ARK: Survival Ascended is set to be released on Steam in October. But what kind of game is it?
What is ARK: Survival Ascended?
- ARK: Survival Ascended (ASA) is an upcoming survival game from Studio Wildcard, the developers of the popular dinosaur adventure ARK: Survival Evolved (ASE).
- ASA is not the sequel that fans expected from ARK: Survival Evolved. That sequel is called ARK 2 and is planned to be released in late 2024, after the sequel originally planned for 2022 was postponed again.
- ARK: Survival Ascended is a revamped version of the base game ARK: Survival Evolved, built on Unreal Engine 5 and designed to run with a cleaned-up code. ASA will be available for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.
However, it is currently unclear whether it is a remaster or a remake. In the initial announcements of ASA, it was referred to as a remaster (via survivetheark.com), but recently Wildcard referred to the game as a remake (via Steam). There are fundamental differences between a remake and a remaster.
ARK: Survival Ascended – Release, Trailer, and Gameplay
When is the release of ARK: Survival Ascended? The release of ARK: Survival Ascended is said to be for PC on today, October 25, 2023, according to the video description of the new trailer on the official YouTube channel of the game.
Meanwhile, the Steam page for ASA is now online, although the purchase option was initially missing. On the morning of October 26, the purchase option for ARK: Survival Ascended was then added.
It is also stated in the video description of the trailer that the console release of ARK: Survival Ascended is in November 2023.
Is there a trailer? Yes, the first trailer for ARK: Survival Ascended was released today, October 25, 2023, at an Xbox showcase. The event started at 7:00 PM and was live-streamed (via YouTube).
You can watch the trailer for ARK: Survival Ascended here:
Is there gameplay? No, actual gameplay is unfortunately not yet visible – not even in the new trailer. However, the two-minute video provides a first impression of how the title looks in the new UE5.
Since the game officially entered Early Access on Steam with the release of the trailer, you have a good chance of seeing the game on the channels of various content creators.
Classic ARK Experience instead of Souls-Like Adventure
ARK: Survival Ascended aims to elevate the gameplay experience of the aging survival game to a modern level. In addition to switching to Unreal Engine 5, ASA will receive cross-platform modding, improved graphics, and performance.
What is Wildcard’s goal with ARK: Survival Ascended? The developers of the dinosaur adventure mentioned three reasons in a blog post on September 30 as to why they are developing ARK: Survival Ascended (via Steam).
- The economic situation of the studio plays a role. According to the developers, it has proven “difficult” to secure the “long-term survival of the studio” while developing ARK 2 without continuing to release paid expansions. The studio therefore wants to generate revenue during the development of the sequel.
- Additionally, the development team aims to improve their skills with Unreal Engine 5 while working on ARK: Survival Ascended.
- Furthermore, Wildcard wants to offer a classic ARK experience on a cleaned-up code with ARK: Survival Ascended because ARK 2 is designed as a “souls-like adventure” and thus diverges from the original ARK gameplay principle.
The Controversy Surrounding ARK: Survival Ascended
When ARK: Survival Ascended was announced for the first time on March 31, 2023, there was intense criticism from fans on social media. This ultimately led to Wildcard changing the price and planned content for ASA.
Additionally, the shutdown of the official servers of ARK: Survival Evolved particularly upset some players, as they feared losing their game progress.
However, on the day of the shutdown, a snapshot of the save files was made, and those were made available to players shortly thereafter, so they wouldn’t lose their progress completely and could continue playing on private servers or in solo lobbies.
By the way, ARK: Survival Evolved was recently the biggest game on Twitch. On MeinMMO you can find out how that happened:
