Dune: Awakening Gets Free Blood and Ice Expansion With Snowy Polar Sink Map
Funcom's free Blood and Ice expansion for Dune: Awakening arrives December 1 and sends players to the frozen Polar Sink, with about 35 hours of new progression.
Dune: Awakening is trading sand for snow. Funcom has announced Blood and Ice, a free expansion that takes players from the desert of Arrakis to the planet's frozen north.
What is the Blood and Ice expansion?
The expansion adds a new survival map named the Polar Sink. According to PC Gamer, it flips the game's central survival idea. Instead of avoiding heat, players will have to seek it out. They will also develop new technologies to cope with the extreme cold.
The map has two biomes: the tundra and the icecap. The icecap is the more extreme of the two. Both are closely guarded by "water shippers," wealthy traders who supply Arrakis' second most-valuable resource from the polar regions down to the deserts.
Breaking the water shippers' hold on the ice is the main objective. Players can then use that ice to cool their base equipment back in the desert and speed up resource production.
Size and focus
Funcom says the expansion adds "around 35 hours of new progression." The studio also says it "brings the focus back to ground-level survival" for veteran players. In its words, traversal, temperature management and combat all play important roles in progression.
When it arrives
Blood and Ice is a free expansion due on December 1. PC Gamer's report does not give a download size or an exact launch time.
Other changes coming to the game
Alongside the expansion, Funcom has introduced a Cosmetics Store to Dune: Awakening. It is also working on other heavily requested features:
- An offline single-player mode, coming in November. The game can be played solo now, but only with an internet connection.
- Fully supported cross-play, planned for January next year.
Funcom describes Blood and Ice as "another step in the ongoing development" of the game. It says it will "continue expanding the game" through 2027.
Background
PC Gamer says Funcom has mostly been reworking the survival MMO so it works as both a solo experience and a PvE adventure. That overhaul is now done. The report links the expansion plans to the Norwegian studio's recent announcement that it would support only its existing games, including Conan Exiles and Dune: Awakening. As part of that shift, it laid off an unspecified number of employees.
What it means for you
Blood and Ice is described as a free expansion arriving on December 1. If you prefer to play without a connection, the offline single-player mode is due a month earlier, in November. Cross-play is the last item on the roadmap, planned for January. Dates come from Funcom's announcement as reported by PC Gamer.
Also read Dark Messiah Community Edition Lands on Steam in 2026 With Co-Op and Restored Content
Quick answers
When does Dune: Awakening's Blood and Ice DLC come out?
Blood and Ice is due to release on December 1. Funcom has announced it as a free expansion.
What is the Polar Sink?
It is the new map in the expansion, set in Arrakis' frozen north. It has tundra and icecap biomes, both guarded by water shippers.
Can you play Dune: Awakening offline?
Not yet. Funcom says an offline single-player mode is coming in November. Solo play currently requires an internet connection.
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