Dune: Awakening "shutting down all servers" for emergency fix to yet another exploit that put entire bases at risk: "Lost my base and 1k hours of progress"

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"This shouldn't be an MMO"

The sandworm in Dune: Awakening
(Image credit: Funcom)

Another day, another new Dune: Awakening exploit – except this time, the exploit is serious enough to cause a full-blown server shutdown lasting literal hours.

Yes, you read that right… And, of course, as luck would have it, the shutdown is happening right before the weekly Deep Desert reset – the Coriolis Storm. That usually wouldn't be a problem, considering the recently added Base Backup Tool, but this server shutdown has come entirely as a surprise from Funcom. No warning, aside from the knowledge that a new hotfix to address the big bad base-destroying exploit was underway.

Funcom concludes its message by thanking players for bringing the exploit to their attention – and honestly, I understand why the shutdown has gone into effect, even if it costs a few Deep Desert builds.

If you haven't seen it yet, it basically allows folks to destroy other bases and raid everything for materials. One person describes it in a sad post on Reddit, first saying, "This shouldn't be an MMO but singleplayer" about Dune: Awakening.

This shouldnt be an MMO but singleplayer. Lost my base and 1k hours of progress to the new base exploit. Logged in to see this. Funcom wont help cuz their tools dont track players... Im done. from r/duneawakening

"Lost my base and 1k hours of progress to the new base exploit," they continue. "Logged in to see this. Funcom won't help cuz their tools don't track players… I'm done." Attached is a screenshot of what used to be their base.

There are countless other threads like it online, too, which is likely what caught the dev's attention. Heck, we've even got streamers openly bragging about looting other players' things via the exploit, so, yeah.

It's one of those fixes that needs rolling out ASAP, and it seems Funcom got the memo. It's not great knowing that the timing of the shutdown and patch might mean the Coriolis Storm wipes other fans' work out of the Deep Desert, though – that's for sure. Here's hoping the servers come back up in the nick of time and everyone's able to salvage what they need to. And, you know, the exploit is finally kicked to the curb.

Dune: Awakening has been no stranger to such base-destroying exploits, after all, and many of us hoped the Chapter 3 update would largely be the end of it.

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Anna Koselke
Anna Koselke
Staff Writer

After spending years with her head in various fantastical realms' clouds, Anna studied English Literature and then Medieval History at the University of Edinburgh, going on to specialize in narrative design and video game journalism as a writer. She has written for various publications since her postgraduate studies, including Dexerto, Fanbyte, GameSpot, IGN, PCGamesN, and more. When she's not frantically trying to form words into coherent sentences, she's probably daydreaming about becoming a fairy druid and befriending every animal or she's spending a thousand (more) hours traversing the Underdark in Baldur's Gate 3. If you spot her away from her PC, you'll always find Anna with a fantasy book, a handheld video game console of some sort, and a Tamagotchi or two on hand.

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