Dev Claims Upgrading Ark Survival Evolved Was Not Viable

Recently, Studio Wildcard announced that ARK Survival Evolved, the first game in the ARK series, will be getting a remaster called ARK Survival Ascended. Previously, it was announced to be a free update for ARK Survival Evolved owners, according to Studio Wildcard co-founder.

Fans were furious and disappointed when it turned out that Studio Wildcard had not been true to their word and that the remaster would be a separate purchase. The developer has now addressed the situation, elaborating on the decision.

In the Community Crunch 356 blog, Studio Wildcard recently stated that upgrading Ark Survival Evolved was not a viable option.

The developer claimed many of the changes they would be making in the remaster would lead to issues in the game, such as invalidating save data, making mods inoperable, and having some things behave differently.

They further stated that when initially considering the Unreal Engine 5 upgrade, plans were limited to removing graphical restrictions placed on the Nintendo Switch version. However, they later realized that this would not be the best option for people who enjoy Ark Survival Evolved.

This allowed the developer to use new technologies that will also be part of Ark 2. The team also explained why the official servers for Ark Survival Evolved need to be shut down. This was done because the servers are based on old technology and require a lot of resources to maintain.

For players looking to enjoy Ark Survival Evolved, unofficial and player-hosted sessions will continue to be a valid option to experience the classic survival game.

The ARK respawned bundle, which cost $49.99 and featured ownership of both ARK: Survival Ascended and ARK 2, has also been scrapped. Now, ARK: Survival Ascended will be sold separately for $59.99 on all platforms and will come with  DLC content shown in the blog post.

ARK Survival Ascended is expected to launch in August of this year, while ARK 2 has been delayed until late 2024 and will be released on Xbox Game Pass.  On that note, what do you think about the developers of ARK Survival Evolved claiming that an upgrade to the original game was not viable? Let us know in the comments section.