Funcom revealed that Dune: Awakening will feature rentable private servers from the start of early access on 5 June 2025. The developers previously planned to add this feature after launch but have shared on the game’s Steam page that the feature’s progress surpassed expectations for inclusion at release. However, they warned that these servers have limitations, so that the game does not become a large-scale multiplayer game like other survival games.
Balancing Multiplayer and Private Play
The developers of Dune: Awakening said that the game’s design is heavily influenced by its massive multiplayer infrastructure, which in turn shapes the way private servers are structured.
Every private server will form part of a bigger World, sharing social hubs and the Deep Desert with others for an interconnected, community-like feeling. This means that even if you play on a private server, the game’s main multiplayer characteristics are still present.
What Private Servers Offer
If you pick a private server, you’ll have control over a single Hagga Basin, like an official server. You can also decide which World your server is for at setup. Users can name their server and set a password. They can also disable security zones so that Full PvP is enabled all over the Hagga Basin. Or keep PvP only in certain areas just like the official servers. Players can also turn off taxation and sandstorms. Moreover, if private server owners possess the password, they may visit other servers in their World and even claim land, which is impossible on the official servers.
Limitations of Private Servers
To keep the MMO-like experience intact, they went with lesser configurations than any other survival game like Conan Exiles. Players can’t control social hubs or the Deep Desert; these are shared across the World, as are most things in a multiplayer game of this scale. According to the developers, making private servers is harder to implement because of the game design but they do want to balance flexibility as much as possible with the core design of Dune: Awakening.
A Rich World for Dune Fans
The game’s worldbuilding and lore stand out, profoundly shaping the factions, characters, gameplay, and the way both fun and questing works.
The game takes place in a parallel universe that is different from the other Dune books. The game stays true to Dune with some of its features and at the same time not deter from the traditional Dune experience. The game’s design is so detailed that the players start exploring more of the vastness of the world.
Launch Details and Beyond
Dune: Awakening is a game that will be launched on 10 June 2025 for the PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S. The game has already been delayed by three weeks to work on bugs that were identified during beta. Early access begins on 5 June for eligible players. Those looking to play the survival MMO can get further details on its business model, post-launch plans, and global release times.