👨‍👨‍👦‍👦 Group-Play

Before discussing how groups are divided, we need to understand the instancing mechanism with its player-cap and how a group moves around the map

🌐 One “World” has one economy

• One “World” has many PvE zones called “Sietches” that are connected to one PvP zone called the “Deep Desert”
• There is one “Exchange” for each faction and a “World” is essentially one economy for all exchanges
• There will be many “Worlds” to accommodate the entire player-base of the game and the section “Joining Your Friends” expands on that

☮️ A “Sietch” has PvE Zones

• A “Sietch” combines one “Hagga Basin” & two “Vermilious Gap” (Eastern/Western). They are all PvE zones and other players are not able to attack your base or kill you
• Both the Hagga Basin & Vermilious Gap include small PvP hotspots around specific points of interest, though the majority of the area remains PvE-focused
• All PvE zones offer persistence, unlike the Deep Desert (PvP) who’s storms wipe any structures as part of a weekly reset
• The developers expect about 40 concurrent players max (at the same time) for each “Sietch”. This means there will be a queue on opening week

🤼‍♂️ Deep Desert as one PvP zone

• The PvP zone is called the “Deep Desert”. Only one Deep Desert is shared for all “Sietches” in a “World”. The Deep Desert is a much larger map to accommodate everyone
• The “Deep Desert” resets weekly due to a Coriolis Storm that wipes the map (including player structures) and spawns new terrain and resource-locations. Nothing there is permanent
• The developers said that one Deep Desert can accommodate “hundreds” of players concurrently and possibly 900. This number will probably scale proportionally with the 40 concurrent players from Sietches
  • Example 1 (upper-bound): 800 concurrent players in one Deep Desert divided by 40 concurrent players in each Sietch = 20 Sietches per World
  • Example 2 (middle): 500 concurrent players in one Deep Desert divided by 40 concurrent players in each Sietch = ~12 Sietches per World

🚪 The Overland Map for Navigation

• It is stated by the developers that players will utilize the “Overland Map” to move between different zones, including the Hagga Basin, Vermilious Gap, and the Deep Desert
• The “Overland Map” is a dynamic top-view map (like in RTS games) that shows the entire world and allows you to navigate between places. You will be able to see your friend’s location on that map

To venture into the Deep Desert, players need to craft and use an Ornithopter. After it is built, you will then be able to use the Overland Map to transfer between zones If you look at the section “Vehicle Research & Upgrades”, you will see that an Ornithopter unlock is reached with certain materials only!

🏴‍☠️ Guilds & Groups

• The developers said on April 1st 2025 that a guild’s size will be 32 players. This number coincides with the 40 concurrent players per Sietch
• The standard group size for most activities is limited to 4 players. This applies to dungeon runs and general exploration
• Full Guilds participate in larger-scale endeavors, such as: Faction Quests, the Landsraad, Deep Desert PvP Operations, Base Building and Control

📲 Joining Your Friends

• Q: Will I be able to start the game in the same Sietch as my friends? Short answer: Yes
  • At 26:48min of the video called “Dune: Awakening Direct – Episode 2” from Funcom, they specify you can choose to spawn in the same zone as your friends when you begin the game
  • At 5:22min of the video called "Dune: Awakening — Livestream #2 | Servers & Guilds” from Funcom, they specify that Friends will automatically be added from the Steam list
• Q: Will I be able to join my friends from another World or Sietch if I started in another World or Sietch? Or even go in their Deep Desert? Short answer: Yes
  • At 5:50min of the video called "Dune: Awakening — Livestream #2 | Servers & Guilds” from Funcom, they mentioned that if your friends are not in the same “World”, that you will be able to join “their World”, but with a few limitations. When joining another “World”, you will be able to assist your friend in building their base but you “will not be able to claim land” or territory
  • At 26:13min of the video called “Dune: Awakening Direct – Episode 2” from Funcom, they mention that you can move outwards into the Deep Desert from the Hagga Basin that was joined
• Q: What if my Sietch is full and it reached the max concurrent count?
  • At 4:01min of the video called "Dune: Awakening — Livestream #2 | Servers & Guilds” from Funcom, they mention that if more than 40 players try to join, you will be put into a queue