Dune Awakening: Designed for Controllers, Launching First on PC

Bringing a game from PC to console is no small feat, especially when you’re dealing with a genre that’s traditionally rooted in the PC realm. It’s a delicate balancing act to ensure nothing is lost in translation across platforms. However, with Dune Awakening, they’ve aimed to cut through some of that complexity by “designing with a controller in mind” from the onset.

Now, despite this strategic planning, there’s still no official word on a console release date. In fact, the timeline for its arrival on PC, which is expected to come first, remains a bit of a mystery as well. To get a better understanding of how they’re handling this multi-platform rollout, I chatted with Nils Ryborg. He’s a producer on Dune Awakening and offers a wealth of experience from his time at Funcom and previously working on the console port of Pillars of Eternity at Paradox. His insights were invaluable.

Reflecting on his time with Pillars of Eternity, Ryborg chuckled as he recalled the UX challenges they faced. “We really dug into the user experience, drawing some ideas from action RPGs, particularly in terms of movement,” he shared. “Given that it’s inherently tactical, using a controller imposed some limitations. So, we introduced AI helpers to guide NPCs in making smarter decisions and allowed players some control over them.”

He elaborated, “We streamlined character movement, facilitating quick decision-making and more efficient real-time combat. But we didn’t strip away those strategy-driven mechanics. You could still pause the game to execute more complex strategies. We also tackled basic UX issues, like figuring out button cycling. The key was blending ARPG elements without losing the tactical depth.”

Turning to Funcom’s approach, was it similar to Paradox’s method, or did they find ways to smooth out the process? “Starting with a console-first design can actually simplify things,” Ryborg explained. “A lot of what you develop for consoles transitions smoothly to PC. The challenge comes when you have a PC-centric game built around mouse and keyboard—that’s tough to port. With Dune Awakening, we’ve kept a controller in mind right from the start.”

He added, “Of course, our initial release is on PC, where we’ll have everything perfectly configured. I’m not overly worried about console UX. There are the typical tech constraints, sure, like hardware limitations, but it’s all about ensuring performance without unnecessary complexity.”

So, while those eagerly anticipating Dune Awakening on consoles might have to hold out a bit longer for details, they can take comfort in knowing the console version will closely align with what PC players experience.