Can a Free Trial and the Biggest Discount Yet Save Dune: Awakening After Mixed Reviews and a Player Dip?
Last chance to jump in — you’ve got until November 27 to play the game.
Five months into early access, Dune: Awakening has already lived a full life. It launched to 'Mostly Negative' Steam reviews, bled players, and now has fewer people on Steam than Funcom's older survival game, Conan Exiles — which came out in 2018. Funcom has a plan to stop the slide: a free trial, a chunky discount, and a reminder that a lot has changed since June.
Where things stand
The early bumps were real. Even a recent update — the one with the Base Backup Tool and a bunch of fixes — did not move the needle much, at least if you go by SteamDB numbers. The Steam review score has climbed into 'Mixed', but the player count comparison with Conan Exiles is not flattering.
Free trial and discount: the reset button
Funcom just dropped a free trial that lets you create a character on any Sietch and any World and play the actual game for up to 10 hours. There are a few chat restrictions to deter bots and griefing, but otherwise it is the full Arrakis survival experience. The trial window runs through November 27, so you have a full week to jump in and burn those hours.
- Free trial: Up to 10 hours of unrestricted play, available through November 27
- Discount: 25% off the game until December 1 — Funcom says it is the biggest markdown since early access launched in June
'To anyone who wishes to take up permanent residence on Arrakis during or after their free trial, they can purchase the game at a 25% discount until December 1, the highest discount we've had yet!'
What has actually changed since launch
Funcom is also doing a little victory lap on the updates so far, and to be fair, they have shipped a lot:
Chapter 2 continued the main story and came with a pile of new content and features. The Lost Harvest DLC added its own standalone storyline, the treadwheel vehicle, and Dune Man building pieces — a mouthful of a name, but yes, new construction options. The Deep Desert biome got significant upgrades in Chapter 2 and across other patches. On top of that: more encounter variety, better loot, a much longer vehicle view distance (you can actually see what you are driving toward now), and stability improvements. Funcom says that is just the beginning — and yes, they leaned into a dune pun — with Chapter 3 'on the horizon.'
So, should you try it?
If you bounced off at launch or have just been curious, a 10-hour trial plus the biggest discount to date is the right kind of olive branch. The fundamentals are still survival-MMO tough love, but if the Chapter 2 work and the Lost Harvest additions click for you, there is a decent game taking shape under the sand. Now it is on Funcom to make Chapter 3 the one that gets those 'Mixed' reviews trending up.