ARK: SA Available Today on Steam | First Gameplay Trailer
Studio Wildcard revealed today the first gameplay trailer of ARK: Survival Ascended (ASA) during Microsoft’s Xbox Partner Preview livestream, then announced plans to launch this brand new experience today onto Steam. ASA will launch in November on Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5.
Studio Wildcard partnered with the talented development team at Grove Street Games, to lead the console development for ARK: Survival Ascended and handle the innovative ASA modding integration, as well as engaging Instinct Games for engineering support.
ARK: Survival Ascended is a next-generation remake of the beloved ARK: Survival Evolved game that harnesses the cutting-edge power of Unreal Engine 5 (UE5) for huge improvements and enhancements to the visuals and gameplay. ARK’s codebase has been fully rewritten, and its artwork recreated by hand to take full advantage of UE5, using high-end graphics features such as fully dynamic Global Illumination (“Lumen”), so that light bounces realistically off off hundreds of millions of triangles for extreme detail.
“ASA provides an evergreen adventure that re-energizes the classic-ARK experience, one that will continue to grow and leverages the latest tech advancements with UE5, as well as what we've been working on with the ARK Franchise as a whole," expressed Jeremy Stieglitz, co-founder, lead designer/programmer & co-creative director, Studio Wildcard. "With ARK 2's direction as a Souls-like adventure, we realize our community still wants and loves the original ARK. ASA enables that original ARK experience to thrive in next-gen quality with continued developer support as well as the exciting growth from UGC creators.”
“In ARK the creative community has developed and shared a wide range of impressive mods that PC players enjoy,” said Thomas Williamson, CEO and technical director, Grove Street Games. “We’re excited to bring these to the console players as well, so now all Survivors have access to the brilliant mods that enhance and evolve the ARK experience!”
ARK: Survival Ascended includes access to all of ARK’s worlds, including Scorched Earth, Aberration, Extinction, ARK Genesis Part 1, and ARK Genesis Part 2! Today at launch The Island is available with subsequent expansion worlds to be added on a regular basis. ASA will have its own content roadmap including its own gameplay/QOL changes, new DLC, seasonal events, and more.
Studio Wildcard selected Overwolf to bring cross-platform modding to ARK: Survival Ascended through the CurseForge platform. For the first time ever, ARK mods crafted on PC will be able to run on consoles, significantly extending the reach of modders and elevating the gaming experience for players across different platforms. Through CurseForge, mod authors are already building out exciting new content for ARK’s fanbase including new dinosaurs, structures and weapons, while game developers such as Blue Isle Studios and Skymap Games are creating DLC-level Premium Mods. Modders check out details here with the Dev Kit available soon!
ASA ADDITIONAL NEW FEATURES
Ascended Physics System: Advanced physics systems such as dynamic water so every creature creates waves, ripples, splashes, and bubbles as they move through fluids, and fully interactive physical foliage where every blade of grass, bush, and tree reacts to characters, explosions, projectiles, and physics objects. Knock down a tree and see it crash into other trees and disturb foliage on its way down to smacking into the grass below it! Demolish a building and watch the pieces break apart realistically, interacting with the grass and water as they fall.
Extensive QOL Improvements: Thorough Quality of Life revamps in every area: redesigned User Interfaces, dynamic navigation for intelligent creature pathfinding, Wild Babies, Photo Mode, new Camera systems, new Map system, Tracking System, new Structures and Items, new Creatures, and much more.
Cross-Platform Modding: Download and play new custom content created by players, including new maps, creatures, items, and game modes, through a dedicated new Mod-browser found directly within the game! Enjoy an endless stream of new ARK content as the creativity and talent of the community is fully unleashed for the first time ever across gaming platforms!
Multiplayer Options: Supports public online multiplayer for up to 70 players, private-session multiplayer for up to 8 players, and local split-screen for 2 - 4 players.
Cross-Platform Multiplayer: Form online tribes across different gaming platforms and work together to survive and thrive on the ARK! Console and Windows PC players will have this capability at launch, with Steam PC players joining the cross-platform battle in December 2023.
Starting in November, Overwolf and Studio Wildcard will kick off an official ARK: Survival Ascended Modding Competition that will consist of two tracks: one for DLC-level, premium mods built by game studios, and another for modders. A total of $350,000 USD will be awarded for the most creative cross-platform mods that transform the ASA experience.
The definitive survival experience returns better than ever: create a Survivor, form a tribe, and then tame, train, breed & ride dinosaurs within a living ecosystem. Monitor your food, water, temperature, and weather patterns. Slowly expand outwards then start to harvest, build structures, farm crops, customize each visual design and proceed to explore to uncover the true nature of The Island and the worlds beyond. ARK: Survival Ascended is available today on Steam for a limited time price of $40.49 (MSRP $44.99). ASA is coming to Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 in November.