Not Recommended
Over 108 hours logged

I’ve put more than 108 hours into Dune: Awakening, reaching the endgame and exploring the deep desert, and while the world itself has incredible potential, what ultimately breaks this game is how unfinished and punishing it feels. Despite being marketed as a full launch, the state of the game is closer to an alpha or early beta. The bugs are constant, the systems feel untested, and when something goes wrong the consequences for the player are devastating. One of the best examples was during the recently released CHOAM event, where I was instantly killed by a sandworm that never breached, never gave a warning, and showed no indication of being there. Just gone, with hours if not days of progress wiped away in a moment. Death is supposed to be a risk, but when it happens because of poor coding or an untested event, it stops being a thrill and becomes pure frustration.

On top of the bugs, the base decay system makes this game feel less like a survival MMO and more like a second job. Generators need to be constantly fueled, taxes need to be paid, and if you miss a window your base begins to crumble. Even if you’ve spent dozens of hours building and gathering, everything can vanish if you don’t log in frequently enough, which punishes anyone who can’t treat this game as a full-time commitment. Many players have pointed out that they shouldn’t have to babysit a base or log in daily just to keep what they’ve earned, and I agree. Instead of being rewarding, it makes the game feel like a chore, and the result is a world full of abandoned or decaying bases that clutter the servers and remind you of how fragile progress really is.

When the game works, there are glimpses of something incredible. The deep desert is immersive, the lore of Dune is beautifully woven into the environments, and the survival mechanics can be intense in a good way. But those moments are buried under frustration from bugs, glitches, and systems that actively discourage casual or long-term play. Losing progress because of a genuine mistake is one thing, but losing it to invisible worms, broken events, or a punishing decay system is soul-crushing.

At its core, Dune: Awakening has the foundation for a unique and memorable MMO, but right now it demands far too much time for far too little payoff. Until the developers address the bugs, rethink the decay mechanics, and stabilize the core systems, this is less of a game to enjoy and more of an endless grind that feels like work. For those reasons, I can’t recommend it.

I wanted to love this game, and I did, for a time. I have played 220 hours of the game at the time of writing this review. Basically the issue I have with the game is the Bases. I created a Carry all Copter, and 1 of each of the other copters and vehicles for myself. I stored them in my base, and forgot about the game for a few days. My base must have lost energy at some point, and the next time I logged on everything I worked on was gone.... It ended this game for me. The thing is, even if the power doesn't get you, the taxes will. The game has a real world time upkeep cost. You can't save your base from this other than getting on at least every few days. For me, that is untenable. Losing all my vehicles ended the game for me. The moment my Carry all and other copters were gone, I knew that was it. I might play it again in the future, but I doubt it. The game is just not that good to keep me coming back for paying my taxes. The devs could fix this by reducing or removing the tax system, and reducing the energy maintenance just to keep your base. The copters took me literal days of my life to create and put together, and I lost them within 2 weeks. There is zero chance I am ever putting in the effort to grind to get it all back........

Laggy on excellent internet, buggy on excellent hardware, unintuitive keyboard controls, clunky UI, lackluster combat. glitchy immersion-breaking worms. Nice sand.

I regret buying this game.

its a really cool game with a lot of potential, but unfortunately, it feels almost unplayable if you don’t have endless time to play it.
Without dedicated servers, all the hours of farming and grinding can vanish if you take just a short break. Step away for two or three weeks, and everything you’ve worked hard for is simply gone.

It’s a frustrating design choice that makes it feel like Funcom doesn’t really want players who have a life outside the game. For anyone who can’t commit to playing constantly, the experience quickly becomes discouraging.

Regards

the game's not even half finished and they're already pushing paid DLC

Usually i dont write reviews. I just uninstall and never install or buy any Games from this Developer again.

I bought the Game on Day two and enjoyed it 460 Hours with only two crashes and few minor Bugs.

The last Patches made the Game more and more unplayable. Bugs and glitches are everywhere.

Vehicles are Bugged
Party and Map Marker are Bugged
Blueprints are bugged
Inventory is bugged
Performance got worse - Framerate drops from 140 to 30 Frames for no reason (7800X3d/4060TI/32GBRam/Crucial M.2/Drivers UTD)

And the Customewr Support is pretty much useless.

TLDR: Game has a GREAT core, but designer/studio decided on things that make the game crap. HIGHLY recommend waiting for 6+ months to see what happens with it.

Love the PVE aspect of the game, but the designers wait WAY too late to introduce PVP aspects (only in end game). Problem with PVP aspect is that, the lead is a griefier, and the PVP is designed around that. (What makes it worse, is that when the people who like PVE, complain, if it's not "get gud scrub"; it's changes that punish PVE players.)

Also company when they push updates, and you lose gear due to problem with having to be an online game, it's a "too bad, so sad, sucks for you". (Died to worm 3x due to patch causing lagging.)

For PVP - They REALLY need to introduce things to make guerrilla tactics viable; Also need to introduce PVP dedicated servers, with PVP allowed in Hagga.

For PVE - I would LOVE to see a PVE DD, but can't build out in the sand.

Its really very fun and addictive game. I have over 330hours of gameplay already. there are upcoming dlcs where you will be able to enjoy. it needs grinding a lot like other mmo.

Lets come to the most frustrating part .. today I crafted very rare rocket launcher called The Ancient way and in deep desert when I logged off and logged back on few hours later it was disappeared from my inventory. When I wrote to dune awakening customer service they mentioned that they can not recover items other than ornicopter parts..

2 weeks ago I lost my deep desert base with too many high level unique blueprints in same way.. It was just disappeared fully.. customer service did nothing again!

So be ready to loose anything after you spent lots of time trying to achieve it since customer service is terrible and they will do nothing!

There is the reply today from customer service,

""Aldrin A.
September 02, 2025, 12:47 +0000
I can imagine how frustrating it must be to lose such a rare item, especially one that’s so hard to come by. I want to reassure you that your message isn’t being brushed aside, and I truly understand why this situation feels so disappointing.

That said, I do need to be upfront with you. Because of the limitations of our tools, we’re only able to reimburse standard vehicles as a full package. Unfortunately, we’re not able to restore individual items like the Ancient Way weapon.

I realize this isn’t the answer you were hoping for, and I’m really sorry I can’t provide a different outcome. What I can promise is that your report helps the development team when investigating these kinds of issues, so your experience still has an impact in improving the game moving forward.

Thank you for taking the time to reach out and share this with us, even if it comes from a place of frustration.

Best regards,
Aldrin A.
Funcom Customer Support""

*First ever steam review - 13 years later*

Took a short break from Arrakis. Came back to find every ounce of progress I’d made deleted, dismantled, or devoured by the void. Not by players, not by sandworms — but by a design philosophy that can only be described as “we despise our customers.”

It’s like the devs sat in a meeting and asked, “How can we punish anyone with a job, a family, or the audacity to take a weekend off?” And then high-fived each other when they landed on “delete everything.”

The result? A player base evaporating faster than water on Arrakis,.

Honestly, if I wanted to feel this much regret for my time investment, I’d just re-enroll in college.

If the developers are trying to accelerate this rapidly dwindling player base.. you're doing great! Keep enticing returning players with a nice big turd in a welcome home envelope.

Uninstalled.

Hope their project gets defunded and they can all return home from work (with a box full of stuff that they packed up from their cubicles of tyranny) to an un-microwaved bowl of ramen sitting beside a note from the love of their life, who is going to Miami with their personal trainer or something like that. Then, and only then might they experience the pain I have endured.

Sincerely,

Pissed