Dune: Awakening Makes One Change From The Book & Movies With Major Implications

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.

[Warning: The following article contains spoilers for,, and ]

is set in the year 10199 AG, which is about eight years after the events of the films. While this may sound like a way to ensure players are able to carve out their own story in Arrakis that's separate from the films, Funcom's Open World Survival MMO title has gone a step further by changing a major plot point to create a completely new alternate history, which could even erase the main events of the films and books entirely.

In an interview with , Creative Director, Joel Bylos pointed to a "" that Funcom changed while working closely with the family of author Frank Herbert, which was a major catalyst in the original story. While he didn't elaborate on what this exact moment was, he did reveal that many characters who died early in the story are alive and can be interacted with in, including Duke Leto Atreides.

Those who have read the books or watched the films know this is a major departure as Leto died after being handed over to the Harkonnens by his private Suk Doctor, Wellington Yueh, during the attack on Arrakis by Baron Harkonnen's forces. Before giving Leto to the Harkonnens, Yueh replaced one of Leto's teeth with a poison gas capsule and told Leto to bite down hard to release the deadly gas. Although Leto did this, his main target, Baron Harkonnen survived, but Leto succumbed to the effects of the poison himself.

Duke Leto's death was a major catalyst in 's story, as it led to Paul fleeing Arrakeen and embarking upon his journey. While Paul had visions of a native Fremen woman, Chani, it was only after the fall of House Atreides that