Dune Awakening Launches today!
The unforgiving, spice-rich deserts of Arrakis are now open to all. Developer and publisher Funcom has officially launched its highly anticipated open-world survival MMO, Dune: Awakening, on Steam today, June 11, 2025. The game invites players worldwide to rise from desert survivors to galactic power players in what is being hailed as the most ambitious Dune video game adaptation to date.
The launch follows an incredibly successful 5-day head start period for those who purchased the Deluxe and Ultimate Editions. During this early access window, which began on June 5, the game saw an impressive peak of 117,087 concurrent players on Steam. With the floodgates now fully open, that number is expected to climb even higher. Early player sentiment is overwhelmingly positive, with the game currently holding an 89% favorable user rating on the platform.
Inspired by Frank Herbert’s iconic universe and Denis Villeneuve’s award-winning films, Dune: Awakening drops players onto the deadliest planet in the universe. Survival is a constant struggle against scorching sun, colossal sandworms, and violent Coriolis storms. Players will need to build shelters, craft weapons and gear, and master vehicles like ground cars and the iconic ornithopter to navigate the vast, seamless world. The game uniquely bridges the survival genre with large-scale multiplayer elements, allowing hundreds of players to coexist on persistent servers. You can trade resources, build massive bases, and align with either House Atreides or House Harkonnen to engage in epic battles that shape the political landscape of Arrakis.
To celebrate the full launch, Funcom has released a new “supercut” trailer, weaving together highlights from previous cinematic reveals into one epic video.
Philippine Pricing and Special Editions
For gamers in the Philippines, Dune: Awakening is available on Steam with localized pricing. The base game is priced at PhP 1,799.
Players looking for more content from day one can choose from two premium editions:
- Deluxe Edition (PhP 2,399): Includes the base game, the first Season Pass (containing the first four DLCs), and the formidable Sardaukar Bator Armor set.
- Ultimate Edition (PhP 2,999): Contains everything in the Deluxe Edition, plus exclusive cosmetic items inspired by the 2021 film, including the Dune Film Stillsuit, unique swatches for your sandbike and ornithopter, the Caladan Palace Building Set, a 50-page digital artbook, and the game’s 90-minute digital soundtrack.
The Future of Arrakis
Funcom has confirmed a consumer-friendly “buy-to-play” model for Dune: Awakening. The game is a full release, not in Early Access, and features no mandatory subscription fees or microtransactions. While optional cosmetic DLCs will be available, the core experience is complete upon purchase.
The first DLC included in the Season Pass, titled “Wildlife of Arrakis,” is available now and features four in-game statues of the planet’s creatures. The next three DLCs are scheduled for release in Q4 2025, Q1 2026, and Q2 2026, with Funcom also promising regular free updates to expand the game with new content and features.
While PC players can begin their adventure today, console players can look forward to joining the fight for the spice, as Funcom has confirmed that Dune: Awakening is planned for a PlayStation and Xbox release sometime in 2026.
Our First Impressions
Thanks to a game key provided by Funcom and Level Infinite, we had the opportunity to step onto Arrakis before the global launch. Our immediate takeaway is that Dune: Awakening lives up to its promise of being a full release. The experience felt polished and content-complete, with the only noticeable launch-day issues relating to server management, a common hurdle for massive online games.
What truly impressed us was the game’s performance, especially on handheld gaming PCs. On the Lenovo Legion Go, with FSR enabled on low settings, the game ran beautifully. Pushing the device to a 30W TDP yielded a buttery-smooth 90 frames per second on average. The game demonstrates impressive scalability, dropping to a still very manageable 50fps at 20W TDP and a playable 30fps at 15W TDP, proving that you don’t need to sacrifice much battery life for a solid desert experience on the go. we are also happy to report that the controller support for this game is topnotch.
We have since continued our journey on the GPD Win 4 equipped with the new AMD AI 9 HX 370 processor. This offers a promising glimpse into the future, as its performance is considered on par with the upcoming AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme. The game runs exceptionally well, suggesting strong future-proofing and optimization for the next generation of handheld hardware.
See you all in Arrakis.
Giancarlo Viterbo is a Filipino Technology Journalist, blogger and Editor of gadgetpilipinas.net, He is also a Geek, Dad and a Husband. He knows a lot about washing the dishes, doing some errands and following instructions from his boss on his day job. Follow him on twitter: @gianviterbo and @gadgetpilipinas.
