Ark: Survival Ascended will be sold without Ark 2 after backlash, but will still cost $60
The builders of Ark have revised their plans for the discharge of Ark: Survival Ascended, an Unreal Engine 5 enhanced version of their dinosaur survival sim. It will now cost $60 fairly than the beforehand deliberate $50, is not bundled along with ARK 2, and will as an alternative embody the remasters of Ark: Survival Evolved’s a number of expansions – though most will not be out there at launch.
Studio Wildcard additionally went into extra element as to why this upgraded model is not a free replace, and why they really feel it’s a necessity to close down Ark: Survival Evolved’s official servers.
Last week Wildcard introduced that Ark 2 wouldn’t launch in 2023 as initially deliberate, but as an alternative had slipped till late 2024. Instead, this autumn, they’d launch Ark: Survival Ascended, an Unreal Engine 5 remaster of Survival Evolved. This remaster had beforehand been anticipated as a free improve, but it will now cost $50, solely be out there in an “ARK Respawned Bundle” with the unreleased Ark 2, and it will cost $90 in complete for those who additionally needed the upgraded Survival Evolved expansions.
Players have been fast to criticise the cost of re-buying video games and expansions they felt they already owned, in addition to the requirement to buy Ark 2, a recreation that will not get its first gameplay trailer till subsequent yr.
“First things first, we are scrapping the ARK Respawned Bundle,” says today’s response to the criticism. “Our bad; we recognize how combining ARK Survival Ascended with ARK 2 and requiring further DLC upgrades wasn’t optimal, especially since you wouldn’t be able to judge ARK 2 as no gameplay or content would be available yet.”
Instead, Ark: Survival Ascended will now be out there to buy individually from Ark 2. However, it will cost $60 – greater than the earlier bundle with Ark 2 – and it will now be bundled along with the expansions, which have been beforehand being provided individually. Players who buy Ark: Survival Ascended will obtain Survival Of The Fittest (Ark’s battle royale mode) and Scorched Earth enlargement at launch, whereas 4 others – Aberration, Extinction, Genesis Part 1 and Part 2 – will start releasing in “Q4 2023” and finish in “Q2 2024”.
On the topic of the replace not being free as indicated earlier this yr, the announcement says that whereas that they had initially deliberate a easy graphical facelift, Survival Ascended is now extra bold and consists of “critical design changes” which will invalidate save information and should break some mods. They did not wish to amend the unique recreation “for those who prefer it or are unable to upgrade”, and needed to create an “evergreen classic ARK experience, one that can continue to grow over time on a cleaned-up code base.”
They likewise write that Ark: Survival Evolved’s official servers, on which a “minority of players” play, “require significant development resources and time for our teams to operate & maintain.” As such, they “have to make the difficult decision of sunsetting ASE and the Official Network in order to provide that truly long-term and evergreen version of the game through ARK: Survival Ascended.”
The publish additionally reiterates among the options that Ark: Survival Enhanced will comprise, together with a “creature pathfinding overhaul”, photograph mode, DLSS assist, quality-of-life fixes, and higher character creation. It’s not clear if all of those options will be out there at launch, but different options which can come later stay unannounced.
I’ll be trustworthy, I’m unsure that is any higher than what was introduced final week. It’s good that you just not want to purchase an unreleased sequel – one which is because of be out there on Game Pass, no much less – but you as an alternative should pay extra cash with a view to get a bunch of DLC that will not be prepared at launch. Studio Wildcard additionally point out that this remaster consists of “critical design changes”, but their very own checklist of options are simply graphical upgrades or QoL adjustments that do not sound definitely worth the cost of an entire new recreation.
For context, Ark: Survival Evolved is a survival-crafting recreation during which gamers sink a whole bunch of hours to make progress with a personality, to tame dinosaurs, to construct a base, and to kind relationships with folks on the identical server. If you are one of many minority of gamers on an official server, that group is still more likely to be fractured and your progress rendered meaningless even for those who can obtain your save and proceed in singleplayer or on an unofficial server. If you already play on an unofficial server, then you may hold going with Survival Evolved if the remaster does not sound value it to you, but you are still confronted together with your group doubtlessly being cut up as some gamers do make the transition. It’s this that makes the entire thing really feel like being requested to purchase a second ticket to remain aboard the identical practice.
Game improvement and server operation cost cash, but the reluctance to promote Survival Ascended for $20 – which is what it will seemingly cost if not bundled along with an unreleased Ark 2 or a number of unreleased expansions – additionally makes the entire thing really feel icky.
“At the end of the day, these are just words and, frankly, may not mean so much,” ends Wildcard’s clarification. “That’s okay; we understand what will really convince you is seeing screenshots and a gameplay trailer, and you will in time. … It’ll be worth the wait!”
