The Genesis expansion for the online survival game ARK: Survival Evolved is here – albeit with a delay. However, the initial reactions are anything but positive. What is going on?
When was Genesis released? The release had to be delayed by several hours at short notice. Originally, Genesis was supposed to launch on February 25 at 7:00 PM, but it was only available yesterday morning around 7:00 AM.
The launch did not go well
How are the players reacting? The mood among not a few players is quite low. The delay has already caused quite a bit of criticism. But fans are much more upset about the state of the expansion. MeinMMO author Sascha Asendorf has already expressed his opinion on this.
What is being criticized? The contents of Genesis do not match what some fans had hoped for.
- Instead of a large open world, there are only six relatively small areas
- The missions are said to distract from the actual game instead of supporting it
- The mini-games can only be played in multiplayer
- The story doesn’t make sense, as there shouldn’t actually be any simulations after the last expansion, yet here we are again in one
- It is not possible to access your own TEK equipment
- Flying reptiles can be tamed but not ridden
- It is not possible to build in the mission zones
What is particularly noteworthy about the criticism? As you can see, the technical state of the expansion is not really criticized, which could be fixed with patches. Instead, players are disappointed with the content and the overall concept of Genesis. This makes it difficult for the developers at Studio Wildcard to work on major improvements.
Fans have shown little enthusiasm so far
What do the fans say? There are intense discussions about the launch of Genesis on Steam. Ratings on Steam have also been dropping since the release of the expansion.
- Roachy says on Steam: “Goodness, this expansion is TERRIBLE! I thought if it was as bad as Extinction, I would return it. But it’s much worse than Extinction!”
- SprinkCal writes on Steam: “I’ve never seen ARK in worse condition!”
- Zerbeiler explains on Steam: “The map takes away the feeling of freedom. I can’t get used to these constraints. I was hoping for a large open map.”
- Steam user liberator65853 sees it somewhat differently: “I recommend it if you like the base game. The biomes are great and the new creatures are incredible. Yes, there are missions now to earn a currency called Hexagons, which you can use to buy resources. But there are great new creatures, missions, and in my opinion, the Hexagons don’t make it feel any less like a survival game.”
So Genesis did not launch very well. Studio Wildcard now has to figure out how to satisfy the fans again.
Have you played Genesis yet? What do you think of ARK’s new expansion?
