The gate to Arrakis has just been opened, and Funcom’s latest opus is on a roll. But there’s a whole host of Dune games that came before, several of them changing the face of gaming forever. Today, we’ll take a look at the history of the franchise that features some of the most important video games ever made.
In case you’re unfamiliar with Frank Herbert’s iconic science fiction saga, here’s a recap: Imagine a distant future and a space empire relying on melange – a potent psychic drug which extends human life, boosts mental capacity (including psychic powers), and enables interstellar travel due to the latter. The fate of the entire empire depends on this drug (which is also known as spice), and it can only be harvested on the desert planet of Arrakis.
That desert, by the way, is brutally hot, inhospitable, and crawling with giant and incredibly deadly sandworms. Various Houses vie for control over Arrakis, as ruling over this planet means ruling over the galaxy. With the scene set, you have House Atreides coming to blows with the evil House Harkonnen. Paul Atreides, the heir to the family throne, soon learns that he’ll have to step up, while playing a key role in a legendary prophecy in the process.
The first Dune video game arrived more than 30 years ago. Developed by Cryo Interactive, it drew inspiration from both Herbert’s novel and David Lynch’s 1984 film. Take a look at the in-game character models, and you’ll spot the uncanny resemblance to Kyle MacLachlan and Sting.
The game loosely follows the plot of the book. You play as Paul, tasked with driving the Harkonnens off Arrakis by any means. You can build military dominance, or terraform the desert into a lush paradise – destroying the spice in the process.
Gameplay-wise, it’s a strategy game where you have to manage your army, unlock new technologies and weapons, conquer territories, mine spice – of course! – and defeat House Harkonnen whenever you get a chance. But there are also point-and-click adventure elements thrown in. You can explore various structures, talk to characters, and complete some mini-quests.
Cryo’s Dune is considered an iconic and legendary addition to the franchise. But there’s one game that followed soon after which made a much, much greater impact on the industry as a whole.
Enter RTS
There were real-time strategy (RTS) experiments before 1992 – Utopia, Herzog Zwei, The Ancient Art of War – but none of them laid the groundwork for the genre quite like Dune II.
Released by Westwood shortly after Cryo’s Dune, Dune II once again puts you in charge of a House of your choice. Your goal is simple – destroy your rivals and conquer Arrakis. And in addition to Houses Atreides and Harkonnen, you can also choose House Ordos.
In short, Dune II is a template for virtually every RTS that came after it. The likes of Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, Command & Conquer, Age of Empires, and more all owe a great deal to Westwood Studios’ legendary efforts.
Dune II spawned two further sequels: a partial remake called Dune 2000 (but released in 1998) and Emperor: Battle for Dune (2001). Emperor: Battle for Dune was the last RTS set in the world of Dune until 2022’s Dune: Spice Wars. Cryo was working on Dune Generations, an online RTS to be released sometime in the early 2000s, but the project was scrapped, and the company ultimately filed for bankruptcy.
Before going under though, Cryo released Frank Herbert’s Dune – a third-person action-adventure based on the 2000 SyFy miniseries. You once again play as Paul, learning the ways of the Fremen and rallying them against the Harkonnens. The game was plagued by poor reviews and low sales – one of the final nails in Cryo’s coffin.
Another doomed project was Dune: Ornithopter Assault, a top-down shooter for Game Boy Advance that let you pilot an ornithopter across the desert, completing airborne missions. It was cancelled in 2002, but later repackaged – minus the Dune licence – as Elland: The Crystal Wars, which is now available on PC. According to Steam reviews, it’s surprisingly decent.
The resurgence
You probably know what happened next. Denis Villeneuve’s 2021 Dune film was a smash hit, and its 2024 sequel somehow upped the ante. That success reignited interest in the franchise, including the gaming side.
And so we got the aforementioned Dune: Spice Wars in Early Access in 2022. This 4X RTS lets you fight for control over the planet of Arrakis, and you can either handle things diplomatically, or by military might. With seven factions, each with a different leader and perks, there’s plenty to do here, though reviewers noted that the game somewhat failed to capture the essence of Dune.
There’s also Dune: Imperium (2024), a video game adaptation of a popular deck-building/worker placement game in the Dune universe, originally released in 2020. The latest release, Dune: Awakening, is a survival MMO set in an alternate timeline where the Fremen have mysteriously disappeared and Paul Atreides was never born.
You get to create your own character and then engage in all sorts of shenanigans on Arrakis, including trying to stay alive despite the harsh conditions, building bases, playing a diplomat, or just fighting – either against other players or in-game factions.
Dune: Awakening has been a major success so far, with more than 140,000 concurrent players on Steam on launch day. User reviews seem to be very positive, too.
What does the future hold for the franchise, though? It’s hard to say. With the success of Awakening, we can expect more updates and content. Who knows, maybe we’ll get some new games along the way. If the Dune Messiah movie turns out to be as successful as its predecessors, then a new title is far from out of the question.
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