Joel Bylos

According to Funcom, the upcoming open-world survival MMO Dune Awakening won’t let engaging gameplay overshadow the title’s deep lore. With previews of the game starting to hit the web, longtime fans of the Dune universe and prospective players have cast doubt on everything the title promises—but its creative director Joel Bylos recently sat down with PCGamesN to set the record straight.

During the Game Developers Conference 2024 in San Francisco, Funcom provided the first detailed Dune Awakening presentation to the press. For the full details of what was discussed in the open world survival MMO's overview, head to our previous article.

At GDC 2024, Wccftech attended a presentation and subsequent roundtable Q&A about open world survival MMO Dune Awakening with Creative Director Joel Bylos. The full interview will be available soon, but in the meantime, here's what Bylos told us when we asked whether the game would launch this year:

Developer Funcom has stated that Dune: Awakening will not feature sandworm riding at launch, but it will be added as part of a future update. Although Dune: Awakening is still without a release date, its recent showcase generated plenty of excitement among fans.

Dune: Awakening won't let players ride sandworms from launch. Like other parts of Fremen culture, it will be relegated to a post-launch update, as the devs say they were told to leave certain aspects of the Dune universe out of the game at launch.

Funcom, developer of the upcoming Dune: Awakening, has issued a statement regarding the role of religion in the game after fan concerns erupted on the internet this week.

Hot on the heels of yesterday's gameplay reveal, we've learned more about Funcom's upcoming MMO, Dune: Awakening, which remains shrouded in mystery. Crucially, we knew the story would take place in an alternate universe set a few years before the events of the Frank Herbert books or Dennis Villeneuve films and would ignore one of the most critical aspects of its universe, religion, for undisclosed spoiler reasons. Now you've got our attention!

Visually, looks like it's set in the world of Denis Villeneuve's movie adaptations, with the studio behind these films, Legendary, having shared assets with the development team at Funcom, as well as inviting them on set. Despite this, the game's story has made at least one massive change from the book and the movies that could have major consequences going forward.

Joel Bylos, chief creative officer at Funcom and creative director of Dune: Awakening,has stated that the game will focus on a «topical» war «between humans and artificial intelligence.» 

Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two film wormed its way through theaters over the weekend, and if you’ve still got sand in the brain, there’s plenty more where that came from. Namely, Funcom shared a closer look at the upcoming Dune: Awakening survival game, which is in the works for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

Developer Funcom has confirmed that Dune Awakening will let you join guilds under two factions, along with a third that is yet to be revealed. 

Developers at Funcom, the studio behind upcoming massively multiplayer online game Dune: Awakening, "sort of sidestep religion" in their take on the beloved science fiction universe.

Dune Awakening had to make some changes to its source material, and the developers needed express permission to make that happen.

While looks to provide players with an authentic Arrakis experience, two iconic parts of creator Frank Herbert's world haven't made it into the game. Given the gigantic scale of and the various aspects that must be included to authentically adapt the sci-fi universe, it stands to reason that certain aspects would need to be changed or added through future updates. Fortunately for players, developer Funcom has good reason for leaving out some iconic parts of the franchise.

As promised last week, Funcom has released a new stunning trailer for Dune Awakening while also talking about the making of the survival MMO in a separate feature as part of their Direct-like showcase. Chief Creative Officer Joel Bylos discussed the game's basics and the back-and-forth with Legendary, who allowed them to go on the set of the first movie and even borrow assets:

Funcom has released a new trailer for upcoming survival-based MMORPG Dune: Awakening. Dubbed the Survive Arrakis trailer, the latest video showcases some of the gameplay players can expect in Dune: Awakening, including having to gather materials to build bases, and explore the deadly deserts of the world.

A presentation for Dune: Awakening has explained why developer Funcom chose Unreal Engine 5 to craft its open-world survival MMO. The Dune: Awakening Direct comes shortly following the release of Dune: Part Two, the highly anticipated sequel to Denis Villeneuve's film adaptation of Frank Herbert's titular novel.

As part of Dune: Awakening's recent showcase, developer Funcom has revealed that hydration plays a major role in the forthcoming open-world survival MMO, in which players can drink the blood of slain enemies to stay alive, in addition to other methods. Funcom has yet to confirm a release date for Dune: Awakening.

Dune: Awakening will pair survival and crafting mechanics with the social interaction of a massively multiplayer online game, letting players fulfill the hellish fantasy of surviving life on Arrakis. Yes, you can fly an ornithopter. Yes, you can use the Voice to bend the will of your enemies. And yes, you can drink the blood of your enemies in an effort to stay hydrated on Dune’s deadly desert planet.

Sandworms play a major part in Dune: Awakening, the big survival MMO coming some time soon from Funcom, the developers behind Conan: Exiles — but the game won't feature the novel's famous sandworm-riding come launch. And, presumably much more importantly for Conan fans, there'll be no penis sliders either.

Dune: Awakening, a survival MMO set in the world of Dune, isn't toning down the threat of sandworms to work in the game. In fact, developer Funcom says that they're completely unkillable and will have to be avoided or diverted rather than defeated. If one of them goes after you, the developers say you have "seconds" to react before it kills you.

Sandworms in Dune: Awakening will be unkillable, Funcom has revealed. The confirmation of their immortality arrived as part of a new developer diary featuring an extensive behind-the-scenes look at the upcoming game, and offering some other details about how Dune: Awakening will handle the most iconic creature from the seminal sci-fi saga.

Dune: Awakening, the massively-multiplayer take on Frank Herbert’s sandy sci-fi universe from dong-loving devs Funcom, has shown off some more of its online, open-world Arrakis in a lengthy developer direct. We’ve also learnt more about what we will - and won’t - be able to do during our time exploring the planet.

Upcoming survival MMO will let players attempt to make it on their own on Arrakis, the most dangerous planet in the galaxy. The title comes from Funcom, a developer that's no stranger to the online multiplayer genre, with previous releases like and. recently attended a special event for the game hosted by Funcom's creative director Joel Bylos, which featured a premiere of a new trailer and a showcase segment delving into the game's development.

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.

Dune: Part Two, the long-awaited sequel to the 2021 Oscar-winning hit Dune, has finally been released and is having a smash opening weekend at the box office. For those who are experiencing Dune for the first time in theaters, the film ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, and longtime fans of the story will be left eagerly awaiting the adventure’s end. Whichever camp you fall into, you’ll surely be left wanting more — and thankfully, everyone is getting more today with a new look at the upcoming survival MMO Dune: Awakening.

This afternoon, Funcom announced the first in a series of Dune Awakening Direct showcases. Slated to go live on Monday, March 4 at 6 PM CET (noon Eastern Time, 9 AM Pacific Time) on Twitch and YouTube, it'll be hosted by Soe Gschwind and include new footage of the open world survival MMO. Fans will be treated to the Gameplay Reveal Trailer and a featurette titled Creating Worlds, from Book to Film to Game.

The Dune: Awakening team has opened up its TikTok account and given a few nuggets of info about the upcoming survival MMO. The video, which was also shared via Funcom on other social platforms, gives a few details against some clips.