Dune: Awakening is getting a new single-player mode later this month, giving players the opportunity to explore Arrakis without relying on the game’s multiplayer experience. However, Funcom is making it clear that players should approach the new mode as a solo survival game rather than expecting a cinematic narrative experience like The Last of Us.
The single-player option will arrive alongside the console release of Dune: Awakening. Funcom has been adapting the MMO-inspired survival game to work as a more self-contained experience for players who would rather journey across Arrakis alone.
Speaking during an interview at Gamescom, Funcom chief creative officer Joel Bylos explained that players looking for a strong survival experience that can be enjoyed alone should find the new mode a good fit.
However, he warned against comparing it to story-driven games such as The Last of Us.
“If people play the game and what they’re looking for is a really great survival game experience that they can play single-player, that’ll be no issue,” Bylos said. “If they expect it to be like The Last of Us, they’re probably barking at the wrong tree.”
His message is essentially that players should understand the genre before deciding whether the single-player mode is for them. Dune: Awakening remains fundamentally a survival game, even when experienced without other players.
Turning a Persistent MMO Into a Solo Experience
Creating the new mode has reportedly been a significant technical challenge for Funcom.
Unlike a traditional single-player game, Dune: Awakening was built around a persistent online world controlled by servers, with multiple maps and systems designed for large numbers of players. Converting that architecture into a smooth local experience required substantial changes behind the scenes.
Funcom previously explained that transforming the game’s persistent, server-authoritative open world into a solo experience was far from straightforward.
The studio has had to adapt multiplayer-focused mechanics, rebalance combat and adjust resource-gathering rates so that players progressing alone can maintain a reasonable pace.
The game’s technical infrastructure has also been modified to allow a player’s own hardware to handle more of the workload that would normally be managed by the online server environment.
Solo Players Can Still Explore Arrakis
The single-player mode appears to be aimed at players who have wanted to experience Dune: Awakening but were less interested in its online elements.
That includes people who want to explore Arrakis at their own pace, engage with the game’s survival systems and follow its story without having to coordinate with other players.
At the same time, Funcom is not presenting the mode as a complete reinvention of Dune: Awakening. The core survival mechanics remain central to the experience, meaning players should expect resource management, exploration, combat and the dangers of Arrakis rather than the tightly scripted structure of a traditional single-player action game.
With the console launch approaching, the new mode could provide a more accessible entry point for players who have been curious about Funcom’s take on the Dune universe but have avoided its online-focused design.
