Despite mixed reactions from audiences when it was revealed and widespread fear about Dune’s first big-budget video game being an open-world survival experience, Dune: Awakening has been a massive success upon launch and is one of Steam’s most popular games.
Though survival games are a hard genre to get right, the games that do it well really resonate with audiences. Titles like Valheim and Rust have attracted millions of players based on this premise alone, bringing their own unique spin to what it means to survive.
Funcom, the same studio behind Conan Exiles, have opted to turn yet another franchise into a survival game with Dune: Awakening. And, though many players may have wanted a more story-focused game instead, its launch has been promising.
With over 100k concurrent players during the advanced purchase period and almost 150k after the official launch, people are loving it.
Dune: Awakening is a surprise hit on Steam
While you’d assume that putting a name as big as Dune on a game would make it an automatic success, this isn’t always true. People won’t stick around and play a game of this nature unless it has some truly engaging game mechanics.
The point of Dune: Awakening isn’t to tell the story of the universe – it’s to let the player create their own. If Funcom failed to create a compelling world that didn’t feel faithful to the source material, then the game’s entire foundation wouldn’t work.
Upon launch, the game received mostly negative reviews on Steam almost immediately due to players being angry that they couldn’t get into the servers. After all, Awakening is technically an MMO and doesn’t function offline.
Fortunately for fans of the series, Dune: Awakening is shaping up to be a fantastic time if you’re into survival games.
From building your own bases and farming materials to traversing the vast desert world and fighting other players, there’s a lot of variety on offer here for players willing to engage with it.
Most PVP is vehicle-based, leaving players mixed and hoping for more on-foot combat
And, judging by player counts on Steam, it’s Funcom’s most successful game by a mile in terms of launch player counts. Conan Exiles had an all-time peak of 58k, whereas Dune has peaked at 142k. It’s got almost triple the peak, and that doesn’t factor in that many players opted to spend extra and buy into early access.
As a result, Dune: Awakening has gone from a game that many were skeptical of to a faithful re-imagining of the universe. With a price point of $50 USD, which is much lower than most AAA games, it should come as no surprise that this has become popular amongst people looking for a good time with friends.
And, though players do have some gripes with the endgame and believe the single-player experience leaves a lot to be desired, Awakening is at the beginning of its life. There’s plenty of time for Funcom to make Dune: Awakening a survival game that can stand alongside other giants in the industry.
