Can Xbox Series S Run Dune: Awakening? Funcom Says It Will Be A Challenge

The Xbox Series S continues to test developers looking to bring their games to the Xbox ecosystem, adding to the negative vibes currently facing Microsoft’s gaming consoles. The most recent developer to add its two cents about the situation is Funcom, which is currently working on MMO Dune Awakening. Chief product officer Scott Junior revealed that it has been a “challenge” to get the game running on Xbox Series S during an interview at Gamescom 2024.

Dune Awakening is unsurprisingly aiming to be a visually demanding game, as expected because of its use of such a popular IP. Unfortunately, the lower powered hardware in the Xbox Series S is having issues keeping up. Junior stated that “it's one of the reasons we're coming out on PC first. There's a lot of optimizations we need to do before we release on the Xbox. But yeah, Xbox Series S is a challenge."


At the very least it does appear the studio is continuing to work on making Dune Awakening happen on the Xbox family of consoles. However, this has to be an issue of concern for Microsoft, as this isn’t the first time a game has struggled to run on Xbox Series S. Last year, smash hit Baldur’s Gate 3 was delayed for several months after Larian Studios had its own struggles with the lowest tier Xbox hardware. It was an embarrassing moment for Microsoft as those who invested in its hardware couldn’t play a game of the year contender, while gamers on other platforms didn’t have to deal with an extended wait.

Hopefully Funcom is able to work with Microsoft to get the right optimizations in place for Dune Awakening, so that Xbox players don’t have to relive the Baldur’s Gate 3 situation again.