The Dune Awakening beta is about to begin and, like with any big, new multiplayer game, there are going to be a lot of people all vying for a place on the servers at once. It's a major challenge. Today's heaviest live-service hitters – the likes of Path of Exile 2, Diablo 4, and GTA Online – have to accommodate hundreds of thousands of players every day. If Dune Awakening is going to be a success, it has to be able to shoulder that load. Fortunately, Funcom has a robust server system already lined up. If you're worried about queue times in Dune Awakening servers, the developer has shared fresh information on how you'll be able to get into the game.
The full Dune Awakening servers will work. Players are separated into 'Worlds,' and each World contains around 20 servers. The players on those servers can meet and interact with one another.
Drilling down further, each individual server contains several maps. First is Hagga Basin. This is where you start in Dune Awakening and where you will always return – it is effectively the main hub of the game, and it's occupied by other players who chose the same server as you. Gameplay within Hagga Basin is mainly PvE and it is also where you can claim land and build your own base. While it's possible to visit other Hagga Basins on other servers and play Dune Awakening alongside the people there, you can only settle land and make a base on the Hagga Basin in your own server.
You also have two social hubs, Arrakeen and Harko Village. There's no combat here. Instead, you can trade, pick up missions, and socialize with other players, including those from outside servers. And then there's the Deep Desert. Primarily a PvP area, in the Deep Desert players fight over scattered control points and hunt for gear. Once a week, a huge storm blows across the region, rearranging the layout and moving around all the weapons and equipment that are available to find. Like the social hubs, the Deep Desert is shared by every player on every server in your World.
So far, that all sounds straightforward. But there are potentially concerns about Dune Awakening's capacity, because each Hagga Basin can only 40 concurrent players at one time. This is where Funcom wants to clear up any misconceptions.
"This is not our first rodeo," the developer says. "We've launched several MMOs and survival games over the past 25 years, and we have a robust set of tools and processes in place, managed by an experienced live operations team. What's important to note is that while a Hagga Basin server can 40 people playing concurrently, the way populations ebb and flow over the course of a day means that it still s several hundred people picking that server as their home.
"This has been rigorously tested during closed beta, and we have systems in place that will restrict too many characters being created on a server that is becoming too popular, to minimize the chance of servers becoming full As with all games operating with populations like this, that doesn't mean servers will never reach the 40-player concurrency cap. If that happens, you will a server queue when logging in.
"The term 'server queue' is rarely used in a positive context," Funcom continues, "but to us it's a quality-of-life addition. Commonly, survival games don't offer this, and you are left having to wait and hope you are able to click fast enough when a slot opens up. By adding a server queue functionality, you can simply click once and rest easy knowing that you will get in when a slot becomes available to you. Again, because of how player populations ebb and flow throughout the day, you should not have to wait long before being let in."
The Dune Awakening team has also reached out to the game's community directly. In a Reddit 'Ask Me Anything' session on Tuesday May 6, Funcom executive producer Scott Junior explains the studio's preparations both for the beta and beyond.
"We have a few systems in place to keep queues to a manageable level during the launch surge," Junior says. "During the launch period there may be certain Worlds and servers that are over populated, but we will do our best to make sure the community is spread out as evenly as we can.
"There are some population limits but that is all based on activity, which is only for how many players have connected to the server recently. We have these in place to make sure there is enough buildable space on the map so that you can claim a base location without running around for hours. As for confidence, we are planning to launch with a lot of server capacity and will direct players to Worlds and servers with room for them. If you are dead set on playing on an incredibly busy World then you will have queues, but there will be room for you to play somewhere else."
Junior also addresses the question of private servers in Dune Awakening: "We are working on them now with various partners across the globe," the developer says. "I can't commit to us having them at launch, though, but we will try to get them out as soon as possible." Funcom says that a list of Worlds and servers will be published ahead of the game's launch so that players can better coordinate with one another.
With release day on the way, get prepared with all the Dune Awakening system requirements, to make sure your machine is up to the task.
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