Ice on the desert planet in Dune: Awakening? The free Blood and Ice expansion sends you into the ice desert on December 1st

Even on the scorching desert planet, there are icy regions. Dune: Awakening is set to receive the free ‘Blood and Ice’ expansion on December 1st. It takes you to the icy north of Arrakis, onto the new survival map, Polar Sink.

Keeping cool on Arrakis

Sand in your shoes is a thing of the past – now you might just get cold feet: On December 1st, Funcom is treating Dune: Awakening to a free add-on, Blood and Ice, which sends you into the cold in the survival MMO set on the desert planet Arrakis. The expansion introduces a completely new map: Polar Sink.

Polar Sink: Tundra and Ice Cap

Up until now, you’ve been battling heat and water scarcity; in the Polar Sink, the challenge is to avoid freezing to death. Your tried-and-tested desert gear will reach its limits here. You’ll need to upgrade your gear, source new raw materials and adapt your tactics.

The map consists of two biomes. In the tundra, wealthy water magnate families have established their estates. The climate there is bearable, but the families are not at all keen on visits from strangers. Beyond that lies the heavily guarded ice cap, the water merchants’ most valuable territory. Finding a way in will be one of your most important objectives. There, you can mine ice to cool your basic equipment and speed up production.

Around 35 hours of fresh progression

Blood and Ice focuses on survival on the ground. Movement, temperature control and combat will shape your journey. You’ll craft new survival gear from materials found exclusively in the Polar Sink. The update includes around 35 hours of additional progression in Dune Awakening, new vehicle modules, augments and specialisation traits. Future updates are set to provide further reasons to revisit the region.

Funcom has also announced new in-game events and a cosmetics shop. Furthermore, the team is working on features requested by the community: an offline single-player mode, character transfers and full cross-play.