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Funcom’s Dune Awakening is in a constant state of change as the team rapidly iterates upon the title’s endgame, but there’s a massive plan ahead for the newly-released MMO. Alongside the console version’s development set to release next year, Funcom is already prepping for the future with plans to take players outside of Arrakis and into the wider Dune universe.
Dune Awakening and the 10-Year Plan
Similar to nearly every live service game that’s launched over the last decade, Dune Awakening has an internal “10-year plan” with massive gameplay milestones to hit along the way. However, in an interview with VideoGamer, creative director Joel Bylos explains that this plan will change depending on what the community needs.
Speaking to VideoGamer last Friday, Bylos explained that he “always had a 10-year plan” for the new survival game MMO. While fans may assume that this means the director has every possible update mapped out, that’s not the case. In fact, that plan is created in a way that it can and will change to address key problems, respond to the community, and just if a better idea pops up.
“People were like, ‘Oh, assume a 10-year live service plan’, right, for the game,” Bylos told us. “So I built a plan around that anyway as a creative director. And, like, I’m not talking about that I have a book somewhere that details in every chapter, everything that’s going to happen in the game. I just have, like, a series of bullet points about what the major beats should be along the way and where the journey ends and how we’re getting there and what’s going on along the way.”
“Right now, with the gaming industry being the way it is and the uncertainty of things, we will stick to the current plan.”
DUNE CREATIVE DIRECTOR JOEL BYLOS
Bylos explained that the current plan for the game isn’t “super-detailed”, but it is the framework for the future, and right now that plan still makes sense. With the massive success of Dune Awakening, some may expect that plan to change, to scale-up and go big just because the team can, but that’s not what the team wants to do.
“Right now, with the gaming industry being the way it is and the uncertainty of things, we will stick to the current plan,” the creative director told us. “We will continue to update the game and we will continue improve things for players. We are not a tiny team right on this project. So, you know, success was kind of needed to be continuing on the plan anyway. So I think that’s kind of where we’re at.”
“We’re not looking to make major changes up or down,” he continued. “I also think growing a team too far is a scary and concerning thing that happens, right? And with the state of things right now, I think… I think it’s best to keep a steady head. Don’t let the success of the game go to our heads, focus on making quality updates for players and give them more Dune.”
But why do games always have this “10-year plan”, why not a 5-year plan? Well, despite creating one for Dune Awakening, Bylos doesn’t really know, but it’s nice to be given the space to work out where you want your game to be a decade after release.
“It’s a really good question, but it’s one for my boss, not me,” Bylos said. “They’re like ‘Hey, we should have a 10-year plan for this, right?’ And I’m, like, ‘Okay, I’ll just flesh out a 10-year plan as a creative director’. So, I don’t have a good answer for why the number’s 10… All I know is that I get my orders handed down from above and they are ‘Hey man, we’re making a 10-year plan. Go figure out what that looks like from a creative perspective.’ Me? I enjoy that.”
For many fans of many games, the whole “10-year plan” shitck sometimes feels like a death wish nowadays. Sorry, Halo Infinite, as much as I love you, you’re not making it until 2031, especially with Combat Evolved Remake on the way. However, for a game that’s successful, for a Dune Awakening, that 10-year plan is actually exciting. No one knows where Funcom’s new MMO will actually be in a decade’s time, but there’s some notion of where the team will take it.
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