Why Dune: Awakening’s Alternate Timelines Are the Perfect Use of the IP

Originally published in book form all the way back in 1965, Dune has been a popular Sci-Fi franchise for almost 60 years now, but it’s seen unprecedented growth in the last few years thanks in no small part to Denis Villeneuve’s blockbuster movie adaptations. As is the case when any big franchise gets a sudden burst of popularity, a slew of related projects are quickly put into development, and that’s certainly been the case with Dune. And by far one of the franchise’s most intriguing spin-off projects is the upcoming MMO, Dune: Awakening.

Being developed by Funcom – the devs behind Conan Exiles – Dune: Awakening is set to be a similar mix of survival game and MMO, dropping players onto the surface of Arrakis and tasking them with carving out their role in the chaotic landscape. While Dune: Awakening still doesn’t have a concrete release date, Funcom is gradually revealing more about the game as time goes on, and the recently released cinematic story trailer confirms a huge plot point for the game that doubles as an incredible use of Dune‘s established lore.

Dune: Awakening Is Making Great Use of Paul Atreides’ Prescience

Paul Atreides’ Prescience Explained

The Dune universe is filled with technical Sci-Fi jargon, fantastical contraptions, and some truly bizarre world-altering concepts, and Paul Atreides’ Prescience is definitely on the stranger, more fantastical side of the spectrum. In the Dune universe, the term Prescience refers to the ability to look into one’s own past and future. Different beings across the Dune galaxy have varying levels of Prescience, and it’s an ability that can often be amplified by the use of Arrakis’ Spice Melange.

The son of a Bene Gesserit, Paul Atreides already has some level of Prescience at the start of the Dune novel and movies, being able to see vague visions of a future that could be. Upon coming into contact with Spice for the first time, Paul’s visions start to become more frequent and vivid, and after consuming the Water of Life, Paul’s Prescience becomes so powerful that he can see the outcome of thousands of potential futures.

How Dune: Awakening Is Using Paul Atreides’ Prescience to Present New Story Opportunities

As confirmed by its recent cinematic story trailer, Dune: Awakening is using Paul Atreides’ Prescience in a really smart way. The recent trailer opens with Paul ruminating on a “future that never happened,” one in which he was never born. In this alternate timeline, Paul’s mother, Jessica, gave birth to a daughter instead, Dr. Yueh’s treachery is uncovered before the Harkonnens can attack, Leto Atreides survives, and the Fremen are believed to have been exterminated in the ongoing war for the planet. It’s in this alternate timeline that Dune: Awakening takes place.

Using Paul Atreides’ Prescience to put Dune: Awakening on an alternate timeline gives Funcom a great deal of creative freedom that it wouldn’t really have had otherwise. Now Funcom can play around with the canon of Dune, offering a remixed story that can still deliver plenty of fan service while simultaneously offering a brand-new story for long-time fans to enjoy. This structure also naturally paves the way for a plethora of future updates for the MMO that could advance this timeline’s remixed story in unique ways.

Dune: Awakening

Developed by Funcom, Dune Awakening is an open-world MMO that will drop players in the cutthroat world of Arrakis. The survival game will feature third-person combat, exploration, base building, social interactivity, and more.