Porting ARK: Survival Ascended to a handheld console might seem like a monumental undertaking, yet Studio Wildcard has officially risen to the challenge.
This ambitious transition is only feasible through significant technological breakthroughs. The primary catalyst is the shift to Unreal Engine 5.7, which enhances GPU efficiency by up to 40%, effectively clearing a path for the Switch 2 release. While the title currently benchmarks at 20 FPS, the integration of Frame Generation, NVIDIA’s DLSS, and AMD’s FSR is expected to stabilize performance at a consistent 30 FPS. Curiously, NVIDIA has yet to formally detail its specific feature support for Nintendo’s upcoming hardware.
Developers are promising a level of visual fidelity that mirrors the Xbox Series X version, maintaining the sophisticated Lumen and Nanite systems at a resolution near 1080p in handheld mode. Because the Switch 2 boasts more memory than the Xbox Series S, the team can avoid the typical graphical “downgrades” associated with portable ports. Ultimately, ARK on the next-gen Nintendo console is intended to be a full-scale experience featuring seamless crossplay with PC and home consoles—provided they successfully smooth out the framerate issues.
Source: iXBT.games