Dune: Awakening is now on consoles, and it’s the perfect time to pick up the game again.
Funcom’s survival game Dune: Awakening has gone on an interesting journey since its 2025 launch. The game was originally pitched as an MMO-like multiplayer survival game that allowed players to work together in order to survive the harsh deserts of Arrakis.
Following its launch, it became clear that the game’s multiplayer elements, in particular those involving PvP combat and griefing, were becoming controversial among the playerbase. For its part, Funcom has been steadily doling out updates to the game in the form of Chapters to expand on its content, and even add an entire singleplayer mode to co-exist with multiplayer.
In September 2026, the game finally launched on consoles, specifically PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. We’ve taken the game for a spin on PlayStation 5 to check out all the new content added since launch on consoles, in order to see if Dune: Awakening is worth your time in the big ol’ 2026.
What is new in Dune: Awakening in 2026?
Dune: Awakening’s arrival on consoles signals a visible attempt to make the game more accessible to a broader audience. Where the game was originally touted to be a survival MMO, it has now strayed far from that label, and can now be more realistically categorised as an open world survival game. This comes down to the fact that the game’s multiplayer component has been made completely optional.
The console launch has been accompanied by a bevy of game-changing updates, including the addition of a singleplayer mode and full gameplay customisation, allowing players to finetune their experience in Arrakis to be as comfortable–or uncomfortable–as they want. Even in multiplayer servers, PvP combat has become fully optional, which means that griefing has become a non-issue.
These two additions alone serve to remove most of the hurdles that players would have had to vault over in order to start playing on PC. You can go so far as to fiddle with XP rates and the presence of sandstorms, which means that survival gameplay can veer more into sandbox creation territory, if that’s where you want to steer your playthrough.
While I started a brief playthrough in multiplayer on PS5, the majority of my console playtime was spent in the game’s singleplayer mode, given how new it was to this version of the game. It’s a pretty fantastic addition to the game for those who have struggled with its social elements (sometimes other players would be hard to find in a server, and sometimes they may be difficult to work together with in PvE).
I personally adore singleplayer games, and found that this version of the game better suited my fancy. Your mileage may vary, but I do think that the more extensive customisation afforded is fun to toy around with, no matter what kind of experience you’re looking for. Even if you’ve already thrown a hundred hours at the game, being given this level of agency to customise your next playthrough still feels like a game changer.
I did mess around with a few of these options for fun, like bumping all resources farmed to the maximum output available. Unfortunately, you do have to take into account things like inventory space and in-game memory, which will cause the game to break itself if you're not careful while fiddling with these options. They're a bit more finicky than they look, and I ended up resetting everything to normal levels because I wasn't enjoying the frustration they wrought. If you're into the sandbox experience, however, these niggling problems should be an afterthought. It's par for the course for what can be best described as cheat codes.
What is Dune: Awakening’s story about?
Funcom has also added a pretty compelling reason to return to Dune: Awakening in this new update: the Final Act of Book One is now live, finally tying up the game’s five-act main storyline. While future story updates are likely in the works, players can now finish the journey they started all the way back in 2025.
If you’re a fan of Dune, and specifically director Denis Villeneuve’s film adaptations of the books, you’ll likely be engrossed in this campaign and want to see it through. The aesthetics and setting of the game largely stay through to the movies, with the caveat that you’re playing as a double agent working for the Bene Gesserit in an alternate universe where Paul Atreides was never born. The story then rolls out quite differently in this world, as the Fremen have strangely gone missing, and House Atreides has not only survived, but is warring with House Harkonnen on the sands of Arrakis.
While the world of Dune stretches far beyond Arrakis, it’s hard to deny that exploring this desert world is a fantasy fulfilled of its own. Crafting a base, scurrying around the plains for resources before being mauled by a sandworm, and inching your way through the story’s wide scope is a lot of intense fun, though your playthrough can be much less frustrating thanks to the game’s newer additions. The early hours are a tad slow as the game throws a lot of tutorials at you in a short period of time, however.
Dune: Awakening console performance
On consoles, you can choose between 60fps, dynamic 4K Performance or 30fps, dynamic 4K Quality modes. I went with the 60fps option for the most part, as the game looked great to me with either option enabled. I will say that the character customisation can be a lot more fiddly on consoles, and this problem comes down to navigating much of the game’s UI: having players mainly use cursors on console menus is a straight-up bad idea, as it’s always going to be easier to just toggle through things with your arrow keys on controller. The game opts for the former option, much to its detriment.
The console version also has some fiddly controls, largely felt in combat when you’re trying to swap between skills quickly. Swapping between multiple skills to find the one you’re looking for in the middle of battle feels a bit like looking for a book in the library while you're getting beaten up; it’s not ideal and takes away a little from the power fantasy you would get on PC. The reasoning is understandable here, with less keys to push there are also more cramped controls to work with; but this control scheme could still use some adjustment.
Combat itself is still not the best, but it has been improved upon since launch. Progressing through skills and equipment still feels satisfying and varied, depending on your choices. Different skills are available depending on your faction and class choices, but you aren't afforded much variety from the get-go. It's only as you work your way up through the research and equipment system that both combat and traversal begin to open up.
Verdict
Yes, Dune: Awakening is well worth playing in 2026. In fact, I would argue that it’s more worth playing in 2026 than when it originally launched; now that many of the game’s more frictional elements have been ironed out and its core story has been complete, it feels like the best time for players old and new to jump in and play.
For Dune fans looking forward to Dune: Part Three later this year, I can think of no better appetiser building up to its release. This is an admirably authentic approach to making a Dune survival game, and I genuinely hope Funcom gets to flex its muscles again and adapt another beloved property with this level of admiration for the source material.
Dune: Awakening launched on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S on 22 September, 2026 for US$50. We received a copy of the game for this review.
Is Dune: Awakening a single-player game?
Dune: Awakening has multiplayer servers available with both PvP and PvE gameplay, but the game now also has a single-player mode.
Who made Dune: Awakening?
Funcom, the makers of Conan Exiles, made Dune: Awakening.
Can you play as Paul Atreides in Dune: Awakening?
In Dune: Awakening, you play as a Bene Gesserit secret agent in a universe where Paul Atreides was never born. Hence, you play as an original character in the Dune universe.
Can I transfer my multiplayer character to singleplayer mode in Dune: Awakening?
Unfortunately, multiplayer characters can only be played in multiplayer servers in Dune: Awakening. You have to create a new character for singleplayer mode, and that character can only be played in singleplayer. Additionally, multiplayer characters can only be moved to private or self-hosted servers, but not the other way around.
However, multiplayer characters can freely move between official servers, though their bases and vehicles should be backed up beforehand.
