Dune Officially Returns September 22

Published Sep 18, 2026, 9:00 PM EDT

Nicholas Becher is a gaming journalist with an MFA in Creative Writing from FAU. With extensive experience playing video games, he covers all forms of gaming content at Screen Rant, from breaking news to the latest fan theories. Most-played games range from Clair Obscur to Civ to Elden Ring to Halo 2 and beyond. 

Frank Herbert's Dune may be the most important piece of science fiction ever created, and as Denis Villeneuve's film saga brings the epic to mainstream audiences with its final chapter later this year, the franchise has arguably never been bigger. First published in 1965, Herbert's sprawling story of politics, religion, ecology, and power transformed the genre, influencing generations of science-fiction authors and some of the biggest franchises that followed.

Villeneuve's Dune and Dune: Part Two have since introduced Arrakis, House Atreides, and the Fremen to an enormous new audience, while HBO's Dune: Prophecy has expanded the universe even further beyond Paul Atreides' story. The renaissance isn't slowing down, either, with Dune: Part Three arriving in theaters on December 18.

Before then, however, fans are getting another major trip to Arrakis, as Dune returns on September 22 with a brand-new release.

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Dune: Awakening officially arrives on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on September 22, bringing Funcom's ambitious open-world survival game to consoles alongside its biggest update yet. More than a year after Dune: Awakening first launched on PC, Funcom is essentially relaunching its ambitious survival game with its biggest update yet.

Update 1.5 arrived yesterday, September 17 alongside early console access, while the full console release follows next Tuesday on September 22. Most importantly, the update finally introduces the highly requested full single-player mode, allowing players to experience virtually everything Dune: Awakening has to offer without sharing Arrakis with anyone else.

Single-player isn't simply the existing experience with other players removed, either. Players will be able to choose between three difficulty presets or individually customize settings covering experience gain, harvesting rates, item durability, base decay, sandstorms, sandworm spawns, and more.

Further, the Deep Desert no longer resets, the Coriolis Storm has been adjusted so it won't wipe progress, and the Landsraad simulates rival guild activity to keep the faction struggle functioning without human players. The update also completes the game's five-act Book One storyline, meaning its cinematic campaign can now be played from beginning to end, one of the most appealing aspects of the single-player rollout.

It's another major step in what has been a dramatic evolution of Dune: Awakening since it launched on PC last June. Initial reception was strong, with more than one million players entering Arrakis within its first month, while Steam concurrent players eventually peaked at more than 189,000. Critics were generally positive as well, with the PC version currently holding a 78 Metascore. However, complaints surrounding its PvP-heavy endgame, combat, progression, and some repetitive systems gradually tempered that early enthusiasm.

Funcom took feedback to heart and drilled down, spending the past year addressing many of those concerns. PvP is now entirely optional, the Landsraad endgame has been extensively rebuilt, Chapters 2 and 3 expanded the story, character and server portability has improved, and Arrakis now has new locations, weapons, gear, Imperial Testing Stations, self-hosted servers, and numerous quality-of-life and performance upgrades. Funcom says its own data showed that 80–90% of players were primarily engaging with PvE, making the shift particularly significant.

One downside, unfortunately, is that full cross-platform support will still not be available at console launch. Xbox and the Microsoft Store support cross-play and shared progression through Xbox Play Anywhere, but PlayStation, Xbox, and other PC versions cannot initially play together. However, Funcom has officially confirmed broader cross-play is coming, although there is currently no specific release date.

Regardless, this update feels less like a simple console port and more like the beginning of a new era for what remains a hugely underrated Dune game, and if you're a fan of the franchise who hasn't had a chance to check out Dune: Awakening yet, it's easily the best Arrakis-based open-world experience you'll find.

Dune: Awakening

Systems

7/10