Funcom will release Dune: Awakening Blood and Ice on December 1, a free expansion that sends players to the frozen north of Arrakis on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox. The new Polar Sink map has two biomes: a tundra where wealthy water shipper families hold lavish strongholds, and a heavily guarded ice cap where securing access to ice is a central goal.
In Dune: Awakening Blood and Ice, heat turns from the enemy into an ally. Gear built for the desert needs upgrades to survive the cold, and the replacements require resources found only in the Polar Sink. Funcom puts the expansion's progression at around 35 hours. Harvested ice cools base equipment and speeds up production, and the expansion also brings new vehicle modules, augments and specialization traits. Funcom says more than one million new players have joined since the game reached consoles.
Funcom is also opening a cosmetics store for outfits, vehicle variants and base customization. The items are optional, and Funcom says the money supports continued free updates. According to Funcom, the store opens with a rotating selection that includes looks from the films, timed to the theatrical release of Dune: Part Three this December, and Funcom plans to make the full catalog available at all times in a later update.
The Water Crisis event follows shortly after the expansion. It comes after The Scourge, the event in which players investigate a disease spreading across Arrakis. Funcom calls the pair its biggest in-game events so far, with new gameplay and locations, and plans to run events more often. A new Events tab arrives with the expansion to track progress and rewards, and every event can be finished in single-player or multiplayer.
Funcom's schedule, including three features it calls much-requested:
| When | What arrives |
|---|---|
| November 2026 | Offline single-player, playable without an internet connection |
| December 1 | Blood and Ice expansion, free on all platforms |
| Shortly after December 1 | Water Crisis event |
| January 2027 | Character copying between multiplayer and single-player |
| January 2027 | Full cross-play across supported platforms |
Character copying comes with limits. Players can copy a multiplayer character into single-player, and a single-player character to select private servers or self-hosted servers on PC, but only where the server allows copied characters. Funcom CEO Scott Junior says the studio has ambitious plans for 2027, with several major free updates adding new locations and mechanics.
