early access roadmap

One month after its arrival in early access on Steam, the real-time strategy game with 4X elements Dune: Spice Wars has offered a first roadmap detailing the content and features that the title developed by Shiro Games will receive during the next half-year. The plan of the French studio, which operates under the tutelage of Funcom, is that Dune: Spice Wars remains under the protection of early access between 9 and 12 months.

“The highest priority is multiplayer,” says Shiro Games. As the roadmap indicates (which you can see in the middle of the news), Dune: Spice Wars will receive an update that will add different options to explore the multiplayer, including a cooperative mode to play with one or more friends, a free-for-all to compete all against all and a vs to face each other. In all modes, up to four players can participate. The multiplayer will be available in summer, on a date yet to be specified.

Also in summer a new playable faction will arrive with an unprecedented victory condition. It is unknown for now which faction will join the four already available: House Atreides of Leto Atreides, House Harkonnen of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, Esmar Tuek’s Smugglers, and the Fremen led by Liet Kynes. The Dune universe conceived by Frank Herbert hides several factions such as the Bene Gesserit brotherhood, the Bene Tleilax organization, the matriarchal Honored Matres or the Thinking Machines.

What we can guarantee is that the new faction will arrive accompanied by its own troops, buildings, strengths and weaknesses, as well as a series of advisors that will allow it to specialize. In Dune: Spice Wars all factions have two main goals: survive on Arrakis and control the species.

Later Dune: Spice Wars will receive the Air and Sand update that will introduce new units and tactical elements. Then Heroes of Dune will come, whose novelties go through bringing the councilors to the map as playable heroes. Players can currently choose an advisor at the start of the game, and the advisor provides a passive buff that allows for gameplay customization. In the future, their role will be much more active if, as Shiro Games progresses, their number expands and they become controllable units.

The French study indicates that the Dune: Spice Wars roadmap does not detail all the content and features that the game will receive in the coming months. The updates will be accompanied by a patch that will introduce different improvements that will be detailed in due course.