The survival hit ARK is set to receive a paid remaster. This made players angry. Now the developers are responding to the criticism.
What kind of remaster is this? Studio Wildcard, the developers of ARK: Survival Evolved, announced a remaster for the survival game on March 31, 2023, and at the same time postponed the sequel ARK 2 to the end of 2024.
The remaster is called ARK Survival Ascended, aims to bring the content of ARK: Survival Evolved to Unreal Engine 5, and will be available exclusively for PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PS5.
Why were players loud and angry? ARK players were angry for various reasons and voiced their criticism loudly on social media. Some reasons included:
- the shutdown of public servers of ARK: Survival Evolved at the release of the remaster and the associated loss of game progress
- the price of the remaster: at least €39.99 without DLCs, which in total should cost nearly €40 more
- Players on Xbox and PC could only purchase the remaster in a bundle with ARK 2 for an additional €10, so for €49.99 – the DLCs were still not included
- This led to criticism because no gameplay for ARK 2 had been shown yet. Players were expected to essentially buy a pig in a poke.
What is ARK changing about the remaster now? About a week after the announcement of ARK: Survival Ascended, Studio Wildcard responded to the criticism regarding the remaster and made some adjustments (via survivetheark).
You no longer have to buy the remaster including ARK 2 for €50. It will also no longer be necessary to purchase the DLCs separately. However, the entire package is now €20 more expensive. For a total of €60, you now get the remaster ARK: Survival Ascended and the DLCs Scorched Earth, Aberration, Extinction, Genesis Part 1, and Genesis Part 2.
Before the change, players would have had to pay €80 to €90 for all content (depending on the platform). The DLCs Scorched Earth, Aberration, and Extinction would have been part of the “Explorer Pass” for €19.99. Genesis Part 1 and Part 2 would have also cost an additional €19.99 together.
Developers explain why the update is not free
Not just an update: In the announcement, Studio Wildcard also explained in detail why it is a paid remaster and not a UE5 update, which players assumed after a Twitter post by Wildcard co-founder Jeremy Stieglitz.
At the time when Stieglitz spoke of a free update, the studio had still planned to take the revised version for the Nintendo Switch and remove the hardware limitations of the Switch. This would mean that the update would not fully utilize the technology’s potential, as stated by Wildcard.
However, Wildcard abandoned that plan and decided to deliver an ARK experience with “cleaned base code.” However, such an update is not possible with ARK: Survival Evolved, as the revision would render existing save files invalid, and mods may not work anymore.
They have therefore not tried to deceive players, but the initial plans and general intentions were different.
Official servers are based on outdated technology
Why are the official servers being shut down? According to Studio Wildcard, the official servers are based on “outdated technology” and consume “significant development resources and time” for operation and maintenance. Additionally, they recognized that the majority of players do not play on official servers.
Since the developers still understand that the loss of progress is not easy for players, they want to allow the transfer of save files to unofficial servers.
Remaster brings crossplay and wild dino babies
What does the remaster bring? In addition to prettier graphics from Unreal Engine 5, the remaster is set to include a rework of the movement and running behavior of dinos. A photo mode and Nvidia DLSS support will also be included. However, the highlights are other innovations.
ARK: Survival Ascended is set to feature blueprint modding on PC and consoles already at release. Additionally, character creation and customization, as well as snap points for building, will be improved and crossplay will be added.
The management of dino babies will also receive a QOL update, and there will be wild dino babies roaming the map.
How ARK could look on Unreal Engine 5 was already shown to us by a well-known modder of the survival hit:
