Dune: Awakening’s free Blood and Ice expansion launches on 1 December 2026 for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox. It takes players to the frozen Polar Sink, where surviving the cold requires different equipment and resources. Offline single-player, character copying and full cross-play are also coming, but on a separate schedule.
The expansion is free for existing players and requires the base game. Funcom estimates around 35 hours of progression in the new region, with additional reasons to return for resources afterward.
Surviving the Polar Sink
The Polar Sink introduces a new map with two biomes: the tundra and the ice cap. Players begin in the tundra, where wealthy water shipper families defend their strongholds, before working toward access to the heavily guarded ice cap.
Equipment made for the desert heat needs upgrading for the cold. Resources found in the Polar Sink provide the materials for new survival gear, making preparation part of the region’s progression. Funcom describes a return to ground-level survival, with traversal, temperature management and combat central to the experience.
The change in climate also gives heat a different role. On the frozen map, staying warm becomes necessary for survival. The expansion therefore changes the environmental problem players need to solve as they explore Arrakis.
Ice has a use beyond the new region. Players can harvest it to cool base equipment and speed up production, giving them a reason to revisit the Polar Sink after completing its initial progression. Funcom plans to add further reasons to return in later updates.
Blood and Ice also introduces vehicle modules, augments and specialization traits. The roughly 35-hour figure is Funcom’s estimate for progression, rather than a playtime measured independently by GTR.
Offline play and cross-play have different dates
The expansion is one part of a broader roadmap. Offline single-player is scheduled for November, while character copying and full cross-play are planned for January 2027.
| Feature | Announced timing |
|---|---|
| Offline single-player | November 2026 |
| Blood and Ice expansion | 1 December 2026 |
| Character copying | January 2027 |
| Full cross-play | January 2027 |
For players waiting to take an existing multiplayer character into single-player, January is the relevant window. Offline play’s November release does not include the separately scheduled character-copying feature.
Character copying will support moving a copy of a character from multiplayer servers into single-player. On PC, players will also be able to copy characters from single-player into selected private or self-hosted servers that accept copied characters. That permission matters when choosing a server, because the announced feature does not cover every private server.
Funcom has not announced exact January dates for character copying or full cross-play. Both remain planned features at the time of the expansion announcement.
Water Crisis brings new objectives and rewards
Blood and Ice adds an Events tab for tracking event progress and rewards. Events support both single-player and multiplayer, giving players a way to follow these activities in either mode.
Water Crisis is scheduled shortly after the expansion, although Funcom has not announced an exact launch date. The event follows The Scourge, which centers on investigating a disease spreading across Arrakis. In Water Crisis, players will fight over scarce water supplies and work to end the shortage.
Funcom describes these as the game’s biggest events yet, with new gameplay and locations. The studio plans to release events more frequently, pairing new stories and free rewards with continued gameplay improvements.
The cosmetics shop starts with a rotating selection
Funcom also announced an optional cosmetics shop selling outfits, vehicle variants and base customization items. Its initial rotating selection will include recognizable looks from the films.
The company says cosmetic purchases will help fund continued development and free updates. Blood and Ice itself is free for existing players, so accessing the expansion does not require a cosmetics purchase.
A later update will make the full shop catalog permanently available. Funcom has not announced when that change will happen, so the shop’s initial release will still use rotating items.
Sources: Funcom’s Steam announcement, Funcom press release, Steam store page.