Dune: Spice Wars will see the series relive its strategic past

Spice, Spice, Baby

Video game fans of a certain age will well remember the majestic Dune video game adaptations of the early ’90s, excellent strategy titles that paved the way for Westwood Studios’ Command & Conquer series. Well, it is time to get your house in order once again, as publisher Funcom has announced Dune: Spice Wars, an all-new RTS headed to PC in 2022.

Much like the Westwood Studios classics, Dune: Spice Wars will see players take command of one of the many ordained houses, before laying siege to the desolate yet highly valuable mining planet, Arrakis. Choose from one of many factions, including the noble House Atreides and the brutish House Harkonnen, before commanding your armies, managing your mining facilities, and maintaining social and industrial systems to keep the spice flowing, your people safe, and the enemy at arm’s length.

I’m House Ferguson.

Launching in Early Access in 2022, developer Shiro Games (of Northgard and Evoland fame) intends to “grow” Dune: Spice Wars as a title over the coming years, adding new mechanics, quests, troops, buildings, and much more. Players are asked to “forge their own path,” using bargaining, espionage, resourcefulness, peacekeeping, or brute force in order to maintain their hold over the precious spices of Arrakis. It sounds like it could be a real return to form for fans of the original games and the Dune universe in general. Of course, the proof will be in the quality of the title itself, so here’s hoping Dune: Spice Wars can live up to the magnificent legacy of the games that have come before it.

Dune: Spice Wars will enter Early Access on PC at some point in 2022.