Dune: Awakening Gets Tons of New Gameplay Footage Revealing Unreal Engine 5 Arrakis in Dune Direct

We already knew that Norwegian game developer Funcom is working on an open-world survival MMO game set in the Dune universe. And today, the developer has provided a new look at Dune: Awakening, including a glimpse into Arrakis along with some gameplay footage.

As part of Dune Direct, a nearly 25-minute digital showcase to provide new details on Dune: Awakening, Funcom concluded the presentation with a new gameplay trailer subtitled "Survive Arrakis." The trailer, which you can check out below, is visually stunning.

Powered by Epic's Unreal Engine 5, the latest trailer for Dune: Awakening shows the extreme conditions on planet Arrakis, from the harsh climate to gigantic sandworms emerging from the sand and evading hostile enemies. The gameplay trailer also leans into the survival aspects of Awakening, showing snippets of your playable character gathering materials and finding various ways of traversing the massive open world.

In addition to the trailer, IGN can exclusively reveal two new screenshots. The first shows some of the game's particle effects in action.

Dune: Awakening's particle effects in action. Image source: Funcom.

The second shows off its lighting and other aspects of Dune: Awakening's character design.

Dune: Awakening features some impressive lighting and character models. Image source: Funcom.

Funcom also released a host of other screenshots showing off Dune: Awakening's world as well as a featurette titled Creating Worlds, which chronicles its journey from "book to movie to game." It includes interviews with its development team interspersed with the movie that reveals how Funcom brought the forbidding world of Arrakis to life.

The rest of the Dune Direct details Dune: Awakening's survival mechanics and other elements, with creative director Joel Bylos explaining how it takes the base-building from Conan Exiles and builds on it, with a special emphasis on sharing blueprints between different players. He also discusses the ways in which players will be able to learn abilities from the "great schools of the universe," including becoming a Bene Gesserit and being able to "compel enemies to come closer so you can stab them with a knife."

As for sandworms, Bylos says they are more of a "tension mechanic." There's no way to kill them; they can only be avoided. However, you can lure them into your enemies (or friends), or simply avoid them with an ornithopter.

Bylos says that Funcom has been running betas for Dune: Awakening for several months now, with the intention of bringing in more players over time. However, he says that Funcom has no intention of "rushing it out the door," saying that it "takes as long as it takes." Players hoping to sign up for one of the closed betas can do so at the game's official website.

Surviving Arrakis

Dune: Awakening was first announced in 2022 at The Game Awards. Set on the sandworm-filled planet Arrakis, Dune: Awakening "is set on Arrakis and takes inspiration from both Frank Herbert's novels and Denis Villeneuve's Academy Award-winning film while exploring exciting new possibilities in the franchise."

While no release date was announced for Dune: Awakening, we previously learned that it will be available on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.

The announcement comes following the release of Dune: Part 2, which hit theatres last Friday. In our review of Dune: Part 2, my colleague Tom Jorgenson wrote: "Featuring absolutely staggering visuals, Dune: Part Two is an arresting, transportive middle entry in Denis Villeneuve's tricky sci-fi saga."

Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.