Dune: Awakening's "early 2025" release date is looser than you might think

I went to see Funcom’s survival MMO Dune: Awakening last week and one thing I expected while there was a specific release date. The game has an “early 2025” date, currently, which is the time period we’re in. So a major press event held within that period of time would be a perfect place to make a release announcement. But no such announcement was made.

It raised questions about how near to release Dune: Awakening actually is. I put these questions to the game’s executive producer Scott Junior, and his reply feels like a much more accurate estimation of when to expect it. “I guess it depends how you define early,” Junior said. “It could be the first half of ’25 – that could be ‘early’. So I’ll leave it there. It could be the first half of 2025.”

Incidentally, Junior’s referring to a PC (Steam) release. Console versions are part of the plan but they’re coming later at an unspecified date. Also, in case there’s any confusion, that’s a full 1.0 release – there’s no early access. The game has been in closed beta testing already for about a year.

Another question mark surrounds the game’s business model, which again, Funcom hasn’t announced. Naturally, there are assumptions of free-to-play and battle pass monetisation methods – Funcom having used an in-game shop in Conan Exiles – but I saw no evidence of a shop in the Dune: Awakening build I played at all.