Dune: Awakening Breaks Steam Records with Massive Player Surge

Since early access began on June 5, Dune: Awakening opened to all players on June 10. Within hours of its full release, Funcom's survival MMO hit a staggering 142,050 concurrent players on Steam.

This milestone propelled Dune: Awakening to the ninth most-played game on Steam in the past 24 hours. With its first weekend post-launch approaching, player numbers are expected to climb even higher, potentially peaking on Saturday or Sunday.

Before the launch, Funcom announced the console version of Dune: Awakening is slated for release sometime in 2026. Additionally, players have discovered a way to ride sandworms, despite it not being an officially supported feature.

Our review of Dune: Awakening is ongoing. While we haven’t assigned a score yet and find the gunplay somewhat underwhelming, our reviewer noted: "After over 35 hours, I’m still early in my Dune: Awakening journey, with new zones to explore, limited progress in the main story, and minimal PvP encounters. There’s plenty left to uncover, so expect an update this week as I approach the endgame."

To thrive on Arrakis, check out our Dune: Awakening resource guides for tips on finding iron, steel, aluminium, and more. New players can explore all available Dune: Awakening classes, and follow our in-progress Dune: Awakening walkthrough for a detailed story guide.