A trend on YouTube has grown over the past few years: real-life experts, usually brought in by video game publications, react to the authenticity of video games. In fact, Ubisoft partnered with a professor to run an entire channel that went through their Greece Discover Walk and broke it down as finely as possible. However, these videos are almost always done retroactively.
And that’s where Funcom said, “hold my Spice!”
Dune Awakening Asks You To Survive Arrakis
In order to celebrate their 2025 survival RPG Dune: Awakening coming to consoles on September 26, they enlisted British Military Chief Survival Instructor & Consultant John Hudson to share some of his wisdom and opinions on how to survive in real-life deserts, and just how realistic the game’s setting of Arrakis is.
Hudson compares it to American deserts like the Mojave and Sonoran around the Grand Canyon, adding that a desert isn’t just a sea of sand, but a biome of rocky outcroppings, unexpected oasis valleys, and, yes, dunes.
In the 10-minute video titled “Expert Mode: How To Survive Arrakis,” Hudson makes things incredibly straightforward. Explaining that a survivor is someone who is rescued, and in order to make it to that point, you need to understand how to combat extreme heat and sun exposure, conserve water, seek shelter during sandstorms and rely on group coordination to carry the resources needed to endure.
Dune: Awakening is, of course, inspired by Frank Herbert’s pioneering sci-fi literary work, which inspired Canadian Denis Villeneuve and Legendary Entertainment’s award-winning film trilogy.
The game relaunches for PC and, for the first time, on consoles on September 22, 2026. Deluxe and Ultimate Edition owners can get a head start on September 17. Console players, alongside new and returning PC players, will have access to all additions and improvements introduced since the PC launch in 2025, as well as new content and updates arriving at re-launch.
