By early 2026, Dune: Awakening’s endgame had become a storm wall for many survival MMO players. Funcom has now acknowledged that the Deep Desert, the game’s endlessly refreshing high-reward zone, has been functioning less like a frontier and more like a locked airlock, letting only the most combat-hardened crews breathe the endgame’s rarefied rewards. In a candid developer letter, creative director Joel Bylos said the studio is aware that players are reporting being cut out of the endgame due to the extremely competitive nature of the Deep Desert.
Last week, Funcom had assured players in an AMA that it was already formulating a plan to improve PvP in the Deep Desert, which some players branded toxic due to griefing even after the studio removed the ability for players to squish others with an Ornithopter. In the latest update, Bylos stated the team’s goal directly: “We want PvE players to be able to play the endgame and have access to the content of the endgame. Our goal is not to force PvE players to interact with a PvP system that they may have no interest in.”
A Desert Split in Two
Funcom is now trying to split the desert like a prism, separating the punishing PvP spectrum from a safer PvE band without dissolving the zone’s dangerous allure. Some areas of the Deep Desert will now be flagged as Partial Warfare (PvE), where players can grab rare resources without getting ambushed. The largest spice fields, shipwrecks, and Landsraad control points will remain War of Assassins (PvP) areas, framed as high reward, high risk locations.
| Zone area | Flag | Risk and reward |
|---|---|---|
| Largest spice fields, shipwrecks, Landsraad control points | War of Assassins (PvP) | High risk, high reward |
| Other Deep Desert areas | Partial Warfare (PvE) | Rare resources without ambushes |
Bylos admitted that the extremely competitive nature of the Deep Desert was forcing players to engage when they may prefer PvE. The core loop remains an endlessly renewing location that resets every week, creating an activity loop for great rewards. The original hope was that players would form guilds to overcome the bleakness of the Deep Desert, but Bylos used a Stephen King aphorism to admit that wishful thinking had not matched reality.
The game is still balanced around guilds and groups, so players who prefer to operate as lone wolves should expect a grindy path if they play solo.
Taming the Ornithopter’s Battlefield Dominance
The vehicle and ground combat balance is also being adjusted. Bylos said Thopters will always be incredibly important for crossing the desert, but they should not also be the dominant force in actual battles. The following changes are set to be implemented shortly:
-
Scout Ornithopters with rocket launchers attached will have their speed and maneuverability reduced.
-
Rockets fired from Scout Ornithopters will have increased heat generation.
-
Thrusters will provide a max speed bonus regardless of wings, ensuring that thruster-equipped scouts are the fastest vehicles in the game.
-
A new T5 infantry rocket launcher will be added to help improve the dynamics of vehicle and ground combat.
These adjustments arrive after earlier efforts to curb Ornithopter griefing, including removing the ability to squish other players with the aircraft.
Repairing the Landsraad’s Political Machinery
Bylos defined the Landsraad as an umbrella for all endgame activities, such as dungeons, contracts, and more specialized delivery tasks. As a system, it is designed to promote conflict between the factions and internal politics between guilds, while providing goal thresholds for individuals and groups to work toward personal rewards.
That ambition, however, has not fully translated into the live game. Stockpiling had become a kind of political silt clogging the Landsraad’s machinery: it is currently rewarded, but was not designed to be that way. Funcom will shortly address key flaws in the Landsraad design, including stockpiling. The daily and weekly quest framework is not new, but the studio’s approach frames those systems around the politics of the Dune universe by having players earn the votes of various Landsraad houses.
A Record Launch and a Long Repair Arc
Dune: Awakening has enjoyed a superb launch. The survival MMO holds a very positive user review rating on Steam. Within hours of going live on June 10, 2025, it clocked more than 142,000 concurrent players on Valve’s platform, later hitting a peak of 189,333 concurrent players. The game has also passed one million players, making it Funcom’s fastest-selling game ever.
In its review, IGN awarded Dune: Awakening a Great 8/10, praising its faithful capture of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi world and the survival climb from dehydrated peasant to powerful warlord of Arrakis. The review also noted that the combat never really hits its stride and that the endgame was a chaotic mess not worth the effort. With the new Deep Desert flags, vehicle balance changes, and Landsraad fixes, Funcom is aiming to alter that endgame perception in 2026.
Bylos concluded that once a live game launches, it becomes a collaborative effort between developers and players. He asked the community to bear with the team and said the intention is to be clear and open in communications, making Dune: Awakening a game that everybody can enjoy.
Data referenced from PEGI helps frame why Dune: Awakening’s Deep Desert tweaks matter for accessibility: as Funcom splits endgame spaces into Partial Warfare (PvE) and War of Assassins (PvP), the aim is to reduce forced player conflict while keeping high-risk hotspots for those who want it—an approach that aligns with broader expectations around clear, player-facing boundaries on combat intensity and online interaction.