Controversial remaster Ark: Survival Ascended has been delayed to October and will now be slightly cheaper
Ark: Survival Evolved's shutdown also delayed
Studio Wildcard have once again revised plans for Ark: Survival Ascended, the remastered version of dino survival sim Ark: Survival Evolved. The Unreal Engine 5 edition has now slightly adjusted its price, changed plans for the remastered expansions, and is now launching into early access sometime this October, slipping past its previous late summer window. Those still playing the orignal Survival Evolved have a small reprise, though, as the game's planned shutdown has moved from August to September 30th.
The studio recently found themselves in hot water over the remaster which was first expected to be a free upgrade, and later announced to be a $50 replacement that came with the unreleased Ark 2. Responding to the negative feedback, the studio decoupled Survival Ascended from the sequel, but raised its price to $60 and bundled in the expansions that were previously planned as separate purchases. Those plans were unsurprisingly met with disappointment, too.
“We’ve found it challenging working with Unreal Engine 5.2,” the team wrote in a community blog, “but at the same time, it is incredibly exciting.” The studio says the “work needed to support a fully cross-platform-moddable game ecosystem” means they’ll need more time.
The game’s Scorched Earth expansion was supposed to be included at launch, but the team now says “it wouldn’t be feasible to complete Scorched Earth to a standard we’re happy with.” As such, the expansion is now coming out this December, with the Ragnarok and Aberration expansions hopefully following early next year.
To reflect the change in plans, Survival Ascended will now cost $45 and a launch discount will bring that down to $40. Wildcard plan to keep Survival Ascended in early access until late 2024.
That’s also when Ark 2 plans to release, hilariously starring family man Vin Diesel. We’ll need to wait a while more before we see footage from either the sequel or the remaster, though.