a rover.

The Nanite Tessellation technology in UE5.4 lets game designers render an unprecedented level of accuracy and realism in renders without consuming a lot of system resources. This capability should come in handy in preventing server resource management, considering that Dune: Awakening is a multiplayer game.

Similarly, the character creation screen demonstrates the insane amount of detail available in every character, from the face down to the clothing.

Last but not least, we get a short glimpse of one of the gameplay’s survival mechanics. One screenshot, in particular, shows a player trying to pry open a downed speeder, possibly to retrieve vehicle components and scrap metal.

The preview also includes a look at the Spell leveling tree for the game.

Dune: Awakening is still under development. Funcom has not specified a release date as of this time of writing, but players can add it to their wishlist on Steam.

Dune: Part Two struck the $500 million milestone in global box office earnings just 20 days after its release date. The cinematographer, Greig Fraser, recently revealed that they used Unreal 4 to create moving storyboards that greatly simplified the movie’s pre-production process.