The online adventure on the desert planet has already captivated over 180,000 players. Among them is our expert Michał, who has a lot to tell you.
With the current summer heat, many of us are looking for ice-cold refreshment and plenty of shade. Our colleague Michał Mańka, however, is quite the opposite. On our newly launched international YouTube channel Find Your Next Game he explains why he has already spent over 100 hours playing Dune: Awakening .
The desert MMO is currently a huge success. According to SteamDB , over 189,000 players were already playing simultaneously in the vast sandbox of Arrakis.
This raises a few questions: What makes Dune: Awakening so good? Where are the flaws? And what did Michał discover after 70 hours?
We chatted with Michał and got all the answers to these questions.
Something for everyone
With over 100 hours on the clock, the big question is: What is it that keeps you entertained for so long in Dune: Awakening?
[…] The fact that many players looking for different activities find what they’re looking for in this game. If you’re looking for a survival game, you’ll find a lot here because the MMO sticks to the harsh rules of Arrakis.
If you like building, you can construct your own base. The tools are easy to use, but they also allow you to create really beautiful structures.
And if you like role-playing elements, you get a pretty good skill tree and can create real builds with your character, whether you like to play as a melee fighter or a ranged fighter.
Last but not least, it’s just a very well-made Dune game – the developers really understand what it means to develop a game in this universe. It’s a lot of fun!
The greatest strength and the greatest weakness
With the enthusiasm of a bright desert worm, we immediately ask Michał the next question: In your expert opinion, what is the greatest strength of Dune: Awakening – and what is its biggest flaw?
I think the greatest strength is that all of the elements mentioned above are really well integrated, and thanks to this, the game feels like a complete experience. The developers respond fairly quickly to player requests, they try things out and test different solutions to find the right balance between PvP and PvE areas within the Deep Desert [the endgame area].
For me, the biggest weakness is the balance between PvP and PvE in the Deep Desert. This week, four friends and I decided to visit the Deep Desert to gather resources in the PvE areas. However, we felt that there was almost nothing to do for a group that didn’t want to engage in PvP combat.
I don’t mind at all that this area is divided into PvP and PvE – there just needs to be a better solution for it.
We’ve all been there: you play a game for dozens of hours and suddenly you discover a new game mechanic that makes your life easier. Michał has a tip for you that took him a whopping 70 hours to survive on Arrakis.
I have a very important tip for anyone who is just starting out with Dune: Awakening: You don’t have to take everything out of your vehicle’s inventory to put it in storage containers!
I only learned this after 70 hours of playing, and many other players seem to have overlooked it as well. Instead of taking everything with you in your backpack, you can simply open your storage container and select the vehicle inventory from the drop-down list on the left. Then you can easily move items back and forth between a vehicle and the base.
Another important tip from me: take your time. I know everyone would like to have immediate access to sand bikes, buggies, ornithopters, and a sand crawler, but exploring Arrakis, building a sustainable base, and unlocking everything bit by bit is really satisfying, and you shouldn’t rush it.
Incidentally, the first major DLC for Dune: Awakening, titled Lost Harvest, is scheduled for release between October and December 2025. It will bring a fresh side story and new cosmetic items to the game.
Have you also taken a look at Dune: Awakening? How many hours does your desert clock show? Are you having as much fun as Michał, or is the MMO constantly throwing sand in the gears of your gaming fun? Feel free to let us know what you think of the game in the comments!
