Dune: Awakening Designed With Controller In Mind, Despite Launching On PC First

Dune: Awakening was designed with “controller in mind” according to the one of the game’s producers, even though the PC version of the game will arrive before it eventually launches on Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5.

Speaking with VG247, Dune: Awakening producer Nils Ryborg elaborated on developer Funcom’s approach when it came to designing the upcoming survival MMO set in an alternate-history version of Frank Herbert’s legendary sci-fi book series. He specifically discussed how the game, which will see hundreds of players battling for control of Arrakis and its precious Spice, was built around controllers and consoles.

“So from the start, it’s the easier way of making a game, going console-first,” Ryborg said. “A lot of that transitions easily back on the PC, whereas if you make a pure PC game where you use a mouse and keyboard to control, it’s really difficult to port over. So it’s been designed with a controller in mind from the get-go.”

Many survival games usually get their start on PC, and once they become popular, may then release on consoles. Valheim is a great example of a survival game making the jump. Having a game designed with a controller in mind from the start also opens up the possibility of the game being playable on Steam Deck or other PC handhelds.

“Obviously, we’re releasing on PC first, right?” Ryborg said. “So that’s where we’ll have a good setup, but the console UX-wise, I’m not super concerned. Obviously it’s all the classic tech stuff, you know, where they’re [consoles] a little more limited in certain hardware things. So it needs to perform well and other tech stuff. It shouldn’t be overly complicated.”

Despite being made to work well with a controller from the start, the wait for the console version of Dune: Awakening could be a long one. The PC version doesn’t have an exact release date but is slated for “early 2025,” according to Funcom. That means the console version will come sometime after, perhaps later in 2025 or even sometime next year.