Dune Awakening developer says work on bringing the MMO to Xbox Series S is progressing but will be a "challenge"

Dune Awakening
(Image credit: Funcom)

Funcom has said that bringing Dune Awakening to Xbox Series S will be a "challenge".

The massively multiplayer online game (MMO) inspired by the best-selling Dune book series by Frank Herbert is set to launch on PC in early 2025, but Funcom has yet to share a release window for the console versions.

According to Dune Awakening's chief product officer Scott Junior, one of the main reasons for this is so Funcom can spend more time optimizing the Xbox version alongside the PlayStation 5 version, more specifically, the lower-powered Xbox Series S.

"So, it's one of the reasons we're coming out on PC first," Junior said in a recent interview with VG247. "There's a lot of optimisations we need to do before we release on the Xbox. But yeah, Xbox Series S is a challenge."

Junior added later on in the discussion that work is progressing and that those who own an Xbox Series S and are looking to play Dune Awakening on the console will be able to do so.

"Yeah, yeah it does," the developer said when asked if it will run on low-performance machines despite the optimizations. "But it will still perform well on hardware that's years and years old. We'll be able to do it!"

Dune Awakening is built in Unreal Engine 5 and recently received a brand-new 30-minute gameplay trailer at Gamescom Opening Night Live 2024 where we got our first look at the game's in-depth character creator as well as the open world of Arrakis.

Players will be able to join a guild and align with House Harkonnen or Atreides, and "clash for the precious spice in dynamic guild versus guild battles involving a range of vehicles, tech, and specialized combatants."

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