Dune: Awakening from developer Funcom has a lot of hype to live up to in the wake of two inescapable films from Dennis Villeneuve based on Frank Herbet's legendary sci-fi novels. Thankfully, it seems to be on track, judging first from the scorching gameplay released at the start of the month and now glowing preview coverage from outlet IGN, which has us more hyped than ever. We still don't have a release date on this one, but it has been foretold that it will come to PS5, someday.
Funcom is a Norwegian developer specialising in online games and certainly has the experience required to pull it off, if not so much in the console space. From PC titles like Anarchy Online, Dreamfall, Age of Conan, and The Secret World to the survival-focused Conan Exiles most recently, which has quietly been ticking along since launching on PS4 in 2018, we have faith.
Arrakkis is more brutal than most worlds, however, and a heatstroke mechanic will punish players for being in direct sunlight, forcing them to fight in the limited shade for even more limited resources. The developers will "sort of sidestep religion", which is interesting, given how much of the setting is focused on it. Still, it's a cool concept, and we'll eagerly await updates as the project progresses.