Dune's new-gen open-world survival game resurfaces with new details

Dune survival game
(Image credit: Funcom)

Funcom has revealed a few more details on its open world survival game set in the Dune universe, which will be the studio's "most ambitious project yet."

The devs are currently referring to this as the "unannounced Dune survival game," which was previously confirmed as part of a three-game deal between Funcom and Legendary Entertainment signed back in 2019.

The game will be set on Arrakis, and will be focused on multiplayer. Similar to other recent informal game announcements, like Blizzard's survival game and the mobile Call of Duty: Warzone spin-off, Project Aurora, today's announcement seems to be more an effort to recruit new developers than news meant to get players excited.

A few more potential details are nestled in those job listings. An Associate Game Director listing notes crafting systems, and the Lead Gameplay Programmer ad notes that the game will be developed on Unreal Engine, with planned releases for PC and console.

The World Director listing suggests plenty of gameplay details are up in the air, however, as Funcom is still looking for someone who can work out world design elements like "time and place, degree of fantasy versus realism, location, high level biome requirement, symbols, [and] sounds," and mechanics governing "political, social, economics, [and] geography" systems.

Funcom's announcement notes that it has "honed its craft creating unforgettable experiences in captivating universes and delivering lasting success with games like Conan Exiles." That's the only one of the company's previous titles noted in this first reveal, and it seems likely the licensed survival game could serve as a blueprint for this Dune game.

Dune: Spice Wars hit Steam Early Access in April, published by Funcom and developed by Shiro Games.

There are plenty of options among the best survival games to fill your time until you set foot on Arrakis.

Dustin Bailey
Staff Writer

Dustin Bailey joined the GamesRadar team as a Staff Writer in May 2022, and is currently based in Missouri. He's been covering games (with occasional dalliances in the worlds of anime and pro wrestling) since 2015, first as a freelancer, then as a news writer at PCGamesN for nearly five years. His love for games was sparked somewhere between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Knights of the Old Republic, and these days you can usually find him splitting his entertainment time between retro gaming, the latest big action-adventure title, or a long haul in American Truck Simulator.