Dune Awakening devs don't expect to "keep launch player numbers" after Steam player count hit 189,000 then ran off a cliff, but they're trying: "We do hope to get players returning"

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2. Survival Games
3. Dune: Awakening

Dune Awakening devs don't expect to "keep launch player numbers" after Steam player count hit 189,000 then ran off a cliff, but they're trying: "We do hope to get players returning" News By Ashley Bardhan published 5 February 2026

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Dune: Awakening had a more devastating downfall than a Russian tsar, with the MMO reaching an incredible 189,333 peak player count on Steam back in 2025 and spending the cold months since then collecting only a fraction of that – about 10,000 players a day. But developer Funcom is sort of at peace with it.

Lead producer Ole Andreas and senior content manager Tor Egil discuss this with FRVR in a new interview about Dune: Awakening. "It is a live game, and it's a natural thing to see the cycles." Egil explains, "It's overall hard to expect to keep launch player numbers for a super long time, that's always going to be hard." That said, Dune's fresh Chapter 3 is oriented around clawing players back.

"With Chapter 3, we do encourage, with the returning player pack and removing some of the friction points, we do hope to get players returning and testing out new things," Andreas says. He continues, "Our goal is always to look at where the game has any weaknesses or any area of the game where players are asking for something that the game doesn't have that fits with our vision, and then flesh that out."

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• Just 5 months after launch, MMO Dune: Awakening sees its Steam player count drop below that of Funcom's 2017 survival game as it struggles with "Mixed" reviews
• Dune: Awakening Chapter 3 isn't "going to please everyone," but it's only the start of many changes for the survival MMO
• Dune: Awakening Chapter 3 is the survival MMO's biggest, with a rebuilt Landsraad, new specialization system, and more

On Steam, there's been some evidence that the huge Chapter 3 – which throws the MMO's loathed tax system out the window and fattens up the endgame, among other improvements – has enticed players. According to SteamDB, Dune: Awakening has reached a 24-hour peak of 13,565, a little improvement from its stable 9,000 count prior to Chapter 3 releasing this week.

"We're always going to be adding cool things [...] to hopefully see people return and some new players come in," Egil says. Hopefully!

Dune: Awakening Chapter 3 is "not going to please everyone," but it's only the start of many changes for the survival MMO – including melee tweaks, an endgame PvE overhaul, and private servers.

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Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. CATEGORIES PS5 Xbox Series X PC Gaming Platforms PlayStation Xbox Ashley BardhanSenior Writer

Ashley is a Senior Writer at GamesRadar+. She's been a staff writer at Kotaku and Inverse, too, and she's written freelance pieces about horror and women in games for sites like Rolling Stone, Vulture, IGN, and Polygon. When she's not covering gaming news, she's usually working on expanding her doll collection while watching Saw movies one through 11.

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Logout Read more Just 5 months after launch, MMO Dune: Awakening sees its Steam player count drop below that of Funcom's 2017 survival game as it struggles with "Mixed" reviews    Dune: Awakening Chapter 3 isn't "going to please everyone," but it's only the start of many changes for the survival MMO    Dune: Awakening Chapter 3 is the survival MMO's biggest, with a rebuilt Landsraad, new specialization system, and more    Dune: Awakening Chapter 3 promises "better endgame" that makes it easier for lapsed players to return by abolishing tax    As Dune: Awakening grapples with "Mixed" reviews and a dip in players, Funcom offers a free trial for the survival MMO alongside "the highest discount we've had yet"    No, it's not just you – Dune: Awakening NPCs really did become harder as Funcom admits to "undocumented changes" in the survival MMO's last big update, says "we will revert it"    Latest in Survival Games Dune: Awakening Chapter 3 is the survival MMO's biggest, with a rebuilt Landsraad, new specialization system, and more    Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 devs shout out fellow French studio's climbing sim launching with clever nod to their J'RPG    Hytale devs looking to "speed up production" with weekly pre-release updates and aims to be "more adventurous"    Dune: Awakening Chapter 3 promises "better endgame" that makes it easier for lapsed players to return by abolishing tax    "Hytale is a forever game": After a miracle comeback, Hytale head says it "will get updates as long as gaming exists"    Terraria 1.4.5 sees the game soar with over 160,000 players exploring a new Minecraft-inspired world seed and more    Latest in News Fallout 3 remaster is reportedly still happening as Bethesda aims for Oblivion Remastered-level polish    Once again, the secret best Nintendo Direct announcement was purely for retro sickos like me    Arc Raiders lowers Expedition requirement to 3 million coins, lets players "catch up" on missed skill points    Hideo Kojima is teasing something ahead of rumored State of Play, and almost everyone's thinking the same thing    Horizon lead says "we absolutely love making single-player games, and we’re going to keep making them"    Dune: Awakening devs don't expect to "keep launch player numbers" after Steam count hit 189,000 then ran off a cliff    GAME REVIEWSMOVIE REVIEWSTV REVIEWS

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