Dune: Awakening beta weekend has concluded. It ran from May 9 to May 12, 2025, offering players a preview of the game’s first act, estimated to take 20–25 hours to complete.

Hi, everybody. Dune Awakening is a new survival game based in the dune universe from Funcom. Now I personally have a lot of experience with Funcom since the Anarchy Online days. I have a good idea about what kind of company they are and and what to expect from them.

So my initial plan was to let the game come out, probably let it have a little bit of cook time, as funcom definitely generally needs a little bit of cook time, and then give it a try and see if I like it. I did like Conan Exiles, so I assumed that Dune Awakening was gonna be like Conan Exiles, but in the Dune universe. So I was expecting a relatively basic survival game with some Dune wrapping paper around it to make me feel like I’m in that universe. What I didn’t expect, now that I’ve played it for a few hours, is my damn phone making so much noise after I thought I was working. What I didn’t expect is how much Dune is in this game.

Dune Awakening Beta​

And as a fan of the Dune series, I really appreciate how much there is. One of the first NPCs I talked to just had a whole bunch of stuff to say that had nothing to do with what I was doing except it was Dune lore, which I really liked. Everywhere I go, there’s been, like, voice acted little, dialogue stuff. We’re currently in kind of a side mission area or maybe a main mission area that is that is super immersive or, like, in a lab. The short of it is is that in Conan exiles, I really felt like the Conan part was kind of a side thing.

Like, it was pretty much just a regular survival game in a Conan shell. But Dune Awakening does feel like a Dune game. And as a Dune fan, it feels a lot more like that than I was expecting. And, so far, I’ve been really enjoying it. I hope that it kinda stays this interesting throughout the whole thing.

I’ve also done a little bit of building. The building felt good. Also, some great QOL features, like you can put stuff in a crafted container. And then whenever you go to use your crafting stations, the crafted container stuff is already in the stations. Super handy.

Same with some building components as well. So, overall, definitely surpassed my expectations. Now getting to the last part of this, now that I’ve spoken about all the glowing parts, we gotta talk about the other parts. This is a traditional janky funcom game. What that means is is the combat, little rough around the edges.

Would not call it toy guitar. It is definitely a little loose. Animations don’t really connect. Melee is very kind of rigid and target locky. It is it is not a fine tuned combat experience.

It is a workable combat experience. And for people like me that can focus on, you know, the stuff they like, like the lore, the building, the quests, and stuff like that, I think it’ll be fine. But I’m not quite sure, and I haven’t been to it yet, but I’m not really quite sure how the game’s kind of big shining features, this kind of large scale PVP stuff. I’m not really sure how it’s gonna feel in this system. I’m looking forward to trying it, but I have to admit, so far, I feel like it might be more frustrating than fun.

Especially if you get to the point where you’re, like, invested in it and then you have, like, a dumb death because, like, of an animation not lining up or something. Like, that’s a quick way to get me personally to stop playing a PVP game. But But we’re gonna see. And I will say that the parts that I played so far, which I’ve done no PVP yet, have been enjoyable and have been something that I can kind of, like, dive into. And as a Dune fan, I’ve read the the first couple books, loved them.

It is cool being in this world. Final final thing, by the way, before we go, do wanna let you know this is an alternate universe Dune. So in this universe, the big man himself, Paul was not born. So this is a different take. It’s the same players, but in a different situation.

We’re not really sure if this is like a multiverse thing or if this is somehow gonna, like, tie back to the movies and stuff. We don’t know. But, does add an interesting perspective to it. So don’t go in expecting to, you know, be riding sandworms with Paul. That’s not quite what we’re doing yet right now.

So that’s where we are right now. Again, very early thoughts. I’ve only played it for a few hours. I am planning on diving in more this weekend since apparently we’re in a weekend test right now that I got an access to. And, if I have any more to add, I might or this may be it until we check it out later.

How to Access the Beta

Initially, beta access was limited to select participants. However, in response to community feedback, Funcom expanded access to all players who pre-ordered the game, allowing them to join the beta weekend.

Upcoming Release

Dune: Awakening is set to release on June 10, 2025, with early access beginning on June 5.

Nadim

I’m passionate about gaming, tech, and entertainment, especially mobile games. I enjoy exploring new trends and sharing stories that connect with fellow gamers and tech fans.