ARK Survival Evolved: Does the studio belong to the Chinese? Have they cloned ARK?

Now, information is emerging about ARK Survival Evolved that casts a strange light on the studio behind the survival MMO. This also raises questions about the Chinese MMO Dark and Light.

In the summer of 2015, the survival MMO ARK came out of nowhere and had a dream start. Sales on Steam skyrocketed. The studio communicated openly with fans, developed their dino game at a breathtaking pace, and everything was going great.

But then a legal shadow fell on the creation. In March 2016, investor Insight accused developer Jeremy Stieglitz of violating a clause in his contract. Stieglitz had worked for the software studio Trendy. Insight then took over Trendy, and Stieglitz separated from the company.

Lead Designer concealed his involvement in ARK

Insight alleged that Stieglitz was significantly involved in the development of ARK with knowledge and contacts he acquired at Trendy. Due to a “Non-Compete” clause he had signed years earlier at Trendy, he should not have been allowed to do that.

Stieglitz later wanted to shorten this clause. However, the investor Insight only agreed to this because Stieglitz promised him a share of everything he would create in the next five years.

Insight accused him: Stieglitz had then developed a project and concealed his involvement in it. Thus, he had violated the agreement and deprived Insight of their rightful share. This project was ARK.

From “casual advisor” to “Lead Designer and Co-Founder” in 3 months

Stieglitz does not appear in the paperwork of Studio Wildcard. However, his wife was involved in Studio Wildcard as a co-founder under her maiden name, even though she has nothing to do with software and runs a bakery. Stieglitz, on the other hand, who allegedly only had a loose connection to the studio, is a college friend of Jesse Rapczak, the figurehead of ARK.

At the time, the US site Kotaku suspected that Jeremy Stieglitz was the Lead Designer behind ARK. They had heard this from various sources. However, the studio denied any significant involvement of Stieglitz in ARK.

Later, Studio Wildcard settled out of court with Insight. It is said to have been about 40 million US dollars that Wildcard had to pay to settle the issue.

After the settlement, Stieglitz appeared on Steam in June 2016 as Lead Designer, Lead Programmer, Development Director, Co-Creative Director, and Co-Founder of ARK and Studio Wildcard. A significant career jump. In March, Rapczak told the US site Kotaku that Stieglitz had “consulted a bit” on the game.

Suddenly, ARK games are springing up in China

Now, users on Reddit have taken a closer look at the court documents from the case and found a interesting passage in the complaint from Insight against Stieglitz. You can view the passage on imgur or check it out yourself at the appropriate court in Florida.

It is alleged that Stieglitz and his wife sold their shares in the company or parts of it to the Chinese publisher Snail Games. Insight wanted its share of this amount back then – based on the previous agreement.

The information that Snail Games has bought Studio Wildcard or at least parts of it creates a completely new context:

Snail Games has announced three games with the ARK license this year:

• a Minecraft clone PixArk
• a Pokémon GO variant My Dinosaur Go
• and a Free2Play version of ARK for the Asian market.

Is Dark and Light just ARK in a fantasy outfit?

Moreover, their new game “Dark and Light” now looks like an ARK clone with a fantasy skin when viewed in this light. Statements like “Yes, it is not a real MMORPG, only 100 people fit on the servers”, we make PvP with full loot” or “You can tame and ride dragons” take on a whole new meaning. Until now, Dark and Light was seen as a reboot of a dead MMORPG. As an ARK with a fantasy skin, it creates a completely new context.

Dark and Light was announced in summer 2016, after the supposed purchase of Studio Wildcard. Since they were reviving an “old IP”, parallels to ARK were not suggested at that time. Dark and Light was an MMORPG that ran from 2006 to 2008.

If Snail Games has indeed owned shares in Studio Wildcard since December 2015, as the investor has claimed, then it also explains why Studio Wildcard allegedly could pay 40 million US dollars in the out-of-court settlement. They had received a massive financial boost earlier.

A tangled web. The information that Snail Games owns parts of the studio behind ARK answers many open questions from recent times. Even if some of these were only raised now.

My MMO says: The exciting part here is not the legal wrangling, but that the information “Snail Games has purchased Wildcard” makes many disconnected and strange news stories from the last few months make sense.

We now know:

• why a Chinese publisher is obsessively focused on dinosaurs
• why a Chinese studio is reviving a relatively insignificant, dead MMORPG that has hardly anything in common with the original
• why a F2P studio can create a AAA product out of nothing
• why Studio Wildcard was able to pay 40 million without going bankrupt
• why an experienced lead designer is behind ARK, who has desperately tried to remain anonymous for years, although he is probably incredibly proud of his work
• why a bakery owner is a co-founder of a software studio

It will be interesting to see whether this story makes waves and forces Studio Wildcard to make a statement.

ARK will finally full-release this summer and then be available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

ARK Survival Evolved: Tek Tier Patch – Biggest Update for ARK so far