Dune Awakening Blood and Ice: Free DLC, Polar Sink, Dec 1

Funcom has announced Blood and Ice, a free expansion for Dune: Awakening that launches on 1 December 2026 on PC, PS5 and Xbox. It trades Arrakis' scorching desert for the frozen north through a new survival map called the Polar Sink. Offline single-player and cross-play are on the roadmap too. Here is everything confirmed so far.

Quick summary

• Release: Tuesday, 1 December 2026, free, on PC, PS5 and Xbox.
• New map: the Polar Sink, split into a tundra and a more extreme icecap.
• Content: around 35 hours of new progression, per Funcom.
• Also coming: an offline single-player mode in November and fully supported cross-play in January 2027.
• Also added: a Cosmetics Store.

What is the Polar Sink?

PC Gamer reports that the Polar Sink flips the game's central survival idea: instead of avoiding heat, you now have to seek it out while developing technology to cope with extreme cold. The map has two biomes, the tundra and the icecap, and both are guarded by "water shippers", wealthy traders who supply Arrakis' second most valuable resource from the polar regions to the deserts.

What do you do there?

Your main objective is to break the water shippers' hold on the ice. Harvested ice can then be taken back to your desert base to cool equipment and speed up resource production. Funcom says the expansion "brings the focus back to ground-level survival", with traversal, temperature management and combat all affecting progression, and promises roughly 35 hours of new progression. That is a large amount for a free update.

When does offline mode and cross-play arrive?

Per PC Gamer, an offline single-player mode is due in November. Today the game can be played solo but needs an internet connection. Fully supported cross-play follows in January 2027. Funcom adds that it will keep expanding the game through 2027, which fits its recent pivot to supporting only its existing games, Dune: Awakening and Conan Exiles, which came with further layoffs.

Is it worth returning to Dune: Awakening?

If you left because of the MMO structure or the always-online requirement, November's offline mode and December's map address both. Free content with 35 hours of progression is a good reason to return, though we can not judge quality until it ships. Funcom has not stated expansion sizes or system requirement changes in the sources we checked.

Keep track of other big drops on our launch calendar, see the November 2026 releases and find free titles on the deals page.

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