Having recently crossed the million-player mark,Dune: Awakeningdeveloper Funcom isn’t resting on its laurels just yet. A new patch dubbed “The Deep Desert Hotfix” seeks to address one of the primary complaints among the player base, namely the forced PvP in the endgame.
The game quickly established itself asone of the biggest hits of 2025, but many players expressed agitation over the fact that the endgame was somewhat inaccessible, given that it forced players into PvP areas.
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While it might seem strange for MMO players to complain about PvP, the vast majority of Dune: Awakening’s content can be completed solo without ever interacting with other players. For this tosuddenly change into an almost entirely different gamemode right before the end was an unwelcome surprise to many players.
The Deep Desert region is home to some of the most valuable crafting and loot items in the game, particularly Spice and Titanium Ore. Following the new patch, half the area will now be a PvE area, enabling players to gather these important resources without worrying about being killed by other players.
Listening To The Fanbase
The real surprise of the Deep Desert Hotfix is how quickly it has been rolled out. The game was only released a couple of weeks ago, and many players will only just be approaching the endgame now.
The game’s Creative Director, Joel Bylos, said that the goal was not to “force PvE players to interact with a PvP system that they may have no interest in.”
Areas such as crashed ships will remain PvP locations, but the southern half of the Deep Desert is now morereadily accessible to PvE players. However, the distribution of resources has also been adjusted so that “loot overall is more valuable and plentiful in the northmost PvP zones.”
The change should bring a better balance to the game, enabling players to get their equipment on a more level playing field before entering into PvP zones. Either way, it seems that Funcom has listened to the audience and is delivering the best of both worlds.
Adjustments were also made elsewhere as part of the update, such asslowing Ornithopter speedswhen Rocket Launchers are equipped, and enabling players to claim land in new Sietches.
The signs are certainly encouraging for Funcom and for the future of Dune: Awakening. With a developer keen to interact with their community, it seems that this MMO could be around for a long while yet.
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