Nexus: The Kingdom of the Winds

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Dune: Awakening

Nexus: The Kingdom of the Winds is a pioneering classic MMORPG that launched in 1996. It still maintains a small but dedicated player base due to its niche appeal and historical significance, but as a nearly three-decade-old game without major modern relaunches, its current daily player count is very low—likely in the low hundreds, mostly longtime fans. It is clearly an MMO by design, featuring a persistent world and large-scale multiplayer interactions.

As of late August 2025, Dune: Awakening had approximately 14,000 concurrent players, reflecting a significant decline from its peak of over 189,000 concurrent players shortly after launch in June 2025. This decrease is attributed to factors such as player burnout, game design issues, and technical problems. Despite these challenges, the developers remain optimistic, citing strong player retention and a 10-year development roadmap that includes plans to explore new planets and regions within the Dune universe. ([gamesradar.com](https://www.gamesradar.com/games/mmo/dune-awakening-dev-says-player-retention-has-been-extremely-good-and-the-mmos-10-year-plan-still-has-so-much-to-pull-from-in-the-lore-well-go-to-new-planets-eventually/?utm_source=openai))