Dune: Awakening Endgame Overhaul: New PVE Options and PVP Balance Changes Coming Soon

The Dune: Awakening MMO has been making headlines since its June 2025 release, attracting over a million players and setting new records for developer Funcom. The game's unique combination of the iconic Dune setting with survival MMO gameplay has been highly anticipated, and even now, tens of thousands of players are building, exploring, and competing in the virtual sands of Arrakis to establish dominance over the most important planet in the universe. However, despite the strong start, the game has not been without its issues, particularly regarding PVP and the endgame experience. Creative Director Joel Bylos has addressed these concerns in a Steam blog post outlining planned changes to both PVP and the overall endgame experience. According to Bylos' post, Funcom plans to add a number of PVE options to Dune: Awakening's endgame to "not force PVE players to interact with a PVP system they may have no interest in." Currently, PVP in the game's Deep Desert is the main pillar of Dune: Awakening's high-level play, as it is the only pathway to obtaining the rarest and most valuable resources and gear. However, Bylos said that while Funcom's ideal of the Dune: Awakening Deep Desert was for players to team up and form guilds to overcome its challenges collectively, the reality is that players have been "cut out" of the endgame by the "extremely competitive nature" of the current Deep Desert. To mitigate this, portions of the Deep Desert will be flagged as "Partial Warfare (PVE)" areas where players can explore test stations and harvest tier 6 resources without unwanted PVP. These sections will be balanced around group and guild play, so they'll still be "grindy" for solo players. Meanwhile, the largest spice fields and other deep parts of the Deep Desert will have open "War of Assassins (PVP)" status for players who enjoy the high risk, high reward dynamic. In addition to these changes, Funcom will also make further changes to PVP to address outstanding complaints, particularly the current dominance of flying ornithopters. While a previous Dune: Awakening update removed ramming damage from vehicles to nerf that particular strategy, other changes will also reduce the effectiveness of rocket-equipped ornithopters. Bylos said that PVP play should revolve around "combined arms," which means that while Thopters are important, they shouldn't be the dominant force in actual battles. Overall, it seems that Funcom is listening to player complaints about the state of Dune: Awakening's endgame and is making changes to address these concerns. With luck, these changes will help diversify the endgame experience and make it more accessible for all types of players.