Dune: Spice Wars Revealed
During The Game Awards 2021, Dune: Spice Wars was announced by publisher Funcom and developer Shiro Games. According to the pair, Dune: Spice Wars is a 4X RTS with "political intrigue, deception, warfare, sandworms, and spice." In addition to announcing and revealing the new Dune game, the pair also relayed word that it will release into early access on PC next year. When exactly next year, we don't know. Meanwhile, there's also no word of console ports.
For those that don't know: Shiro Games is the developer behind the critical and commercial hit RTS, Northgard, which debuted back in 2017. In other words, Funcom couldn't have picked many better developers for an RTS Dune game.
"I think I speak for every single person at Shiro Games, when I say that we are all massive fans of Dune – both of the original novel and the new and spectacular Denis Villeneuve film. To be able to bring this universe to life as a strategy game again is incredible," said Shiro Games' CEO Sebastien Vidal. "The Dune universe is the perfect setting for a strategy game. You have major factions, such as House Atreides and House Harkonnen, with a rivalry that spans back centuries. You have political intrigue, deception, and warfare, all centered around what is by far the most valuable substance in the universe: Spice. And then there is the stage itself, Arrakis, a hostile planet full of hidden wonders to explore. Massive sandworms that can devour entire armies, sandstorms, spice harvesters, all of which our amazing team of developers have incorporated into this game," he says.
Dune: Spice Wars is currently in development for the PC and set to release via early access sometime next year. Below, you can read more about the game:
"Dune: Spice Wars will have several playable factions, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, as well as multiple ways to achieve your ultimate goal – control of the spice on Arrakis," reads an official blurb about the game. "You can deploy agents to sabotage, assassinate and spy on your opponents, use political means to influence the Landsraad and pass beneficial resolutions, amass incredible wealth and simply overwhelm the other houses through economic and technological supremacy, or you can opt for open war."