Dune: Part Two proved the excitement around the world of Arakkis and the plight of Paul Atreides is sky-high. The audience is certainly there for at least one more movie. However, in the meantime, you can soon take your own chances in Frank Herbert’s sci-fi universe with Dune: Awakening. The open-world action MMO will let players explore Dune and all its many dangers. Sandworms, yes, but other factions. At Summer Games Fest 2024, we finally got a story trailer for the game, and it gives us a fascinating look at when (and when not) the game takes place.
Just a heads up, the Dune: Awakening trailer has spoilers for some of the later books and potential movies. Watch with caution if that kind of thing puts you off.
The Dune: Awakening trailer gives us narration from Paul himself, some time after the events of the first book/second movie. Paul explains his visions of various timelines where key events of Dune never happened. One vision shows what if his mother Jessica gave birth to a girl, where Dr. Yueh was caught before his treason, where the Atreides don’t die at the hand of the Harkonnens, or if the Emperor and his Sardaukar army took control of spice production on Arrakis. He then explains how his path was the one path that would prevent the utter destruction of the human race, but that in these alternate Dune: Awakening timelines, we, the players, also forge potential timelines toward salvation.
The future is ours to write, and it seems parts of the Dune: Awakening game will take place off of Arrakis and potentially further into Paul’s life. How much jumping back and forth in timelines we’ll get in the game is not clear. What is clear is that all the visuals look very inspired by the Legendary Pictures films. And who wouldn’t want to live in that desert?
Dune Awakening will be released on PS5, PC and Xbox Series X/S.
Editor’s Note: Nerdist is a subsidiary of Legendary Digital Networks
Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture deep-dive podcast Laser Focus. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Instagram and Letterboxd.