New Dune: Awakening gameplay trailer showcases the dangerous world of Arrakis

This story is part of our Summer Gaming Marathon series.

Dune: Awakening, the upcoming survival MMO, received a new gameplay breakdown at Gamescom Opening Night Live. Developed by Funcom, Dune: Awakening features a vast sandbox for players to fight, build, trade, and more.

During the new gameplay trailer, we saw how players can interact with each other — players can customize their appearance, socialize with other players, build homes, and even sell their building blueprints to others, building a unique player economy.

Of course, spice is the main currency in Dune: Awakening, and hundreds of players will be fighting in Arrakis for the chance to gather it all. You’ll begin the game as a nameless prisoner, who you can fully customize to your liking, before setting out on a quest to rise in the social ranks of the sand planet Arrakis.

The trailer, which can be seen below, showed off everything you love about the Dune universe from giant sandworms to the Ornithopter. We see players being ravaged by sunstroke and heat exhaustion, having to stick to the shade to survive the desert heat. Just like the characters in the series, you’ll have choose between making alliances with other players and groups or betraying others to stay alive in a world trying to kill you.

Your weapons and loadout will dictate how you approach scenarios, and the trailer showcases different approaches to combat. Climb a cliffside to get a better vantage point with a sniper or get up close and personal with a sword.

Dune: Awakening launches in early 2025 for PC. PlayStation and Xbox release dates have not been announced at this time.