Yesterday I happened to be working on an article looking back at our predictions for the year when I stumbled across one about Funcom’s DUNE MMO. I lamented that Funcom seems to have missed the hype window, since the first movie is now behind us. But then this morning, the company dropped a press release indicating movement on the dang game.
“Today, NUKKLEAR GmbH, is thrilled to announce that it is partnering with developer Funcom on their upcoming survival game set in the world of Frank Herbert’s Dune. NUKKLEAR will be taking on a co-development role, helping to realize the expanded scope of the title previously announced by Funcom. The studio was also recently awarded approximately 1.6 million EUR by the BMVI (Bundesministerium für Verkehr und Digitale Infrastruktur) as part of the Computerspieleförderung des Bundes German Federal Government Grant. The grant will be used to support in part NUKKLEAR’s development and production work on this project.”
Worth noting that the press release reiterates it’s an “online multiplayer survival game” and an “open-world survival game,” not a traditional MMORPG, and that Funcom “greatly expanded [the game’s] scope” following Tencent’s buyout of Funcom back in 2019. The game still has no name, though apparently we can expect “vehicular-based gameplay” as Funcom says it’s benefited from NUKKLEAR’s “experise” in that area.
Funcom, of course, is best-known to MMO audiences for the Secret World and Conan franchises and has been on a major buying spree over the last year.
