Dune Awakening Introduces Innovative Solution to Faction Imbalance: A Third Faction to Balance the Playing Field

Faction imbalance has been a thorn in the side of MMO gamers for as long as we can remember, with World of Warcraft offering a prime example where servers often skew heavily toward either the Alliance or Horde. This tendency for players to gravitate towards the dominant faction might sound familiar, and it’s an issue that’s rearing its head in Dune Awakening as well. But don’t worry, creative director Joel Bylos is on the case, and he’s got a bold plan: introducing a third faction.

Earlier this month, during a press Q&A, I had the chance to question Joel about how his team intends to tackle this age-old problem. His response was both candid and intriguing: “That’s a great question. Oh my god. It’s the eternal question, I would say. In our beta, we’re dealing with a 7:1 ratio favoring Atreides over Harkonnen. But we’ve got some exciting plans in the pipeline to even things out.”

Bylos is planning to shake things up a bit. “We’re thinking of adding a third faction,” he revealed. “I’m not quite sure if it’ll be ready by launch or make its debut shortly afterwards, but we’re confident this move will bring a better balance between the factions. That’s really our main aim.”

Balancing factions is never a straightforward task, but Bylos and his team are ready to adapt. “It’s always tricky, right? But we’re exploring some pretty interesting concepts. We haven’t fully fleshed out this idea yet, but one possibility is balancing player populations by linking various maps to different areas in the deep desert. These could change how players interact depending on their faction. Also, we’ve built in some mechanisms to encourage faction-switching if things get too lopsided.”

He wrapped up the discussion on a lighter note with a quote from the closed beta Discord chat: “Harkonnen have the best drip.”

This tantalizing hint at a new faction raises all sorts of fascinating possibilities. The burning question: which group could this be? Two candidates immediately spring to mind. There’s the Fremen, although they’re largely absent from the region where Dune Awakening is set. Alternatively, there could be an imperial faction aiming to keep both Atreides and Harkonnen in check, preventing either from gaining too much power and threatening the emperor’s might. But hey, that’s just my guess. What do you all think?

Do you have thoughts on this third faction concept? We’d love to hear them in the comments below!