As the saying goes on Arrakis, the spice must flow—and for a limited time starting next week that spice will be on sale. Dune: Awakening is having its first discount starting on September 11 and running until September 22, during which Funcom's survival MMO will be on sale for 20% off.
This sale coincides with another free weekend, though unlike the last one in late August, this free to play period comes with "zero restrictions." Play as many hours as you want from September 11 to September 15 (the first free weekend, bizarrely, was capped at 10 hours).
You can also explore the entire map instead of being stuck in the starting area. "Venture across every zone in Hagga Basin to the Deep Desert to Harko Village and Arrakeen City," Funcom says.
Perhaps most importantly, you can play with friends, too, by joining the server they play on—the first free weekend only let you play on servers with other players who were trying the game out, not people who had already bought it. I can only assume this new, free-er weekend is a direct response to the negative feedback from the last one.
And, if you do decide to buy Dune: Awakening after the free weekend, all your progress will be saved and you can pick up right where you left off.
A bit more news from the Arrakis hotline: Dune: Awakening's Chapter 2 update and the Lost Harvest DLC is arriving a day early, on September 9. Chapter 2 is free for all who own Dune (even people playing the free weekend), and will continue the main story as well as adding new contracts, armor, and a character re-customization tool so you can change your looks after starting the game.
The DLC adds a "standalone storyline" and a weird new vehicle that looks like something from the cover of a Popular Science magazine in the 1930s. You can check out the update trailer below to see what I mean.
