In one of the best recent interviews about the game, Joel Bylos, the Creative Director of Dune: Awakening, shared many exciting insights with Eurogamer.net.
After reading various articles, the pieces of information about the game’s setting and story now slowly come together. We now know that Dune: Awakening is set in an alternative timeline, which started to branch off a few years before the first Dune book/movie. The year the player lands on Arrakis is 10199 AG, about eight years after the events of the first novel.
According to Bylos, a certain decision made by one character changed the course of events forever, and interestingly, the person who made the decision is not Paul Atreides.
Joel Bylos, Creative Director for Dune: Awakening:
“Things are slightly different in our universe. Many events are still the same, so it’s not like we’ve gone all ‘thousands of years ago, a rock slid in the wrong place and changed everything’. It’s just a few years back. But the significant thing – it’s really close to spoiler territory, which I can’t really go through – but let’s just say that for the large part, we sort of sidestep religion.”
The decision to sidestep religion in Dune: Awakening seems to be influenced by two key factors. Firstly, the absence of the religious Fremen at the game’s launch suggests a departure from the intricate religious themes in Frank Herbert’s original Dune series. By not focusing on the spiritual aspects, the game may explore other dimensions of the Dune universe. Secondly, the alternative timeline suggests a divergence from the canonical storyline, raising the possibility that Paul Atreides may not fulfill his prophesied role as the Lisan Al Gaib, thereby avoiding initiating a holy war known as the Jihad.
This doesn’t mean there is no religion in the game. For example, Bylos mentioned the Butlerian jihad, the historical war between humans and artificial intelligence. Thanks to a PC Gamer article, we also learned that a failed Kwisatz Haderach will be one of the villains.
I am super excited about the alternative timeline, which also got the blessing from the Herbert family since there are so many great possibilities. It’s not just Dune – The Game; you can forge your story and fulfill your Dune fantasies. The books have so many great characters, and the new timeline allows you to meet them – like Duke Leto, who is still alive in the game.
Miscellaneous
- Joel Bylos did not want to comment on whether Paul Atreides was in the game, making me wonder if Jessica Atreides decided to give birth to a girl instead.
- Besides Harkonnen and Atreides, Funcom hopes to add a third faction to the game, although it might become post-launch content. The Fremen are likely to be the third faction.
- The game’s tutorial is about 15 minutes long; the story progresses through optional missions.
- Mining has an active or passive approach. Active, like manually using a laser for extraction, will give you better results than passive (presumably with automated machines).
- Players gain access to faction objectives from the Landsraad Council by talking to representatives or spying on them.
- The game’s monetization still needs to be clarified. Bylos likes battle passes and major DLC packs. It won’t have randomised mechanics like lootboxes.
- Bylos discussed the benefits and negative side effects of spice consumption, stating that previous movies did not capture enough of the “weirdness of Dune.” Spice can enhance abilities and lead to experiences such as spice dreams. However, the more you consume, the more addicted you become, and the potential consequences are uncertain. It’s possible that there could be psychedelic effects such as visual and auditory hallucinations, which could create interesting gameplay experiences.
