I’ve been tracking Starfield mods for a while now, and few projects are as ambitious as Dune - Project Arrakis. Built by the solo modder questionthis, this overhaul transforms McClure III into the brutal desert planet Arrakis from Frank Herbert’s Dune universe. The most exciting update on the horizon is the arrival of sandworms, the iconic megafauna that define the Dune experience.
The sandworm reveal, confirmed by questionthis on Reddit, has been a long time coming. The current prototype is based on Starfield’s vanilla Larva creature, but it is not ready for public deployment just yet. In their own words, the creatures are 'super clunky right now and about 50% of their attacks are silly looking.' That kind of honesty is refreshing, and it tells me the creator cares more about making the encounter feel right than rushing something broken into the mod.
Once the bugs are ironed out, the sandworms will be able to chase the player across open ground and burrow beneath the sand. In Dune lore, sandworms are drawn by rhythmic vibrations on the surface, and anyone caught on open sand in worm territory is in serious trouble. That behavior could create some terrifying moments in Starfield, especially when a sandstorm rolls in and visibility drops to almost nothing.
The current version of Dune - Project Arrakis already does a lot of heavy lifting. McClure III is turned into a hot, arid desert planet with occasional sandstorms. Players can harvest Spice, poke around caves and caverns, and explore terrain that feels lifted straight from the Dune universe. It is not just a cosmetic skin, either. The mod reworks how the planet feels to explore, and the atmosphere alone is worth the download.
The roadmap for Dune - Project Arrakis is packed. Future updates are planned to include player homes, crafting and mining upgrades, handmade points of interest such as settlements, new skills, factions, NPCs, and even quests. Here is a quick look at what the mod currently offers and what is still coming:
| Feature | Current Status |
|---|---|
| Desert planet McClure III overhaul | ✅ Available |
| Sandstorms and Spice harvesting | ✅ Available |
| Caves and caverns | ✅ Available |
| Sandworms | 🚧 In development |
| Player homes | 🧭 Planned |
| Crafting/mining upgrades | 🧭 Planned |
| Settlements and points of interest | 🧭 Planned |
| Skills, factions, NPCs, quests | 🧭 Planned |
For a while, this mod was a great way for Dune fans to pass the time until the next official game arrived. Now that Dune: Awakening has been out since 2025, the landscape has changed a little. That open-world survival MMO from Funcom, set on Arrakis, has been compared to Starfield because both feature customizable ships, planet exploration, and large-scale survival elements. But Dune: Awakening is multiplayer, whereas this Starfield mod remains a single-player way to experience Arrakis inside Bethesda’s universe.
There is also an interesting historical detail. A pre-release Starfield image shared by According_Common_923 and others on Reddit suggested that Bethesda may have originally planned large sandworm-like enemies for the game. If that is true, then Dune - Project Arrakis is bringing a piece of lost Starfield potential back to life.
I’m looking forward to seeing how the sandworms evolve. The clunkiness will fade, and once the burrowing and chasing mechanics work properly, McClure III could become one of the most dangerous places in Starfield. For Dune fans who love the idea of walking across open sand and listening for that low rumble, this mod is shaping up to be something special.