Developers of Dune: Awakening announced that PvP will be entirely optional after a year of player complaints

Funcom (Tencent) announced global PvE/PvP balancing in Dune: Awakening

Norwegian publisher and developer Funcom, part of the Tencent group, has announced major balance changes between PvE and PvP modes in its role‑playing game with survival elements and an open world, Dune: Awakening.

What will change
* PvE orientation

The developers emphasized that the game is primarily designed for PvE. According to analytics, about 80 % of regular players interact only with non‑player versus player (PvP) content, ignoring it entirely.

* New PvP rules

PvP conflicts will remain “optional” and not required for progressing through the story. This allows a more flexible approach to character development without forcing players into fights for advancement.

* Patch 1.3.20.0

The first changes will appear in the upcoming 1.3.20.0 update.

Additional features
* Creating private servers

The game will implement a feature that lets players create private servers with custom rules and transfer their characters from official worlds onto them (reverse transfer is prohibited). Testing of this feature will begin soon.

Brief release history
Date Platform Sales 10 June 2025 PC (Steam) – exclusive 1 million copies in < 2 weeks
*Planned releases on PS5, Xbox Series X/S are expected by the end of 2026.*

Conclusion: Funcom aims to make Dune: Awakening more accessible to a wide audience by emphasizing PvE content and offering flexible PvP settings. New patches and features are already in development.