Dune Awakening: 5 survival MMOs to try while you wait for Dune Awakening

With Dune Awakening planned to release early next year (2025), players are wondering what survival MMOs to try out in the upcoming months while waiting. This genre combines the aspects of survival games and integrates multiplayer elements alongside it.

Games of the survival MMO genre have been around for over a decade now and have garnered quite a fan following. Dune Awakening aims to be the latest addition to it. The devs at Funcom have revealed that the title will be set in a universe where Paul Atreides doesn't exist but houses like Harkonen and Corrino do.

In this article, we provide a list of survival MMOs gamers can get into while waiting for Dune Awakening's release in early 2025.

Note: This article is subjective as it reflects the author's opinions, and is not in any particular order.

Survival MMOs to play while you wait for Dune Awakening

1) Once Human

Once Human is the latest survival MMO that is free-to-play (Image via Starry Studio)

Once Human's gameplay combines survival mechanics and looter shooter mechanics in a shared sandbox map of an open world. Gamers enter the world and are guided through a series of early missions, that teach them how the game's elements function, unlock various other mechanics, and advance the game plot.

This free-to-play survival MMO is developed and published by Starry Studio. On release, almost 230,000 gamers were playing it concurrently on Steam. Initially, developers struggled to maintain the servers. Thus forcing players to wait in queues before getting access to the game. Once Human is ranked high in the "Top Sellers" list on Steam, making it a worthwhile title to try while waiting for Dune Awakening.

2) Rust

Rust is an old survival MMO that still holds strong in 2024 (Image via Facepunch Studios)

Rust is a survival MMO created by Facepunch Studios that launched in February 2018. It is a multiplayer-only game in which players compete against each other in an open-world setting with the sole mindset of survival. The goal of Rust is to collect resources and tools to survive the harsh wilderness. Players must skillfully manage some in-game survival elements like hunger, thirst, and health or be forced to stare death in the eye.

Despite the presence of wild animals, the biggest threat to the player is other players. To combat them, gamers can utilize various weapons. These survival and multiplayer aspects make Rust a fine addition to this list of games to try before getting Dune Awakening.

3) Ark: Survival Ascended

Ark Survival Ascended is a remaster of its predecessor (Image via Studio Wildcard)

Studio Wildcard created Ark: Survival Ascended, a survival MMO, which is a remaster of Ark: Survival Evolved. The latter was released in 2017 while the early access for Ark: Survival Ascended came out on October 25, 2023, and includes the base game with all DLC maps planned to come out within the next year. Survival Ascended also contains a remaster of the other game modes available in Survival Evolved.

Players can create their own survivor, form a tribe, tame dinosaurs, and train them in a live ecosystem while managing survival elements like food, water, and weather. Several quality-of-life improvements introduced updated UI, dynamic navigation for in-game creatures, new camera systems, and more. These make Ark: Survival Ascended, a game worth a shot before getting into Dune Awakening next year.

4) Conan Exiles

Conan Exiles is a game worth trying before the release of Dune Awakening (Image via Funcom)

Developed and published by Funcom, this survival MMO takes place in the realm of Conan the Barbarian, with the custom player character being rescued by Conan and beginning their survival journey. Early access versions of the game were published in early 2017, with early access ending on May 8, 2018. The core of Conan Exiles is to survive in the mythical prehistoric era.

Players start the game after being convicted of various crimes, which results in being crucified in a hot desert. This is where Conan comes in, alongside whom, gamers learn how to traverse the harsh world dubbed as the Exiled Lands. The desolate world design and survival aspect make Conan Exiles similar to Dune Awakening at its core and worth a try before the latter releases next year.

5) DayZ

DayZ was released after being a popular mod of the same name for Arma 2 (Image via Bohemia Interactive)

DayZ is a survival MMO game developed and published by Bohemia Interactive. It is a standalone game based on the mod for Arma 2 of the same name. After a five-year early access phase, the game was finally launched in December 2018. It features Arma 2's initial setting where a mystery virus has converted the majority of the populace into violent "infected" zombies.

In DayZ, the objective is to survive and be healthy amid a zombie apocalypse. Gamers spawn in a random region, with only a few resources. While surviving with what they have, players must begin exploring the vast expanse to scavenge more supplies and weapons to survive this derelict zombie-infested world. The survival aspect of DayZ makes it worth the recommendation before players get their hands on Dune Awakening.

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Edited by Virat Fumakia