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Dune: Awakening is a What If story that acts a love letter to every previous incarnation of Frank Herbert's sci-fi classic
From Jodorowsky and Lynch to 1990s video games and more, there's something for every generation of Dune fan in the upcoming video game set in a universe where Paul Atreides never lived
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Upcoming MMO Dune: Awakening reimagines the alien worlds of Frank Herbert in a new storyline that pointedly diverges from traditional lore, but that doesn’t mean that the game is a rejection of the many different versions of Dune that have come before, from books to movies and TV shows and more. In fact, just the opposite: in many ways, it’s a tribute to the entirety of the franchise up until this point.
“You have the books; you have the [Alejandro] Jodorowsky film that didn't get made; you have the 1984 film. And then you have the video games in the 90s. I grew up playing the Dune video games. We've tried to just touch on all the legacy,” Joel Bylos — creative director on the game — told Radio Times. “We have an in-game radio station in Dune: Awakening where you can listen to music from the 90s video games.”
He even teased that the game might include a burning giraffe, infamously one of the details from Jodorowsky’s Dune that was requested by creative consultant Salvador Dali.
Despite the many different incarnations of Dune that the game touches on — as well as the central conceit of the game itself, that it takes place in an alternate reality where Paul Atreides was never born — there remains one core focus when it comes to what drives Dune: Awakening creatively, according to Bylos.
“The central guiding point has always been the books,” he promises. Think of the game as a giant What If…? that just happens to let fans live inside the story as it happens.
Dune: Awakening will be released for PC on June 10, with a "large-scale beta weekend” anticipated at some point in May.
You don't need to beat the game to prepare for the next one—here are all the major new and upcoming games coming our way.
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