Updated

Updated · Polygon · Jun 24

Dune: Awakening Lands on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S Sept. 22 With New Single-Player Mode

Updated

Updated · Polygon · Jun 24

Dune: Awakening Lands on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S Sept. 22 With New Single-Player Mode

Q: Without Paul Atreides, who will control the spice and the fate of Arrakis in this alternate Dune timeline?

In *Dune: Awakening*’s alternate timeline, control of the spice is not inherited by Paul Atreides; it is fought over mainly by House Atreides and House Harkonnen, with Emperor Shaddam IV and his Sardaukar acting as the power behind the balance. The game’s premise asks what happens if Paul was never born. In that version, the Harkonnen attack that should have destroyed House Atreides does not fully succeed, leaving both houses locked in a prolonged War of Assassins on Arrakis. That makes spice control a live military, economic and political contest rather than the messianic arc familiar from the novels and films. House Harkonnen is trying to crush Atreides resistance and dominate spice production outright, while House Atreides is still positioned as a major rival with a foothold on the planet. Over them stands the Emperor, who has deployed Sardaukar forces ostensibly to secure uninterrupted spice output, showing that imperial authority still matters even if it does not directly own Arrakis. The wider fate of Arrakis is also shaped by the Great Houses through the Landsraad and CHOAM-style production and refining contracts. In practical terms, that means whoever wins the war on the ground and the political struggle off it will control the spice. So, without Paul, no single prophetic figure decides Arrakis’s future. It is determined by a three-way power struggle: Atreides, Harkonnen and the Emperor, with the Great Houses’ political machinery helping decide the outcome.

3 articles · Updated · Polygon · Jun 24

Sept. 22 is the console release date for Dune: Awakening on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, bringing the open-world Arrakis RPG to consoles months after its PC debut.
The console version adds new story chapters, specializations, extra maps and combat zones with customization options, expanding an endgame the PC launch largely lacked.
A new single-player mode will ship with the console release and also reach existing PC players in September, giving players an offline option alongside the online survival experience.
Funcom has been refining the game since an imperfect PC launch, and the broader rollout arrives ahead of Dune: Part Three's Dec. 18 theatrical release.