Dune: Awakening Patch 1.1.0.17 Makes Big Changes To Improve Deep Desert Endgame Experiences For All Players

Funcom is updating Dune: Awakening almost faster than we can write about it. No sooner had we introduced you to its Public Test Client and news that the studio was trialling extending the PvE zone of the Deep Desert from about 10% of the map to 50%, Funcom has dropped an update to confirm that the change will be rolling out for all players from today, June 26.

“The PvE area has been adjusted to encompass the entire southern half of the Deep Desert map,” Funcom confirmed in its latest patch notes, below. “This means that players who have no interest in PvP should be able to find what they want without engaging in PvP. Imperial Testing Stations, caves, and so forth found in this area are thus now PvE.”

“Rest assured that we will continue to listen to your feedback and make adjustments in the future,” the team said.

It follows an AMA in which the studio told players frustrated by the endgame experience that it was “formulating a plan” to improve PvP in the Deep Desert. Previously, players branded the endgame as “toxic” due to griefing even after patching out the ability for players to squish other people with their Ornithopter

“We want PvE players to be able to play the endgame and have access to the content of the endgame,” said creative director Joel Bylos. “Our goal is not to force PvE players to interact with a PvP system that they may have no interest in.

“We still believe in the core concept of the Deep Desert — an endlessly renewing location that resets every week and creates an activity loop for great rewards. The tension of heading out there, head on a swivel, eyes peeled for foes as you enter the most dangerous part of the most dangerous planet in the universe. Our wish was that players would embrace this loop, forming guilds to work together to overcome the bleakness of the Deep Desert.”

For those wondering, yes, Control Points and Shipwrecks will continue to be PvP “throughout the entire map,” which means you will find “localized pockets of PvP within the PvE section still. Similar to how Shipwrecks are PvP in Hagga Basin.” Work has also begun on changing the Ornithopters; equipping a rocket launcher module will now decrease the top speed of your Scout Orni by 20%, and Assault Ornis by 10%.

After the patch has been applied, players will also be able to report other players’ messages from the text chat or report them by using the Inspect menu.

Dune: Awakening Patch Notes 1.1.0.17

Deep Desert

As outlined in A message from the Creative Director on PvE and PVP » Dune: Awakening, this hotfix will see the first iteration of the changes to the balance between PvE and PvP in the Deep Desert. Rest assured that we will continue to listen to your feedback and make adjustments in the future.

  • The PvE area has been adjusted to encompass the entire southern half of the Deep Desert map.
    • This means that players who have no interest in PvP should be able to find what they want without engaging in PvP. Imperial Testing Stations, caves, and so forth found in this area are thus now PvE.
    • Control Points and Shipwrecks will, however, continue to be PvP throughout the entire map, which means you will find localized pockets of PvP within the PvE section still. Similar to how Shipwrecks are PvP in Hagga Basin.
  • To retain the Risk vs Reward setup for the Deep Desert:
    • The density of resources increases the further north you go. This includes high-density clusters of valuable resources.
    • The largest spice fields will also spawn in the north.
    • The majority of Control Points will exist in the northern part.
  • As part of these changes, we have made some balancing adjustments in the Deep Desert:
    • The lower half of the Deep Desert now offers PvE loot that is balanced toward shared loot and PvE activities. You may find better loot in the more dangerous PvP area located further north on the map. In the PvE area, for example, each player gets their own loot and can expect to receive one schematic. In the PvP area, loot is distributed on a “first come, first served” basis, with higher quantities of everything. Players can expect to find 2–6 schematics there, which are among the rarest.
    • Plasteel plates can only be found in PvP zones.
    • The amount of active medium spice fields has been reduced from 8 to 5.
    • The number of active small spice fields has increased from 20 to 22.
    • The spawn rate of Titanium and Stravidium has been reduced in the PvE areas so that large quantities only spawn in the far-out PvP areas.
    • The number of nodes in resource hotspots in the PvE part of the map has been reduced.
    • The respawn time of Titanium and Stravidium has increased from 30 to 45 minutes.
  • Some Imperial Testing Stations are still in the PvP region, and players who want all schematics available each week will want to visit both the PvP and PvE Imperial Testing Stations. Keep in mind the loot in them rotates each week, so even if you’re not interested in PvP, you could obtain it at a later date if you’re not able to trade for it or buy it off the Exchange.

Vehicles

  • We have begun work on the outlined changes to the Scout Ornithopters.
    • Equipping a Rocket Launcher Module will now decrease the top speed of your Ornithopter.
      • For Scout Ornithopters, the reduction is 20%.
      • For Assault Ornithopters, the reduction is 10%.
    • Infocards for the modules now reflect this change.
  • Exiting ornithopters mid-air will now cause them to drop straight down instead of gliding away. This should decrease the chance that you lose your ornithopter upon disconnecting from the game or exiting by accident your ornithopter mid-air (yes, we have seen the videos).
    • Known issue: There is an edge case that if your vehicle ends up in the quicksand you might not be able to interact with it if you are in the quicksand. The workaround is to try to get on top of the vehicle to interact with it. This will be fixed in the very next patch.

Visiting

  • We removed the restrictions when visiting other sietches. Before this change, players had their “home” sietches, and could visit other sietches in their world but couldn’t claim land. Now, any player can go to any sietch in their world and claim land wherever they want.

Technical and stability

  • Increased game stability.
  • The latest NVIDIA driver was added to the GPU driver check at the game launch.

Other

  • We have introduced Player Reporting, allowing players to now report other players’ messages from the text chat or report players from the Inspect menu on players.

FIXES

Technical and stability

  • As a continuous effort, we have closed several exploit vulnerabilities.
  • Fixed an issue where a specific type of network issue would cause players to be stuck in an infinite loading screen.
  • Fixed an issue where some players could experience a client freeze when traveling between Deep Desert servers.

Combat

  • Fixed an issue where players performing a melee attack could get obstructed by corpses lying on the ground.

User Interface

  • Fixed an issue where the guild faction alignment was not localized on the Guild Overview tab.
  • Fixed an issue where players could encounter a black screen if they skipped the cinematic at “The Wreck of the Hephaestus”.
  • Fixed an issue where several Sandbike research schematics failed to mention the Imperial Testing Stations as the primary source.

Travel

  • Fixed an issue where players could use an ornithopter pilot service to fly from the cities to Hagga Basin if they had arrived in a city with their ornithopter.

Miscellaneous

  • You will no longer lose learned emotes when respec’ing your skill tree.

Dune: Awakening has enjoyed a superb launch, with a ‘very positive’ user review rating on Steam. Within hours of going live on June 10, Funcom’s survival MMO had clocked up over 142,000 concurrent players on Valve’s platform, and hit a new high earlier this month of 189,333 players. And it’s already clocked up over 1 million players, too, making it Funcom’s fastest-selling game ever, and securing a Great 8/10 in our review.

If all that’s got you interested but you’re not sure where to start, make sure to check out all the Dune: Awakening classes you can choose from, and keep an eye on our Dune: Awakening walkthrough for a step-by-step guide to the story. We’ve also got Dune: Awakening resource guides that’ll help you find iron, steel, aluminium, and a Dune: Awakening Trainers locations guide to help you survive on Arrakis.

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

Life is Strange developers Don’t Nod hit with more layoffs

French studio Don’t Nod have laid off workers across multiple departments. The full number is unconfirmed, but multiple affected staff have posted about their departures on LinkedIn, including Lost Records: Bloom & Rage principal cinematic artist Mary Pouliot, technical artist Laurent Dufrense, and QA lead Sandra Cormier.

It’s been a rocky year or so for Don’t Nod’s staff. Last September, the studio paused two unannounced games and said they’re altering others, also unannounced, to be more appealing to a “wider audience”, following warnings about an 11% decline in operating revenue for the first half of 2024. Chairman and CEO Oskar Guilbert attributed this to (the excellent) Jusant and Banishers: Ghosts Of New Eden performing “well below expectations” commercially.

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Techland Skips Dying Light ‘Retouched’ Upgrade For Switch, Says There Are No Plans For A Switch 2 Version

Dead drop.

Dying Light is one of those absolutely huge games that just shouldn’t really work on a Switch. It’s way too big, it’s way too pretty, and it’s way too action-packed. Or at least that’s what we thought, until Techland served us up a solid port of its excellent zombie survival epic that ran just fine on Nintendo’s dinky little machine. The wizards!

Now, however, it seems as though we may not be getting treated to any more magic, for the time-being at least, from this particular Polish dev. Yes, as detailed on Techland’s official blog (thank you, Eurogamer), the Switch version of Dying Light will be skipping the brand new ‘Retouched’ update that’s bringing a bunch of audio and visual slickness to versions on other, more powerful hardware.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Rogue Trader devs Owlcat discuss their Expanse RPG – it’ll be “very open”, but sadly, there’s no spaceship combat

Kindly Father Internet has dispensed a few new details for The Expanse: Osiris Reborn, Rogue Trader dev Owlcat’s recently announced RPG adaptation of the sci-fi book and TV show series. It sounds like it’s operating within the fine tradition of spin-off stories that are always a step behind or a room across from the live action celebrities.

I refer to games like The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age, in which the noble human ranger Alsogorn, the stout dwarven warrior Simarli, the shieldmaiden Eowynnish and the other members of the Followship of the Ring pitch in with Gandalf, Faramir and co in scenes that might have been lifted from Petey Jackson’s cutting room floor. Except that turning the Balrog bridge fight into a five-way Final Fantasy slapfest is just naff.

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Thinking Of Modding Stalker 2? You’re Probably Going To Need To Free Up Some Space — Around 700GB’s Worth

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl‘s 1.5 Patch is here, introducing various tweaks and fixes, but it’s the first phase of GSC Game World’s modding tool that’s dominating our interest… and our hard drives.

“Shape the Zone in Your Way with the Stalker 2 Zone Kit,” GSC Game World said. “Modify existing content or create new experiences — animations, weapons, mechanics, and even wonders of the Zone.”

Sounds great, right? Which it is, if you happen to have 700GB of space free… on top of the 160GB you need to run the base game itself.

The reason, GSC said, is because as part of its partnership with the modding community, the team is sharing a slew of uncompressed files so modders are using original assets in the development of their mods, which is better for everyone, of course.

“The size of the mod kit is a result of the in-game assets being uncompressed for the mod makers,” GSC told PC Gamer. “It’s a big game, and the assets are many, resulting in a considerable size of the download. The Zone Kit is currently in phase one, so we’ll explore the opportunities to optimize its size (if possible) in the future.”

“Yeah, we launched the Zone Kit as Phase 1, because we want to develop it together with Mod Makers,” a community representative explained on Reddit. “It already has a lot of features, but still this is Phase 1. On Phase 2 there will be even more things to do with the Zone via the Zone Kit.”

“Underneath the technical problems that plague STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl is a unique greatness,” we wrote in our S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl review, giving it 8/10. “It emerges as a refreshingly brutal shooter that strives to hook you with its incredible atmosphere and leave you invested by the end of this long, arduous journey.” Read more on how S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 has changed everything for the studio amid the full-scale invasion of Ukraine here.

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

Battle Prose: The finale, for-now-le

Thilmann had always sneered at apocalyptic portents. Comfort blankets, he thought. The warming wool of fire and brimstone and an end to all that is and will ever be, pulled up over arrogant fools, shivering from just having come to terms with their own mortality, afeared they’d miss out on the important parts. It is the ultimate comfort, he always said, to believe that you’ll tie with creation at the finish line, celestial mechanisms sputtering out in time with your own squishy innards. And yet, he could not help himself sensing finality on the wind. Louder even, it seemed, than the goading arena crowd about them.

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Tetris 99’s New Maximus Cup Sees The Return Of Four Nintendo Themes

Try it out on the Switch 2 now.

To mark the 47th Maximus Cup in the Switch Online battle royale Tetris 99, Nintendo will be revisiting multiple themes from tomorrow onwards. This also happens to be the first cup event for the Switch game since the arrival of the Switch 2.

Round one will kick off with Super Mario Bros. Wonder and will be followed by Splatoon 3 (and the Expansion Pass paid DLC), Pikmin 4, and last but not least The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Switch 2 Exclusive ‘Drag x Drive’ Won’t Include Local Multiplayer Support

But it will support 12 players online.

Nintendo is bringing out a new “fast-paced” multiplayer game this August called Drag x Drive, where players will be able to “shoot hoops” with the Switch 2 Joy-Con 2 dual-mouse controls.

Following the release date announcement earlier this week, the eShop listing for this upcoming title has now revealed this “3-on-3” sports title will actually support double this amount online, bumping the fun up to 12 players. Further details about this have not been provided just yet.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

(For Southeast Asia) PlayStation Plus Monthly Games for July & a big thank you to players for 15 wonderful years

PlayStation Plus is celebrating its 15-year anniversary later this month, and it’s amazing to see how much the service has evolved since it first launched on June 29, 2010. From all of us at Sony Interactive Entertainment, we want to send out a huge thank you to all our fans for your support throughout these years.

We hope you can join us for a number of celebratory activities we have planned this summer to commemorate this incredible milestone. But first, here are the July Monthly Games for PlayStation Plus members available July 1 until August 4. 

Diablo IV | PS5, PS4  

Diablo IV is the next-gen action RPG experience with endless evil to slaughter, countless abilities to master, nightmarish Dungeons and legendary loot. Embark on the campaign solo or with friends (2 player local or up to 4 players online), meeting memorable characters throughout a beautifully dark open world and a gripping story. Dive into an expansive End Game where players can meet in towns to trade, team up to battle larger-than-life World Bosses, unlock robust character and loot customization, and uncover tons more action-packed activities to explore with cross-play and cross-progression on all available platforms.

The King of Fighters XV | PS5, PS4 

Since its debut in 1994, the KoF fighting game series has featured iconic characters and a unique battle system. Now the most epic dream match in KOF history is about to begin! Inheriting the series’ traditional 3-on-3 team battle setup, KoF XV features 39 characters (mixing classic fighters, revived combatants and new warriors), a new combat system and rollback netcode to reduce lag in online matches. There are also a variety of battle options that allow you to choose how you want to play. The PlayStation Plus launch also includes the “Classic Leona” DLC costume, letting you change Leona’s costume to her KoF ‘96 look.

Jusant | PS5   

Jusant is an action-puzzle climbing game and a meditative journey to the top of a tall tower. Challenge yourself at your own pace, explore different paths, and unravel the secrets from a bygone civilization. Master your climbing tools and watch your stamina meter to successfully navigate this mysterious and changing tower. As you go higher and hone your skills, you’ll have to figure out how best to use the tools at your disposal to get to where you want to go. Explore alternative paths to find clues about what happened here.

PlayStation Plus 15th Anniversary Celebrations

Throughout this summer we’ll be running a series of activities with many moments to celebrate the 15th anniversary. This month we’re starting off with the following:

·   Let’s Wrestle! starting today, PS Plus Deluxe members can jump into a Game Trial of WWE 2K25. Launched in March this year, the latest game in 2K’s incredible wrestling franchise is one of the best yet. So, dive into the action and experience the thrill of playing as your favorite wrestler right now!

·   Monster Hunter Wilds – another exciting Game Trial opportunity for PS Plus Deluxe members. The ultimate hunting experience awaits in Monster Hunter Wilds – available from June 30.

·   PlayStation Store Exclusive Offer Weekend – this coming weekend (June 27 – 29), we’ll be offering PlayStation Plus members the opportunity to grab exclusive savings on must-play titles such as Sniper Elite: Resistance, Sid Meier’s Civilization® VII and Star Wars Outlaws.

·   PlayStation Tournaments – starting this Saturday (June 28), we’ll be hosting a special PlayStation Plus 15th Anniversary Cup tournament. Players will get the opportunity to compete in popular titles like EA Sports FC, NBA 2K, Tekken 8, and more for a chance to win prizes including in-game virtual currency, and an exclusive PSN avatar. Access the Tournament through custom tournament cards or the in-game menu, choose your competition, and prepare to showcase your skills in exciting 1v1 matchups.*

·   Online Multiplayer Weekend we’ll have an Online Multiplayer weekend this Saturday and Sunday (June 28 at 12:01am to June 29 at 11:59pm local time) where all players can join online multiplayer matches with no PlayStation Plus membership required.

Visit the PlayStation Plus 15th Anniversary Hub for more information: https://www.playstation.com/ps-plus/whats-new/

In the last 15 years we have been focused on providing access to quality game experiences through PlayStation Plus, along with key benefits such as exclusive PlayStation Store discounts, online multiplayer access and more. Since the launch of our Monthly Games benefit (previously known as Instant Game Collection), more than 500 monthly games have been offered.

PlayStation Plus Game Catalog for Extra and Deluxe members also launched three years ago with the reintroduction of PlayStation Plus. Some of the recent top games played based on playtime hours (April 1- May 28, 2025) include Ghost of Tsushima, God of War Ragnarök, Grand Theft Auto V, Hogwarts Legacy, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, and The Last of Us Part I.

Thank you again for coming on our PlayStation Plus journey. There’s plenty more to look forward to, including many more great games to come.

*Active PS Plus membership required. Must be at least 18+ and a resident of an eligible country. Void where prohibited. Terms and conditions apply

Persona 5: The Phantom X Codes (June 2025)

If you’re looking for P5X codes, IGN’s got you covered! In this article, you’ll find a list of all the active and working Persona 5: The Phantom X codes in June 2025 that you can redeem for free rewards and bonuses in P5X on PC, iOS, and Android.

Active Persona 5: The Phantom X Codes (June 2025)

There are currently no active Persona 5: The Phantom X codes. Seeing as the game has just released in the West, it’s likely we’ll see at least one new code in the coming days. Stay tuned as we’ll update this page as soon as new codes are released.

Note that there are some active codes for the Chinese version of P5X, but these cannot be redeemed in the global version.

All Expired P5X Codes

There are currently no expired Persona 5: The Phantom X codes as of June 2025.

How to Redeem P5X Codes

To redeem P5X codes in Persona 5: The Phantom X, follow the steps below:

  1. Complete the Prologue: Discover a Secret World. This takes around 15 minutes after starting the game for the first time.
  2. Open the main menu.
  3. Click on “Exchange Code.”
  4. Input your code into the box.
  5. Click on “Confirm.”
  6. If your code is valid, you’ll obtain your free rewards.

Why Isn’t My P5X Code Working?

If the code you’re trying to redeem in Persona 5: The Phantom X isn’t working, it’s likely because of one of two reasons:

  • The P5X code is expired
  • There’s a spelling mistake in the code
  • The code is region-locked

When inputting a P5X code, ensure it’s spelled correctly (for example, a zero isn’t a capital O, a lowercase L isn’t a capital I, etc.) and that there are no spaces before or after the code.

If your P5X code still isn’t working after checking for typos, it’s more than likely expired and can no longer be redeemed in Persona 5: The Phantom X.

Sometimes, the developer releases codes that can only be redeemed in specific regions, so if you find a code online that you can’t redeem in your game, this could also be why.

How to Get More P5X Codes

To find more Persona 5: The Phantom X codes, the best way is to join the game’s official Discord server. Codes may also be posted on the P5X X account, so we’d recommend turning notifications on for that so you can be notified every time there’s a new post in case they’re posted there.

Of course, you can bookmark this page too, as we check for new P5X codes regularly and update it each time there’s a new code.

What is Persona 5: The Phantom X?

Persona 5: The Phantom X is a gacha spinoff of the popular ATLUS RPG, Persona 5. Like in Persona 5, you attend school and answer classroom questions, forge bonds with characters, and explore various dungeons. You pull for new characters and weapons via gacha banners, which can then be used in combat.

Meg Koepp is a Guides Editor on the IGN Guides team, with a focus on trends. When she’s not working, you can find her playing an RPG or cuddling her corgi.