Dear Survivors,
We want to thank you for your patience as we have taken the time to review your feedback and consult with our partners to modify our upcoming plans. We appreciate your passion for the game and have taken note of your concerns. In light of this, we have decided to make some changes and provide more information regarding our decision-making process.
Price Point and Bundle
Firstly, we have decided to cancel the ARK Respawned Bundle. We originally intended to offer a package deal that included both ARK Survival Ascended and ARK 2. However, we now realize that this approach was not ideal as it required further DLC upgrades and did not allow players to judge ARK 2’s gameplay or content. To simplify things, ARK: Survival Ascended will now be available as a standalone package for $59.99 on PC Windows/Steam, Xbox Series S/X, and PlayStation 5. It will include a set of remastered and altered content for the next-generation, such as The Island, Survival of the Fittest: The Island & Scorched Earth map variants, Scorched Earth, Aberration, Extinction, Genesis Part 1 & 2, and all community-created maps that will be released over time in 2024 (Fjordur, Ragnarok, The Center, Lost Island, Valguero, Crystal Isles).
No longer a backward-compatible free update?
Initially, we had planned to only port the Switch version of the game and remove its graphical limitations for a basic upgrade to Unreal 5. However, we have since decided to maximize the potential of the new technology, introduce new gameplay changes, and make critical design changes that will have a significant impact on existing save data. As a result, we will no longer offer a backward-compatible free update that invalidates save data, some mods may not work, and the overall gameplay experience may change. Instead, we will be providing an evergreen classic ARK experience that can continue to grow over time on a cleaned-up code base that utilizes new technological advancements.
Why don’t we make these upgrades to the original ARK: Survival Evolved?
Upgrading the original game would not be feasible as many changes to be made in ARK: Survival Ascended would affect various aspects of the game, making it incompatible with the original version. In addition, we do not want to change the experience for those who prefer the original game or are unable to upgrade, as it would invalidate their save data and possibly impact the overall gameplay experience. Moreover, this impacted our decision to sunset the ASE Official Network offline on August 31st, shortly before the ASA launch.
What can you expect from ARK: Survival Ascended?
ARK: Survival Ascended will feature new features at launch, content drops, creatures, items, structures, and DLC. Our roadmap covers some of those planned changes, and there will be more in the future, including Dynamic navigation mesh and creature pathfinding overhaul, Photo Mode, Nvidia DLSS, Dino/Baby Management, QOL Wild Babies, Snap point improvements, Character creation & customization improvements, Cross-platform Multiplayer & Full Blueprint Modding, and more.
We understand that these are mere words, and you may need more tangible proof before fully trusting our intentions. We will be releasing screenshots and gameplay trailers soon, but rest assured that we are committed to delivering the best ARK experience possible. Our team is hard at work, utilizing significant resources and time at the studio, to ensure the next-generation of ARK exceeds expectations.
Studio Wildcard is also launching new content for ARK: Survival Ascended – a fan-voted real-world creature that will be available on Day 1. Please note that this creature will be released for Scorched Earth, so make sure your real-world submissions are in theme with that map! We’ll also be adding an additional real-world creature for each subsequent canonical expansion pack map release on ARK: Survival Ascended.
Lastly, Survivors on all platforms will be receiving a special Easter EVO Event that will replace 25% of wild creature spawns with colors from the event list. It will be active until Monday, the 24th of April. All Official Servers across each platform will undergo this evolutionary change, including 4/07 – 4/24 Red Blue Green Yellow Cyan Magenta Light Green Light Orange Light Yellow Light Red Black Dark Red Dino Light Red Dino Dark Red Dino Light Blue Dino Dark Blue Dino Light Purple Dino Dark Purple DragonGreen3 WyvernPurple0 WyvernPurple1 WyvernBlue0 WyvernBlue1 Dino Medium Blue Dino Deep Blue NearWhite DarkTurquoise MediumTurquoise Turquoise LightCement LightPink DeepPink DarkViolet DarkMagenta MediumAutumn Vermillion Coral Orange Peach ActualBlack MidnightBlue LemonLime Mint DarkLavender MediumLavender Lavender DarkTeal MediumTeal Teal PowderBlue Glacial Custard Cream.
Thank you for your continued support and stay tuned for more updates.
Best,
Studio Wildcard
