Welcome to the second edition of our very own Communinet Signal, Sleepers! This one comes with an intense Gamescom flavor, as we had our hands full in August showcasing the game from Germany to the world!
But before we get into that, we just wanted to take a moment to thank you all for the fantastic reception of our first Communinet Signal. This is a line of communication with you that we wanted to start as early as possible, and we are very pleased with the positive response so far and the feedback you have given us on our channels. Keep it up, and let's make this place your safe haven in Arrakis!
Now back to this week's issue! We have the usual round-up of what we have been up to lately, as well as some juicy insights from our time in Cologne, where we got to meet some of you! We hope you enjoy this new issue, and don't forget to send us your comments and suggestions on the Discord channel we've set up for all things Communinet Signal!
Grab your reading binoculars and let's go!
August was a pretty hectic month for us. At the beginning of the month, we were hard at work compiling all the cool stuff you saw at gamescom, while the second half of the month was spent showing it off. So let's go through it all in case you missed anything:
Opening Night Live - Gameplay World Premiere
During ONL, we released our 5-minute gameplay reveal. Narrated by Joel Bylos, our Creative Director, we showed the world the game mechanics and real gameplay for the first time. And at the end of the trailer, we revealed the game's release window! In case you missed it, early 2025 for PC, with consoles coming later. But wait, that's not all we showed... August was a pretty hectic month for us. At the beginning of the month, we were hard at work compiling all the cool stuff you saw at gamescom, while the second half of the month was spent showing it off. So let's go through it all in case you missed anything:
27-Minute Gameplay Presentation at Gamescom
This 27-minute gameplay video was the mainstay of our presence at the show this year. We knew we would have hundreds of fans visiting us every day, lining up at our booth next to the towering presence of Shai-Hulud to hear our developers talk about the game, and we needed something that could capture some of the many gameplay possibilities of Dune: Awakening in a limited amount of time.
We also didn't want any of you at home to miss out, and felt it was time to give a broader perspective on the work-in-progress from the beta build that many of you have been testing in our ongoing closed beta tests. So we have prepared a version of our presentation, narrated by Joel, so you can follow along from the comfort of your sietch.
Dune: Awakening Direct Episode 3
And to top it all off, we released the third episode of our Dune: Awakening Direct show last week, featuring some spicy behind-the-scenes footage and commentary from Soe Gschwind and Joel. We recorded this from our booth at gamescom and also added some extra commentary to the gameplay footage. We thought it was too good an opportunity to pass up! We hope you enjoyed it!
Did you hear we were at Gamescom this year? Shocking, I know! All kidding aside, this was a big year for us at the event. Our team spent countless hours trying to make it a memorable and smooth event. Many of you came to the event to greet us, and for those of you who couldn't, you watched our trailer and presentations, as well as our on-site coverage. There was a lot going on on many fronts, so we thought we could show you a little more of all the moving parts from our side of things. So sit back, grab your favorite mug of distilled sweat, and let's take a deep dive into this year's event.
The preparations
As we've said before, it's important to remember that getting ready for an event like this is a huge team effort. Even before we announced that we would be there, our team was hard at work making it happen.
Our PR and events team began coordinating our physical presence and arranging our booth space with the Level Infinite team. From the beginning, we knew that we wanted our space to stand out, so we decided on a massive 5 meter high sandworm as the centerpiece of our booth.
Next, we thought about what kind of experience we wanted to offer visitors at Gamescom. At first we thought about having a playable demo at our booth, but we decided that a short demo wouldn't do justice to a complex game like Dune: Awakening, especially with the unreliable internet connections that conventions often have. Instead, we decided to have a presentation with the developers explaining the core mechanics and gameplay loop.
Once that was set up, we focused on the additional details. Not everyone could travel to Germany, and we wanted to share the presentations with as many of you as possible. So we decided to livestream them directly from Gamescom. We set up a streaming area inside the theater with cameras to capture the presentations and the audience. We also began inviting streamers to the event, including well-known names from our Funcom Creator Program and regional creators.
We hadn't given up on the idea of a playable demo, so we set up a backstage room with six PCs. To answer questions about the game being too complex or the limited play time, some of our developers went to Germany to help players.
While we were getting everything ready, we also started working on a trailer and presentation for Gamescom. We knew you'd be excited to see some gameplay footage that explains what Dune: Awakening is all about and how it plays, as well as getting an idea of when it's coming out. Based on that, we laid out the main ideas for our footage. We wanted to be as transparent as possible, so we decided to record directly from the closed beta. This was a bit risky as the game was still in active development and things could change. But we felt it was important to be honest and open, especially with our beta testers.
We waited for a major update to the closed beta that included the first combat overhaul and significant rebalancing. While not the final product, this build represented the beta of the game at the time.
Opening Night Live
The ONL event took place on August 20th, where we unveiled the gameplay reveal trailer. Some of our developers were there in person, while the rest of the team watched remotely from a hotel conference room, ready to test out the new features and see how people reacted!
Along with the gameplay reveal trailer, we also revealed our new key art, the PC release window, and new information about the game. Our team spent a few hours after the trailer premiered uploading assets, posting, and engaging with Sleepers! It was a fun and intense night, but it was only the beginning!
Gamescom!
Gamescom started on the 21st! Luckily the first day is only for industry visitors. But that doesn't mean it was slow for us. Since it was the first day we had the booth up and running, there were still a few loose ends to tie up. As it turned out, most of the things that sounded good on paper needed at least one or two tests!
So on that first day, we tested every moving part. We made sure the streaming booth had all the software and hardware working properly, checked the volume on the gameplay presentations, and confirmed that the playable builds were all installed, set up, and connected to our servers. Once everything was in place, we started welcoming the first rounds of visitors!
We were also part of the Level Infinite area (shout out to our neighbors V-Rising, Exoborne, Path of Exile 2, and more!), which also had its own events! Nicole, our Senior Community Manager, took to the stage in the central area to give away giveaways to attendees (twice a day!) while the rest of the team was at the booth making sure everything worked as it should and everyone was happy.
This was a pretty dynamic process that we repeated every day, with more and more visitors each day, which helped us streamline our processes until the booth (almost) ran itself!
Our booth
We keep mentioning our booth, but some of you might not have seen it yet! Let's fix that and give you a glimpse into our little corner in Cologne.
First: the queue and entrance area!
This is where people would line up for the Dune: Awakening Gamescom experience. Visitors would line up for the hourly presentations, which were separated by language (English or German). It wasn't too bad for the first few days, but as time went on, the line grew to rival Shai-Hulud itself. Arrakis is a test, but believe me, some of our visitors are ready for it!
The theater!
Once inside the booth, you would be seated in our presentation theater! It held about 65 people, with a stage where two of our developers would comment on the gameplay being shown. After the 30-minute presentation, they held a Q&A session to answer questions from the audience.
Once the session was over, visitors left the booth through the back door, but not without receiving a Dune: Awakening-themed gift - a swag bag from the game filled with goodies!
In the back corner of the theater was the streaming booth. This was where streamers from all over the world would livestream the gameplay presentations to their audiences each day and provide their own commentary. They were also joined by one of our developers who answered their questions live!
The livestreams started with Sacriel and were followed by many recognizable names, such as Alphacast, GNU, SajonArco, MollyBerry, MissVadams, MurningStar, Becsters, and more!
The playable room
Next to the theater, in a separate room, we had some of our developers showing off the game to press, content creators, and people with appointments. They offered help and support to those who needed it, and guidance if anyone got stuck. They were also happy to sit down and chat about the game.
The build we offered was very similar to the one our beta testers are currently playing, with some areas restricted because they would require additional servers. Due to the (sometimes) unreliable connection and limited time, these areas were cut from the demo. However, to streamline the presentation of the game, our team created a series of presets that were offered to players who wanted to try different parts and regions of the game in the limited time they had.
From press to regulars, just about everyone was impressed and happy with what they played. Our developers were rejuvenated by interacting with people who were trying our game for the first time and had so many good questions, feedback, and excitement to share.
THE WORM
And last but certainly not least of our booth parts, was the Shai-Hulud. This was the most visible and by far the most recognizable part of our booth.
The massive 5-meter-tall sandworm was an eye-catcher and a landmark at Gamescom this year. Many visitors stopped by to take pictures of the worm, take selfies with it, or photograph our incredibly talented cosplayers (Anhyra and MeanKitteh) who would pose for hours on location.
We'd like to give a special mention to our cosplayers for their professionalism, craftsmanship, and dedication to the event. Gamescom can be a very intense and hot place, just like Arrakis. But Anhyra and MeanKitteh not only stood the test, they absolutely nailed it. They are ready and worthy of the desert planet.
The people
We couldn't have done it without our amazing team! Thank you to everyone locally and remotely who made this possible.
A special shout out to the Dune: Awakening and Level Infinite teams for keeping things running smoothly onsite and being awesome when things got hectic. Thank you, champions of Arrakis!
Last but not least, we'd like to thank all of you who made this possible. Whether you watched from home or came to Germany to visit our booth and spend some time with us, it's because of your passion and support that we've been able to do all of this. Thank you for believing in our journey. Here's to 2025 and beyond!
Dune: Awakening Book Club - Gamescom Edition
Since almost a year, we’ve been running a Book Club in our Discord, coming together every few weeks to read the book where it all began: Frank Herbert’s Dune. When we realized some of our Book Worms would be visiting Gamescom, we had no choice but to have an in-person session!
Led by FlamingMojo from our community, the club’s normal meetings are reading a particular section beforehand and discussing it during the session. In Gamescom, we did things a bit differently and read the parts out loud, voicing the narration and characters - with some pretty convincing acting too! For those who couldn’t attend, we had our Discord voice channel available to tune in.
We had a couple of surprises as well - a copy of the book for everyone along with some Dune: Awakening goodies and our very own Joel Bylos joining the club to read and discuss together!
If you’d like to join the fun, you can find the Book Club in Dune: Awakening Discord in the #dune-book-club room, with an event set in the server whenever a new session is announced, with all the information you need to join!
With the Gamescom reveals and announcements, we wanted to refresh our key art for the game, showcasing a better look at what Dune: Awakening has to offer.
We decided to showcase three different characters, each with their own look, allegiance, and weapon, to highlight the wide range of customization options you'll have once you start playing. How will you approach combat? Will it be ranged, melee, or a skill-based hybrid? Will you side with the Harkonnens? Or are you an Atreides at heart?
It was also important for us to show Arrakis, the central character of the Dune universe. The background shows the desert planet in all its glory, complete with its two moons, spice blossoms, and troops and vehicles fighting for its most precious resource, spice melange. And looking down on it all is the mighty Shai-Hulud (and this is one of the smaller ones!).
And there's more! We've also got our official slogan: Survive. Expand. Control. Survive the desert by learning the ways of the Fremen. Expand your potential through combat, spice, building, and trade. As guild intrigue and warfare rage, control the spice and cling to power.
You can now see this new key art in all of our channels, including our store pages. We hope you like it!
Muad’Dib secret: Did you know you can find this new key art, as well as screenshots and wallpapers, in our PR page? Check it out!
This month we are giving a special highlight to those Sleepers who showed up at Gamescom ready for Arrakis. They were ready for the dunes, so we think they’re deserving of a spot in this month’s section as well!
Even though Gamescom dominated the month of August, we want to highlight a couple of community creations that happened outside of the Cologne event. Our first community creation is a fantastic fanart by one of our Discord community members!
And second, we want to give a shout out to the first (to our knowledge!) fan created podcast about Dune: Awakening!
Spice Blow Radio is a podcast ran by André (from the fan newsite VisitArrakis), Stephen (aka FlamingMojo, the one behind the Dune: Awakening Community Wiki) and Maegan (aka Deadwomanwalking Gaming on Youtube!). They are currently on their second episode. You can follow them on their Twitter or Youtube!
Remember, if you want to be featured in future editions of the Communinet Signal, use the hashtag #CommuninetSignal on social media, or share it in the Communinet Signal channel in our Discord community!
PvP in the game will be restricted to certain areas. In Hagga Basin, the starting map, PvP is only allowed in certain locations, but it is mostly a PvE map. When you access a PvP area, you are notified you are entering a Kanly War of Assassins. If you are not ready for the extra pressure, just step out of that area! The Deep Desert, in contrast, is a mostly PvP zone with only a small strip in the southern region that is PvE. And then you have the social hubs (Harko Village and Arrakeen at launch), which are entirely social areas with no engagements allowed.
If you want to focus on base building and PvE activities, just claim your spot in Hagga Basin, and enjoy all that the social hubs have to offer. And if you end up wanting to experience some PvP action, remember that as long as you have your base shields up in a PvP area, your base is safe from enemy attacks.
Right now it is very early to tell. Our team is focused on delivering the best experience at launch as possible. But we plan to support the game for the long run. Immediately after launch we will monitor reception and adapt accordingly, continuing to work on quality of life upgrades, fixes and optimizations based on our player’s feedbacks. And we will continue to add new surprises and variety to the Deep Desert and all the secrets its sands will unveil weekly.
But as the Bene Gesserit like to do, we also have longer term plans. Some of these are expanding the overland map with new locations that explore the lore and corners of Arrakis.
Resources needed in a crafting station will pull from both your inventory as well as in your storage within the range of your Sub-fief console!
We recently published an article in our webpage that covers this in as much detail as we can get now, and it includes infographics too! You can check it out in this link.
We currently don’t have a release date for consoles set just yet, as we are focusing primarily on PC release. Afterwards, we will focus on making the game optimized and ready for consoles so that they can be the best they can be at launch.
Even though our game is set in an alternative timeline, you will be able to meet and interact with many of the characters from the books and movies. Some of these during your ascension in one of the two major factions, some as part of your personal journey, and some while exploring Arrakis!
We are indeed right now focusing on the combat! What you saw in the gameplay presentation is the first iteration of a combat overhaul we recently deployed to the closed beta build of the gamewhere we implemented the pillars of the combat system. This is the first step of many planned during development before launch. With the feedback from our beta testers and as part of the development pipeline, we are actively working on animations, timings, general balancing, as well as visual polish.
We decided to show this version instead of a more artificially polished one so as to stay true and open about the current state of the beta, but ever since the footage was recorded, two major patches were deployed on the beta with more iterations, so even that footage is outdated today. Videogame development is a crazy adventure!
We chose to first focus on ranged combat and vehicle handling since they are features that didn’t exist in our more recent games and we wanted to offer something that’s good and fun to play.
Melee is an important and crucial part of the combined arms approach to combat we are going for in Dune: Awakening, and now that we have ranged combat and vehicles at a spot our beta testers and we are happy with, we are focusing on melee combat and bringing the years of expertise we have into the game. Right now we are actively working on animations, timings, general feel as well as a spin to the general mechanics inspired by how you would expect a Dune melee combat to be like! Stay tuned for future updates and showcases!
Thank you for making it to the end! This was a lengthy Communinet Signal, but there was so much to talk about and share with you! We hope you had a blast reading it as much as we had preparing it.
And remember! We want to keep evolving the Communinent Signal with your feedback and input. Let us know what you thought of this edition and what you’re looking forward to see in the next one in our Discord channel! As for us, we’ll be celebrating this milestone by hanging out at Harko Village, grabbing some delicious spice-infused beverages at Hanovars, and grabbing energy for the next Communinet Signal.
See you there!