Dune: Spice Wars has been scratching the itch for diehard Dune fans patiently waiting for the many times delayed release of the movie sequel Dune Part Two. The strategy game, which officially launched back in September 2023, allows players to take on many of the popular factions that battle for power on Arrakis, including the famous House Atreides and House Harkonnen. Now, developer Shiro Games has revealed the next playable faction in the 4X game, and they are looking quite powerful.
Dune: Spice Wars is getting its seventh playable faction in House Vernius of Ix, Shiro Games announced on Friday March 1. The announcement of the new house synchronously coincides with the launch of Dune: Part Two in cinemas, as fans of Frank Herbert’s popular sci-fi series are surely eating well right about now.
If you’ve played the strategy game before, you’ll know that the House Vernius of Ix is just the seventh playable faction of the game; however, they may very well quickly become the most popular. House Vernius of Ix is a faction of scientists and engineers. This group of smarties don royal purple and are known for creating self-learning machines and combat drones, making them fit right into Earth – err, Arrakis, that is.
The faction has a handful of interesting heroes and councilors. House Vernius of Ix is led by a cyborg named Rhombur, who is kept alive via cybernetics. Backing him up is the Bene Gesserit member Tessia Vernius, who has unique espionage abilities, and the historian and rebel Bronso Vernius.
Ix utilizes a new gameplay system called the Neural Node. This allows for a new way to expand your map conquest as you build out a network of Neural nodes to beef up your defense to strengthen your chance in combat. This also helps with managing your house’s resources.
Dune: Spice Wars is on Steam sale at 35% off at a price point of $22.74 / £17.97. The sale runs until Thursday March 14, giving you ample time to try out the strategy game for yourself. House Vernius of Ix will be released on Thursday March 7.
If you aren’t a Dune fan, check out the best strategy games for plenty more fun, and less spice.
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