ARK: Survival Evolved is still one of the most popular survival games on Steam more than 4 years after its release. The developers have now announced a new map for December and provided a preview for 2022. It will feature content related to Vikings.
What has ARK announced? During a livestream for Extra Life, the developers of ARK gave some insights into the future. Two new updates were announced:
- On December 14, the new map Lost Island will be released
- Additionally, a new DLC centered around Vikings is planned for 2022. This DLC is based on the community-developed mod Fjordur
Some interesting new features have been presented, even though the developers have already officially concluded the story of ARK with the last DLC Genesis and even announced the successor ARK 2.
Lost Island comes with a large map and 3 new dinosaurs
What is included in the next DLC? Lost Island will be a free update that contains a new map with an area of 150 square kilometers. This map will feature new biomes, challenges, and mysterious ruins.
Another highlight is the 3 new dinosaurs that you will encounter:
- Amargasaurus
- Dinopithecus
- Sinomacrops
You can already get a first impression of these new dinosaurs and the map in this short trailer:
Viking DLC coming in summer, based on fan mod
What will happen with ARK in 2022? The new update Fjordur is set to arrive in June 2022. This is currently an unofficial fan mod for PC, which will then be developed into an official DLC.
In this mod, you can explore icy maps, ancient ruins, and massive castles. You will also be able to become a true Viking.
With the summer update, new dinosaurs will also be released. One of them is supposed to be the Andrewsarchus, while the other two will be chosen by the community in 2022.
A first impression of the new areas can be seen in these 3 screenshots from the developer Wildcard:
ARK still very popular on Steam in 2021
How is ARK doing currently? On Steam, the survival game continues to enjoy great popularity in 2021. In the last 30 days, there have been an average of 39,287 players online per day, with a peak of 69,159 concurrent players (via SteamCharts).
This is an impressive number, especially considering that the last major update came from June. At that time, the second part of the DLC Genesis was released.
Additionally, the ratings on Steam in recent weeks have been impressive. In the last 30 days, 5,351 gamers rated ARK on Steam. They gave a positive review 90% of the time. Overall, the game currently stands at 81% positive ratings with over 370,000 reviews.
This makes ARK: Survival Evolved one of the most popular survival games on Steam.
What do you think about ARK’s plans? Do the two upcoming DLCs appeal to you? And how do you feel about the survival game in general?
If you have never played ARK and are considering starting fresh, we have compiled all the important information here:
