Dune: Spice Wars, the upcoming video game set in Frank Herbert's classic Dune Universe, will launch in Early Access on PC later this month.
Combining real-time base building and 4X mechanics, the strategy game is being developed by Northgard studio Shiro Games and is coming to Steam for an early release on April 26. This early access period will only include single player skirmishes initially, with multiplayer coming later.
Publisher Funcom Games has also confirmed that the game's fourth and final faction will be the Fremen, the indigenous people of the titular planet, joining House Harkonnen, House Atreides, and The Smugglers.
Dune: Spice Wars pits the four factions against each other for control of Arrakis and its coveted Spice Melange. You will build your military might, expand your political influence, infiltrate your enemies and oversee the production of resources to take over the planet.
Each faction has particular strengths and weaknesses, with the Fremen portrayed as a flexible army capable of withstanding the harsh environment of Arrakis. They can travel great distances faster than other factions while riding sandworms and need to resupply less often. You can use Stealth Infiltrators to sneak attack enemies, Fedaykin for skirmishers, and Kulon Caravans to hide friendly troops.
If you've seen Denis Villeneuve's recent film adaptation of Dune or read Frank Herbert's acclaimed novel, you'll also recognize plenty of characters among its ranks, including Chani Kynes, Stilgar Ben Fifrawi, and Liet Kynes.
The Dune universe is no stranger to video games. Dune, the 1992 real-time strategy game from Cryo Interactive, was an ambitious title that borrowed ideas from point-and-click adventure games like The Secret of Monkey Island. We believe that it has successfully demonstrated that there is a future for intellectual property in the world of video games.