GOG Manager Says Dune II’s Re-Release Requires Untangling Rights Held by EA, Universal, Legendary Pictures, and Dune: Awakening’s Developer

A modern re-release of Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty remains difficult to arrange because the game’s rights are divided among multiple companies and stakeholders. Although Electronic Arts owns the game’s code and assets following its acquisition of Westwood Studios, it does not control all the intellectual property needed to distribute the classic strategy title again.

Marcin Paczynski, GOG’s senior business development and partnerships manager, discussed the problem in an interview with GamesRadar+. He described the game as one of his personal preservation priorities, but explained that its licensing history makes a re-release unusually complicated.

“This is one of the holy grails,”

Paczynski said, explaining that he has a strong personal attachment to the game.

Why the Original Dune Game Has Such a Complicated Rights Structure

The licensing problem begins with the game’s connection to David Lynch’s 1984 Dune film. Unlike a straightforward adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novels, Dune II was licensed from the movie’s intellectual property. This means the Herbert Foundation alone cannot grant all the permissions needed for a modern release.

According to Paczynski, Electronic Arts controls the original game’s code, assets, and related materials. Universal Pictures is also involved because it distributed the 1984 film, while part of the movie rights remained with its original producer, Dino De Laurentiis. Following his death, those rights passed to his successors.

The Herbert Foundation holds rights to the wider Dune intellectual property, while Legendary Pictures controls the rights connected to the newer film adaptations. This creates a complicated situation involving several separate rights holders, each potentially affecting a re-release.

The situation has become even more difficult because Legendary Pictures licensed video game development within its Dune property to Funcom, the studio behind Dune: Awakening. Paczynski confirmed that the agreement includes exclusivity, although GOG does not know precisely how it could affect the return of Westwood’s older games.

GOG Wants to Bring Back the Classic Dune Games

The licensing complications extend beyond Dune II. Paczynski explained that Dune 2000 and Emperor: Battle for Dune are also caught up in the wider rights situation surrounding Westwood’s older Dune titles.

Despite the obstacles, the possibility of restoring these games remains important to GOG. However, the commercial prospects make the negotiations particularly challenging. Paczynski estimated that a release might sell between 50,000 and 100,000 copies at a price of $5.99 to $9.99, despite requiring agreements involving several major rights holders.

He described the situation as an example of how complicated video game licensing can become when publishing rights, film adaptations, and franchise ownership overlap.

For now, GOG has not announced a re-release date or confirmed that it has secured the necessary permissions. The original Dune II therefore remains a difficult preservation target, despite the company’s interest in bringing the influential RTS back to modern players.