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Dune Awakening launches for $50 without a stay in early access, and while the survival MMO "will not have a monthly subscription" it will have "optional" paid DLC

News
By Dustin Bailey published 24 March 2025

The game will also "receive regular free updates"

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Dune Awakening
(Image credit: Funcom)
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After a long, long wait, Dune: Awakening finally launches in full on May 20. Funcom has just offered some concrete details on what the survival MMO's release will look like, and in short, you can expect a proper 1.0 launch without early access, and a single purchase price of $50 without any additional subscription fees.

"The key things that you need to know about Dune: Awakening’s launch are that it will not launch in early access, and it will not have a monthly subscription," creative director Joel Bylos says in a video breaking down the game's business model. "It will receive regular free updates, including new content, new features, and quality of life improvements. And in addition to these free updates, we will offer optional DLC."

Dune: Awakening — Business Model & Post-Launch Plans Explained - YouTube Dune: Awakening — Business Model & Post-Launch Plans Explained - YouTube
Watch On

Major free updates will expand the story while "adding new content and features," and each of these updates will also be accompanied by a paid DLC pack. Prices on those haven't been confirmed yet, but the Dune: Awakening Deluxe Edition, which includes a season pass promising four DLC packs alongside some other bonuses, is priced at $70, or $20 more than the base game.

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  • A screenshot shows a Dune: Awakening character posing with a knife Dune: Awakening Chapter 3 promises "better endgame" that makes it easier for lapsed players to return by abolishing tax
  • The custom created character in Dune Awakening Dune: Awakening devs don't expect to "keep launch player numbers" after Steam count hit 189,000 then ran off a cliff

Both the Deluxe and Ultimate Edition include early access to the game – you know, the other kind of early access, where you get to play the game five days early. Bylos notes that this "also helps us to make sure that we can balance the server load as people come into the game through launch for the best possible experience."

Funcom's previous survival game, Conan Exiles, spent a year in proper early access before its launch in 2018, but Dune: Awakening won't be following that pattern. However, in a Steam blog, Funcom brings up Exiles to note that it's "still in active development and being updated after eight years of DLCs, expansions, and countless free updates," and says "Dune: Awakening will be no different."

I know next to nothing about survival MMO Dune: Awakening, but I just spent 40 minutes in its Steam Next Fest demo character creator, so I guess I have to play it now.

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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.

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