Funcom has disabled Steam Family Sharing for all players, with a clear reason: to crack down on cheating in the game. The move aims to preserve the long-term success of Dune: Awakening, but for now, it means many players will lose access to the popular feature.

Funcom announced it has temporarily disabled Steam Family Sharing for all players to prevent cheaters from gaining unfair advantages. This decision addresses escalating problems that threaten the success of Frank Herbert’s legendary universe in its online form. Released on June 10, Dune: Awakening is an open-world survival MMO that lets players attempt to conquer Arrakis—the most dangerous planet in the universe. Players can customize their characters, select skills and abilities, and encounter characters from the Dune books and films. The developers promise a unique Arrakis experience, but protecting that vision meant making a tough call.

In a post on the game’s Steam page, the developers explain that the decision is mainly aimed at stopping those who abused the feature to get ahead unfairly. The team apologizes to players who used Family Sharing legitimately and notes that there is no estimated date for its return. Funcom didn’t go into details about how cheaters exploited the feature, but they likely used alternate accounts to access Landsraad merchants on enemy servers or stockpile more estates and vehicles than a single character is allowed.

Alongside the announcement, Funcom revealed that it has already banned hundreds of players who gained an unfair advantage and has removed large amounts of illicitly obtained Solaris from the game. The company says investigations into cheating and exploits are ongoing, and more bans will follow as additional offenders are identified.

Funcom confirmed it is closely monitoring the situation, and fixes for issues caused by cheating will appear in upcoming Dune: Awakening updates.

Source: GameRant, Funcom