Dune Awakening will let you choose between the Harkonnen and Arrakis factions, plus a third that will arrive after launch
Factions and guilds are a core element of Dune Awakening
Developer Funcom has confirmed that Dune Awakening will let you join guilds under two factions, along with a third that is yet to be revealed.
Dune Awakening, which was first revealed back in 2022, is an MMO set in the world of Frank Herbert's Dune book series and is set to take players on a new journey when it launches on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.
Though set in the world of Dune, the game takes place separately from the mainline story's timeline and will put the player in the shoes of The Sleeper, who will awaken on the desert planet of Arrakis.
Arrakis, as well as its natural resource Spice, is a massive part of the primary Dune plot and is the sole reason why many factions are at war with one another in the universe.
In a recent interview with Eurogamer, Funcom's chief creative officer and creative director on Dune Awakening, Joel Bylos, said that factions will play a big part in the core gameplay, explaining that once players get the lay of the land, they'll be able to create their guilds.
These guilds will sit under one of the game's two factions: Harkonnen and Arrakis - who have been at war for millennia - so players will be able to decide which faction they would prefer to join. According to Bylos, Funcom also has plans to add another third option later on.
"There's a third faction that'd like to get in," Bylos said, "but that probably won't come until post-launch."
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Bylos adds that both factions are "highly mired in politics", meaning objectives won't always be guild-based. "They're faction-based, right?" he explained. "So it doesn't matter if there are 50 guilds on the Harkonnen side, those 50 guilds are working towards the same objectives."
Dune Awakening doesn't have a release date just yet, so in the meantime, be sure to check out our list of the best PC games, along with our recommendations for the best MMO games.