Funcom’s Dune Awakening is currently prepping for a wealth of major content updates. Alongside the game’s upcoming 1.4 update on May 19th, which adds new locations and missions, the team is also prepping for the release of the game’s console version and a whole new map for fans to explore.
Dune Awakening was originally revealed with the ever-present “ten-year plan” behind-the-scenes. While many games announced with their decade-long plans never see those plans to fruition, game director Joel Bylos has confirmed that the secretive ten-year-plan has not “changed a tonne” since launch.
“So, the plan, the way that I do things, is that I work through the thematics of the universe,” Bylos said. “So, I put in a high-level theme for a year. Let’s say, 2027 is this [specific] theme and we’re going to build content around this.”
“I still have a plan and I still have these themes planned out across all these years, including features that go into them and how they will work.”
Joel Bylos on Dune Awakening’s 10-year plan
Right now, the plans for Dune Awakening’s future is largely still set in stone. “I’ve crossed out a couple of things, I’ve moved a couple of things here and there,” Bylos explained, adding that the plans have migrated into a “proper document” now instead of scribbles on notepads and papers.
While the themes are the same, with plans right up until 2035, Bylos admits that some content does get shifted around to focus on what players need in the moment. For example, originally Chapter 3, an update which ended up focusing on the game’s endgame, was originally going to add the Smugglers as the third faction for the Landsraad, but that was pushed for endgame improvements.
“They were supposed to be the wild card that allowed you to switch. They would go into squares in the Landsraad and switch them to whatever faction they chose,” he said. “We ended up making a pretty big decision. Like, no players aren’t looking for a third faction right now and they aren’t looking for another social hub. Let’s drop the focus on this model, let’s build out the endgame that people are really asking for.”
Bylos explains that some ideas may not materialise and some may be shifted to later dates, but the core themes of the game’s roadmap is set in stone. “That doesn’t change my plan,” the game director said. “I still have a plan and I still have these themes planned out across all these years, including features that go into them and how they will work.”
“We [will] work towards these things,” he continued. “We see what players are saying, change if we need to. Sometimes we won’t change things if we think that, ‘no, this will actually be really good for players’ been though they don’t know what’s coming, right?
Similar to the team and Bylos’ work on Conan Exiles, Dune Awakening is here for the long haul with countless updates in the pipeline. With that game’s console launch on the horizon, the team is expecting a second wind of popularity, especially with the upcoming release of Dune: Part 3 in cinemas and a second season of Dune: Prophecy.
