The next Dune: Spice Wars faction reveal will happen “next week on Steam”, according to developer Shiro Games. As for what the third faction will be, the team is strongly hinting that it may be the Fremen – if so, this would be the first time the native fighters will have been a full side in a Dune strategy game.
With Dune: Spice Wars being both the first 4X strategy game based on the franchise and still a bit of a mystery right now, developers from Shiro Games took to Reddit to answer a few questions fans might have. Responding to a query about further factions outside Harkonnen and Atreides, community director James Croucher says that the game’s third faction will be revealed “next week on Steam”.
Croucher offered the hint that fans should note, “emphasis on ‘Factions’ not ‘Houses’”. While there are hints that the next side could be the Emperor’s House Corrino or even Dune 2’s non-canon House Ordos, the developers strongly suggest that the third faction could be the planet’s native Fremen.
When asked what role the Fremen will play, CEO and creative director Sebastian Vidal says they are “related to the villages we’ve seen in the previews and our stream a couple of weeks back”. Vidal then adds, “I cannot divulge any further information on their involvement in the game beyond that at this time though, make of that what you will…”
Beyond that, several times throughout the AMA the team re-state that players should be thinking about “non-House” factions. The director tells another fan, “there will be both Houses and non-Houses factions in the future”. The Fremen certainly seems the most likely, given all these hints – although the Bene Gesserit, Tleilaxu, and Ixians are non-House possibilities too. Either way, we’ll find out next week.
For details on how Frank Herbert’s Dune is still the template for the entire RTS game genre, you can check out our feature right here.