Funcom discusses Dune Awakening’s South Korean prospects and MMORPG elements

Those of us who live in western countries know very well the pain of watching games develop in Asia as developers hedge on whether they’ll ever port them in our direction – or delay them many months after local release (eyyyy, Blue Protocol). But today, we’re getting a glimpse of the other side, as South Korean outlet InvenGlobal ran an interview with Funcom on Dune Awakening asking hopefully about a launch in that region.

Funcom’s Joel Bylos, mind you, doesn’t even confirm that the game will be localized in South Korea, instead pointing to past games’ localization as a clue. The Koreans can probably assume it’s happening, though, as he concludes by saying, “It is a great honor to hear of the interest in Dune: Awakening in Korea and I hope that we can deliver an experience that appeals to them.”

Most of the questions center on topics that studio has addressed in dev blogs, such as its “alt history” approach to fitting into the DUNE movie, the focus on the player’s story perspective as opposed to the core book characters, the role of concepts like water and spice, expected conflicts over resources, and Funcom’s experience making Conan Exiles. In fact, Bylos suggests the game is more tailored to “complex sandbox mechanics” than Exiles and the studio’s other games. And as for its MMORPG elements?

“Dune: Awakening features many of the classical MMO characteristics, but applied through a sandbox worldbuilding philosophy. You can build bases and customize them as you like and you are not limited in how and where you place them (apart from special cases). Players can explore the world alone, or together with their friends, forming groups and guilds to take on dungeons and harvest spice. There is both technological advancement where players learn to build new and greater technology through the acquisition of powerful schematics, as well as a robust skill and imprint system that allows players to define their playstyle in the game.”

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