Dune: Awakening's next expansion, Blood and Ice, launches free on Tuesday 1 December on PC, PS5 and Xbox, Funcom announced on 29 October. It takes players to a new map in the frozen north of Arrakis, the Polar Sink, where the survival problem flips: staying warm instead of staying cool. Funcom hasn't given a launch time.
The same announcement set dates for three of the game's most-requested features: offline single-player in November, then character transfers and full cross-play in January 2027. Funcom says more than one million new players have joined since the console launch.
What Blood and Ice adds
The Polar Sink: a new survival map with two biomes. Players start in the tundra, where rich water shipper families guard their strongholds, then push into the heavily guarded ice cap.
About 35 hours of progression: new gear crafted from resources found only in the Polar Sink, plus new vehicle modules, augments and specialisation traits.
Ice as a resource: harvested ice can cool base equipment and speed up production.
Events tab: a new menu for tracking events, launching with the expansion. The next event, Water Crisis, arrives shortly after 1 December.
Coming next to Dune: Awakening
Feature | When | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Offline single-player | November 2026 | Exact date not announced |
Blood and Ice expansion | 1 December 2026 | Free on PC, PS5 and Xbox |
Water Crisis event | Shortly after 1 December | Follows The Scourge event |
Character copying | January 2027 | Multiplayer to single-player, and single-player to select private servers |
Full cross-play | January 2027 | Platforms not detailed |
Why it matters
Funcom is betting on free updates paid for by cosmetics. Alongside the expansion it is adding a cosmetics store with outfits, vehicle variants and base items, starting with a rotating selection that includes looks from the Dune films, timed for Dune: Part Three in cinemas this December. Funcom says the full catalogue will later be available all the time. CEO Scott Junior said the studio has "ambitious plans" for 2027, with "several major free updates".
Confirmed and not confirmed
Confirmed: 1 December, free for all players on all platforms, the Polar Sink map and around 35 hours of progression, offline single-player in November, and cross-play in January 2027. Not confirmed: a launch time, download size, the exact offline single-player date and cosmetics store prices.
Dune: Awakening costs $49.99 on Steam and is also on Game Pass. Funcom's Conan Exiles Enhanced upgrade is our previous report on the studio. For setup, see our guides to installing games on PS5 and installing games on Xbox Series X|S, or our Xbox Series X page.
In India, Dune: Awakening costs ₹2,799 on Steam, and Blood and Ice is free there too.
Sources & verification
Sources last verified on . This article covers published information, not hands-on testing.
Editorial & update notes
First published 31 Oct 2026 with primary-source citations.
