Dune: Awakening's free Blood and Ice expansion lands Dec 1

Funcom has dated the first big free expansion for its survival MMO. Blood and Ice arrives in Dune: Awakening on December 1 on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox, free for all players. The developer announced the expansion last week alongside a roadmap for the next three to four months.

A frozen corner of Arrakis

The expansion adds an entirely new map, the Polar Sink, in Arrakis' frozen north. It has two biomes:

• The tundra, where you start, controlled by wealthy water-shipping families in lavish strongholds.
• The ice cap, heavily guarded, where getting access to ice becomes the central goal.

The twist is that heat becomes your ally. Gear built for the desert won't cut it, so you'll need upgrades and resources found only in the Polar Sink. Harvested ice can be taken home to cool base equipment and speed up production. Funcom says the action returns to the ground, with traversal, temperature management and combat at the centre. It quotes around 35 hours of progression, plus new vehicle modules, augments and specialization traits.

Events, cosmetics and offline play

Funcom also announced:

• A Water Crisis event shortly after the expansion, following the current Scourge event, and a new Events tab to track progress and rewards.
• A cosmetics store with outfits, vehicle variants and base customisation, including looks from the films. Funcom says purchases help fund free updates.
• Offline single-player in November.
• Character copying between multiplayer servers, single-player and select private servers in January 2027.
• Full cross-play in January 2027.

Funcom says more than one million new players have joined since the console launch. Dune: Awakening is also on Game Pass; if you stream games rather than install them, see our explainer on what cloud gaming is. Playing on PC with a pad? Our PC game controller buying guide can help. Funcom is also bringing its other survival games to new hardware: here's our story on Aloft and Conan Exiles Enhanced on PS5.