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Dune: Awakening, the open-world survival MMORPG set in the iconic Dune universe and developed by Funcom, is doing numbers for the studio. Since its release on June 10, it's welcomed over one million players to Arrakis, and already ranks as Funcom's fastest-selling game ever. While the response has been largely positive, it isn't without flaws.
Here's the problem: Dune: Awakening was never marketed as a PvP-exclusive experience. In fact, PvP was explicitly described as optional. But at launch, the Deep Desert went against that philosophy. If you wanted the best resources, you had to fight for them—whether you wanted to or not.
Funcom originally hoped the player base would embrace the challenge. That didn't happen. Players who had no interest in PvP felt forced into contested zones just to keep up with those who did. Understandably, they pushed back.
Recently, Funcom responded to the backlash. In a public update, the team acknowledged the issue and laid out their plans to fix it. Most notably, some areas of the Deep Desert will now be sectioned off into "Partial Warfare" zones, where PvP is disabled. The high-risk PvP areas will remain, but players who prefer to avoid conflict can now gather top-tier resources at a slower pace with less risk. Funcom also assured players that more PvE content and endgame activities are on the way, so heading into the Deep Desert will just be one of many viable options.
Balancing a game that features both PvE and PvP is notoriously difficult. One of the clearest instances of this tension is Old School RuneScape (OSRS). That game has a passionate PvP community, though it's dwarfed by the much larger PvE player base. PvP fans frequently request updates to the game's Wilderness (OSRS's equivalent of the Deep Desert). However, attempts to draw more players there often backfire. Adding high-value PvE content to PvP zones forces non-PvP players into battles they didn't sign up for. PvPers get new targets, but everyone else gets frustration.
It's not the only way OSRS has addressed this dilemma, but one particularly relevant example mirrors Dune: Awakening's solution. In OSRS, players can gain Prayer XP by burying bones. There's a chaos altar deep in the Wilderness where bones yield bonus XP and sometimes aren't consumed at all. It's an enticing option—if you're willing to take the risk. PvP players regularly camp near the altar, hoping to ambush PvEers looking for faster progression. So players face a real choice: take the safe route for slower gains, or risk the Wilderness for better rewards. It's a dynamic that Dune: Awakening is now replicating.
OSRS may be the strongest case study, but it's far from alone. Sea of Thieves sparked years of debate by refusing to offer PvE-only servers. Eventually, Rare introduced Safer Seas, a private mode without rival crews roaming the seas. Meanwhile, World of Warcraft sidesteps the issue by giving out PvP gear for PvP content and PvE gear for PvE activities.
With Dune: Awakening, it's encouraging to see a developer respond to player feedback so quickly. Even better, it seems like they're applying lessons from games that have already wrestled with this exact issue. Together, these moves inspire confidence that Funcom can deliver an experience that's enjoyable for both its PvP and PvE-focused players.
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Dune: Awakening
- Released
- June 10, 2025
- Developer(s)
- Funcom
- Publisher(s)
- Funcom
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
