Control the spice, control the universe
The very first video game is coming from the Dune universe, close after the heels of the recent movie, and ahead of its sequel. Titled Dune: Spice Wars, the game was announced at The Game Awards 2021, and also promised an early access before official release.
Since the game announcement came in less than 2 months after the film’s release, many are wondering if it will be based on the recent movie or the classic novels. Let’s find out.
About Dune: Spice Wars
Developed by Funcon and Shiro Games, Dune: Spice Wars is going to be a 4x real-time strategy game, where players get to choose their own faction and be controllers of the spice that Arakkis is best known for. The trailer showed a vast map of the desert where excavators, ornithopters (airplane with flapping wings), massive desert storms, and the infamous sandworms roamed.
The developers stated that in order to let your faction rise in power, players will have to take advantage of in-game mechanics like sabotaging, assassinating, spying on the competition, and asserting political powers and strategies. Like every new-gen game, an early access period will be given to receive player feedback and improve the overall gameplay. It is likely that the final release date of Dune: Spice Wars will be revealed later.
Striking a balance
At first glance, it does look very much like the Denis Villeneuve movie, but inspiration has also arrived from the novels. Shiro Games’ CEO Sebastian Vidal said that they were all massive fans of the franchise, and his team has been pulling content from both iterations of the universe, thus giving players the best of the Dune world. Implementing real-time strategy (RTS) means the game will have connections to Age of Empires, and Shiro Games’ own Northgard, so it can engage a lot of players. Some, however, are disappointed that they will not get to see an open-world game set in the Dune universe.
Also read: SUPER SMASH BROS. ULTIMATE DIRECTOR PLANS TO CREATE A SMALLER ROSTER OF FIGHTERS IN THE FUTURE!