Latest from Windows Central in Ark-survival-evolved

Ark: Survival Ascended gameplay finally hatches in a new trailer during Xbox Partner Preview showcase (UPDATE)

eternalrhage@gmail.com (Cole Martin) — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 17:25:45 +0000

What you need to know

Ark: Survival Ascended is a full remake of Ark: Survival Evolved in Unreal Engine 5.
Studio Wildcard announced Ark: Survival Ascended in March 2023 on its website with a planned Early Access launch targeting October 2023.
The first game play reveal trailer was shown during the Xbox Partner Preview showcase.

Update Oct. 26: Ark: Survival Ascended has now gone live on Steam. The console release has been delayed until November due to critical issues in Multiplayer that would have affected console players. PC specs have been added below.

Studio Wildcard has finally released a gameplay trailer for Ark: Survival Ascended during the Xbox Partner Preview showcase. The game is a remake of Ark: Survival Evolved using Unreal Engine 5 that was announced by Studio Wildcard on its website in March 2023 with an expected Early Access release window of late October 2023. In the new trailer, the release date was only listed as "coming soon".

Ark: Survival Ascended | ~~$45~~ $41 on Steam

The ultimate survival game has got a fresh Unreal Engine 5 facelift, with quality-of-life improvements and cross-platform and cross-mod support. Available now on Steam, coming to consoles in November.View Deal

Studio Wildcard shut down the official servers of Ark: Survival Evolved in September in anticipation of the release of Survival Ascended, which was submitted for console certification in mid-October. While single-player access and private hosting were still available, players who wanted to continue with Survival Evolved's PVP side would need to rent a server from Nitrado, with whom Studio Wildcard has an exclusivity agreement.

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A few tidbits of info about Ark: Survival Ascended have made their way into the community via the Ark Discord and other social media channels, but the latest gameplay clip also features a thorough post on Xbox Wire with more details.

Players can look forward to cross-platform multiplayer and modding in Ark: Survival Ascended with cross-platform anti-cheat. New content, including photo mode, quality-of-life changes to dinosaurs and baby dino management, and a reworked character creator are all expected for the remaster. Ark fans can also look forward to base building improvements, including changes to snap points and logic, and an optional third-person camera mode.

Cross-platform mods, in particular, were highlighted in the Xbox Wire blog post written by Studio Wildcard executive producer, Jatheish Karunakaran. PC players have been able to foster a robust modding community for Ark, and that community will be able to cross over to consoles for the first time with Ark: Survival Ascended. The Ark devkit will be available on the Epic Launcher when Ark: Survival Ascended releases.

Survival Ascended's development on Unreal Engine 5 has given Studio Wildcard the chance to implement advanced lighting features, better mesh rendering, and enhanced physics to the game. Unreal Engine 5's Instance-based Rendering will bring massive improvements to Ark's performance when players are building massive bases, which has long been a struggle for developers and players alike.

Xbox, Studio Wildcard

Studio Wildcard

Ark: Survival Ascended will release in early access with the base game along with a remaster of the Scorched Earth DLC at launch and access to the Ark battle royale mode. Additional expansions Aberration, Extinction, Genesis Part 1, and Genesis Part 2 are expected to be released to Survival Ascended throughout 2024 in the lead-up to the release of Ark 2. The content roadmap for Ark: Survival Ascended includes the addition of 11 new creatures, more than any of the previous DLC expansions.

There was not an announcement of what the minimum PC specs were going to be for Ark: Survival Ascended, leading to worry amongst the community that their gaming rigs won't be up to snuff in an ambitious game that has a history of being both demanding and buggy. The system requirements for Ark: Survival Ascended were listed on the Steam page when the game surprisingly launched in the middle of the night. You can find those specs in the table below:

Minimum requirements
OS	Windows 10/11 with updates
Processor	AMD Ryzen 5 2600X, Intel Core i7-6800K
Memory	16GB
GPU	AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT, NVIDIA GeForce 1080
DirectX	Version 12
Storage	70GB available space
SSD Required?	Yes

Recommended specs
OS	Windows 10/11 with updates
Processor	AMD Ryzen 5 3600X, Intel Core i5-10600K
Memory	32GB
GPU	AMD Radeon RX 6800, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080
DirectX	Version 12
Storage	70GB available space
SSD Required?	Yes

Ark 2 for Xbox Series X|S, PC: Trailers and everything you need to know

Samuel Tolbert — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 23:00:03 +0000

It's safe to say not too many people were expecting Ark 2 to be announced during the Game Awards 2020. Furthermore, no one was expecting Vin Diesel of The Fast and Furious to be starring in a lead role. This sandbox title combines strange alien futuristic elements with creatures of eons past.

There's a still a lot that's uncertain about Ark 2, but Studio Wildcard is giving us some interesting details about what to expect this time around, with massive changes and familiar territory alike. Here's everything you need to know about Ark 2.

What is Ark 2?

(Image credit: Studio Wildcard)

Ark 2 is the sequel to Ark: Survival Evolved, a sandbox survival game with prehistoric creatures that first released on PC in 2015 before coming to other platforms. The game takes place in a mysterious world where dinosaurs and other long-fossilized creatures roam, while people have been abducted and wake up in this world with seemingly no memory.

While there are also custom characters like in the first game, Ark 2 is focused around the story of Santiago (Vin Diesel) and his daughter (Auli’i Cravalho). The story details their trials and tribulations as they survive a dinosaur-filled world.

Vin Diesel isn't just in Ark 2 however; he's also helping to make it. He's played over 1,000 hours of Ark: Survival Evolved and is serving as executive producer on Ark 2.

After the success of Ark: Survival Evolved, Studio Wildcard signed an exclusivity agreement with Microsoft, so Ark 2 is launching as a timed console exclusive on Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S. Like many other great Xbox games, it's skipping out on last-generation hardware, meaning it can take full advantage of the SSD speed and CPU processing power in Microsoft's current-generation consoles.

Ark 2: Trailers

The reveal trailer, which we've linked below, was showcased during the Game Awards 2020. It depicts Santiago protecting what appears to be his tribe members, even as mysterious threats close in on this strange alien world.

After Studio Wildcard mostly went dark in 2021, the team returned to share a new trailer and information at the Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase 2022. You can check out that new trailer below:

Ark 2 Story, gameplay, and features

(Image credit: Studio Wildcard)

Ark 2 is a "next-generation sandbox survival experience" so while it will be quite similar to Ark: Survival Evolved in many respects, there are a lot of big changes, with Studio Wildcard investing in new technology and changing portions of the game's direction.

Perhaps the biggest change is that while the first game could be played in first-person or third-person, Ark 2 is now a third-person game only. Studio Wildcard is focusing on enhancing exploration, traversal, and combat. In particular, the developers note that they are taking inspiration from games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and the Assassin's Creed franchise.

Animations are being designed to have more impact, so players feel the weight of fighting massive creatures, or using them in combat. Combat against other humans, meanwhile, is described as being "Souls-like," with blocks, light and heavy attacks, and even combos to learn. This time around, there also seem to be Morlock-esque creatures to contend with, in addition to the deadly dinosaurs you'd expect.

The trailer is stated to use in-engine footage, giving an idea of the graphical quality to expect. Ark 2 is being developed using Unreal Engine 5, pushing forward the level of detail the developers are able to achieve.

(Image credit: Studio Wildcard)

The game's AI and systems have also been improved. Ark 2 features World Events, which means that procedurally generated events are always taking place, regardless of whether or not players are around. Creatures have stampedes, gather in herds, crowd around sources of water, and more.

Finally, Ark 2 supports mods on console. This means players on PC can build a mod, then share it with players on Xbox Series X|S consoles. Modders are not only allowed but encouraged to create new creatures, weapons, items, game types, or even a first-person mode.

Ark 2: Is it coming to PS5 or PS4?

(Image credit: Studio Wildcard)

Ark 2 is releasing as an Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S console launch exclusive, so it'll only be on those consoles before coming to others, such as PS5, later on. Naturally, it'll also be available on PC day one.

Even once the timed exclusivity ends, Ark 2 won't be coming to PS4, as the game is built specifically around current-generation gaming hardware.

Ark: The Animated Series

Studio Wildcard wasn't content to grab one big actor — they wanted more. Ark: The Animated Series will also feature Santiago as portrayed by Vin Diesel. Additionally, this show is boasting the talents of actors and actresses such as Madeleine Madden, Michelle Yeoh, Gerard Butler, Jeffrey Wright, David Tennant, and Zahn McClarnon. Devery Jacobs, Ragga Ragnars, Elliot Page, Karl Urban, Malcolm McDowell, Deborah Mailman, Juliet Mills, Alan Tudyk, Ron Yuan, and Russell Crowe will also be featured.

Ark: The Animated Series is currently slated to be released in 2022. The premise revolves around characters from different time periods all awakening on the Ark and coming into conflict or working together.

Ark 2: Release date

(Image credit: Studio Wildcard)

Ark 2 does not have an exact release date.

Right now, Studio Wildcard says the game is set to release at some point in 2023. When Ark 2 was first announced at the Game Awards 2020, it was announced as coming in 2022.

The game's release date clearly slipped at least a bit, which is understandable given the state of game development over the last couple of years. Studios have continued to struggle as they adapt to changing conditions and remote or hybrid workplace practices. Ark 2 is hardly alone, with dozens of other games being delayed (sometimes multiple times) over the last couple of years.

When Ark 2 does eventually launch, it'll be available day one on Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass.

ARK: Survival Evolved will have day one upgrades for Xbox Series X, compares to Xbox One version

zacharylboddy@outlook.com (Zachary Boddy) — Wed, 28 Oct 2020 15:51:21 +0000

What you need to know

ARK: Survival Evolved is a long-running survival and crafting game with a dedicated playerbase.
It's notorious for how demanding it can be on gaming hardware, and runs quite poorly on the base Xbox One.
Today, ARK: Survival Evolved released an update enhancing and upgrading the game for the Xbox Series X.
That means players can play ARK: Survival Evolved in a gorgeous 4K resolution on next-gen launch day.

ARK: Survival Evolved is still a very popular survival game that collects regular updates and expansions on top of the absolutely massive game that already exists. However, ARK is also notoriously demanding, especially on aging console hardware like the OG Xbox One or One S, which can barely play the game at a 720p resolution. Today, ARK: Survival Evolved is releasing an update for the game that enhances the title for the upcoming Xbox Series X, netting a huge number of improvements ahead of the console's launch on November 10, 2020.

The side-by-side comparison in the above trailer shows just how impressive this update is, with ARK: Survival Evolved looking like two completely separate games from Xbox One to Xbox Series X. In some ways, ARK: Survival Evolved squeezes more out of the Xbox Series X even than gaming PC's, which is an interesting note. Improvements included in ARK's Xbox Series X update include:

4K resolution at 60 to 30fps
Increased draw distances (higher than PC)
Increased level streaming distances (higher than PC)
Sky and atmospherics quality set to Epic
Subsurface scattering quality set to Epic
Infinite-range high precision screen space ambient occlusion
Max texture resolution
16x anisotropic filtering
Infinite-range distance field shadows
Terrain self-shadowing
Dynamic shadow quality set to Epic
Ground clutter distance set to Epic
High-precision HDR output
Postprocessing quality set to Epic
Tetherless non-dedicated hosting
Tetherless splitscreen
100-player dedicated server hosting
Splitscreen multiplayer uses Epic graphics settings
Loading speeds increased by seven times

There's no mention of the Xbox Series S here, but it's already becoming quickly apparent from multiple developer sources that the Xbox Series S is just as capable as its more powerful sibling, just at much lower resolutions. If this update applies to the Series S as well as the Series X, expect many of the same improvements, but at a 1080p to 1440p resolution.

ARK: Survival Evolved is also joining Xbox Game Pass on November 17, 2020, so if you wanted to give the game a try without committing to a full purchase, that would be the best possible time to do it.

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Ark: Extinction will head to an Earth ravaged by gigantic titans and much more

dan.lancaster@mobilenations.com (Dan Thorp-Lancaster) — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 18:18:49 +0000

The next DLC pack for survival title Ark: Survival Evolved has been announced for this fall, and it looks like an apocalyptic doozy. Called "Ark: Extinction," the expansion pack will take players to an Earth ravaged by the elements, gigantic titans, and strange creatures.

The team at Ark developer Studio Wildcard offered a brief look at what to expect with a fresh trailer, and there's plenty of eye candy here.

The trailer is a little light on details, but Studio Wildcard elaborated on a bit of what to expect via PC Gamer. Players will be able to check out new dinosaurs in Extinction, including a synthetic one that can climb walls, along with "Gasbags," which operate like floating pack mules.

As for the huge titans – one of which can be seen in the trailer – you'll have to find them through dungeons before fighting them. There's no word on how many of these bosses there will be, but they'll be one of the more dangerous additions coming along with Extinction.

In terms of items, players will be able to get their hands on drones that they can use to scout the landscape, along with a unique cryochamber that lets you freeze creatures and take them with you. Your frozen creatures can then be deployed whenever you need them. But you'll have to keep an eye on the time, as the ice surrounding the creatures will slowly melt as you journey around the landscape.

Ark: Extinction is set for release on November 6, 2018, and will be available on PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4. For now, you can catch up with Ark by grabbing the game for $24 on Xbox One and $19 at Steam.

Best Ark: Survival Evolved mods on PC

rich.edmonds@futurenet.com (Rich Edmonds) — Wed, 11 Apr 2018 11:00:02 +0000

Ark: Survival Evolved is a game about exploration, dinosaurs and taking down enemy tribes. After years of development, the game has improved by leaps and bounds to become quite the experience, and mods from the talented community of users make it even better. I've rounded up some of the best free mods available on the market.

Structures Plus (S+)

This is a must-have for many server administrators simply because it makes surviving in the tough environment a hell of a lot easier. Structures Plus allows you to pick up all placed items without destroying them (if you're the owner or part of the tribe, of course), stack foundations, an entire tier of buildings dedicated to glass constructs, and even lets you hide pipes and wires.

There are a ton more features included, such as:

All crafting stations and crop plots can be locked and pin coded.
Gateways snap in line with fence foundations instead of on top.
Large and behemoth versions of walls.
An extensive array of options allow for tailoring the mod to your needs.
Six new automatic turrets (flamethrower, tranq, minigun, ballista, cannon and rocket).

Download Structures Plus

ReHUD

This mod is very simple. It changes the icons on the right-hand-side of the screen, representing thirst, health, hunger, and stamina, as well as those for the dinosaur you may be riding. Each icon has its own color, which should help in catching your eye when your health drops in battle. This is how the icons should be by default, in my opinion, but until we get a UI redesign this is the best you'll get for now.

Download ReHUD

Resource Stacks

This is another simple little mod that extends the limits of item stacks. No longer do you need to construct a huge storage room to store some items, nor do you need a thousand fridges for food.

Download Resource Stacks

Upgrade Station

The Upgrade Station is a special piece of furniture for your Ark base. This handy tool allows you to upgrade the quality of weapons, armor, tools, and saddles. Tired of owning a bunch of primitive items that are rather useless? Upgrade them at this station all the way to the ascendant tier. The best part of the mod is that it works well with items created with other mods.

As an added bonus, items can be salvaged to obtain some resources from items you no longer require — it's perfect when harvesting items collected by dinosaurs.

Download Upgrade Station

Pimp My Home

This is a crazy mod that takes furnishing your base to a whole new level with water features, advanced lighting, craftable furniture, appliances, and more. As the name suggests, you'll be able to pimp your home with a whole array of new items. More than 50 items are packed into this cool package. Worth downloading if you're a bit bored of the bland interiors.

Download Pimp My Home

Your favorites

What mods do you have installed on your Ark: Survival evolved server? Sound off in the comments!

Ark: Survival Evolved hits Windows 10 with Xbox Play Anywhere, cross-play

Asher Madan — Tue, 19 Dec 2017 18:43:14 +0000

The game is already available for Xbox One, but now it supports Xbox Play Anywhere. This means that you only have to purchase the game once and you can play it on both platforms at no additional cost. It also means that survivors can now pick up their adventure where they left off, switching between their Xbox One and Windows 10 device while taking their saved progress, gamerscore, expansions, and achievements with them.

Additionally, Ark: Survival Evolved for Windows 10 now supports Microsoft's cross-play feature. This means that Xbox One and Windows 10 players will be able to cooperate or compete on the same servers to capture, tame, and train the dinosaurs in the game.

Ark: Survival Evolved is an extreme survival game which requires patience as well as resource-gathering to succeed. Stranded on the shores of a mysterious island, you must hunt, harvest resources, craft items, grow crops, research technologies, and build shelters to survive and eventually thrive. One of the greatest mechanics has to be how you can use your skills to tame dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures. The game has numerous servers so you can team up with your friends and other individuals to conquer the challenges together. However, that's not all. You also have to uncover the mystery of the Ark and why you're there. Is this an alien spaceship? What purpose does it serve? The game is addictive and it'll become an obsession for a while. Be sure to check out the title at retailers because it's quite good already, and it'll be even better on Xbox One X.

Keep an eye on WindowsCentral.com/Gaming for all the latest in Xbox and Windows 10 gaming, accessories, news, and reviews!

Ark: Survival Evolved Aberration expansion hits Xbox One and PC, cross-play coming this week [updated]

Asher Madan — Tue, 12 Dec 2017 18:07:41 +0000

You can download it right now on Xbox One, Steam, and PlayStation 4. Survivors wake up on the Aberration, a derelict, malfunctioning Ark featuring an elaborate underground biome. What's different about this map is that extreme radiation and environmental hazards require increased attention. You have to be careful where you venture. Exploring the world is also more treacherous because the caves house new challenges and creatures.

According to the developers, the intense radiation of Aberration has led to incredible genetic mutations, resulting in new creatures with amazing abilities. The Rock Drake is a camouflaging, chameleon-like creature that can clamber up walls and glide through the air. The Lantern Pug can illuminate the dark caves which you must traverse. Lastly, the grotesque Cave Crustacean and Reaper Queen are good for taking out enemies. You have to use all of these creatures to thrive in this new region.

As you may know, Ark: Survival Evolved is all about gathering resources and crafting. Aberration adds more than fifty unique new items. You can protect yourself with hazmat outfits, explosive rounds, railguns, and much more. Gathering resources is also easier because now you can use fishing baskets, gas collectors, and other tools. This makes accumulating resources in bulk feasible.

Environmental hazards are a new problem to contend with and players will experience everything from earthquakes, radiation damage, and gas leaks. One of Aberration's greatest challenges is a group of monsters called the Nameless. These creatures have been infused with a mysterious substance called Element that makes them incredibly powerful. They're controlled by a leader which only the most skilled survivors should attempt to face.

Pretty stoked about the introduction of Win10 Crossplay with Xbox, including Aberration, coming this Thursday. Gonna be interesting to see how PC and Console players finally interact together :) @survivethearkPretty stoked about the introduction of Win10 Crossplay with Xbox, including Aberration, coming this Thursday. Gonna be interesting to see how PC and Console players finally interact together :) @survivetheark— Jeremy Stieglitz (@jeremystieglitz) December 12, 2017 December 12, 2017

Aberration is available as a separate purchase for $19.99 or as part of the season pass. This week Studio Wildcard will also enable cross-play between Xbox One and Windows 10. Gamers have been asking for the ability for months now so hopefully it'll work well. Ark: Survival Evolved also supports Xbox One X even though the title is still quite rough around the edges.

Update 12/13/17: According to Studio Wildcard, Xbox One players experiencing connection issues with Ark: Survival Evolved's Aberration map have to update the file. The studio says that Microsoft published the wrong version of Aberration and informed them of the error. Microsoft rectified the problem with the correct build but it took a few hours for it to roll out. If you downloaded Aberration earlier today, you'll have to update the file by launching Ark: Survival Evolved and instructing the console to download the correct version after you're prompted to do so.

Keep an eye on WindowsCentral.com/Gaming for all the latest in Xbox and Windows 10 gaming, accessories, news, and reviews!

Ark: Survival Evolved's Aberration expansion launches in December

Asher Madan — Wed, 22 Nov 2017 22:24:09 +0000

Survivors will wake up on the Aberration, a derelict, malfunctioning Ark featuring an elaborate underground biome. What's different about this map is that extreme radiation and environmental hazards require increased attention. You have to be careful where you venture and build. Exploring the world is also more treacherous because the caves house new challenges and creatures like the Rock Drake and Lantern Pug.

According to the developers, the intense radiation of Aberration has led to incredible genetic mutations, resulting in new creatures with amazing abilities. The Rock Drake is a camouflaging, chameleon-like creature which can clamber up walls and glide through the air. The Lantern Pug can illuminate the dark caves. The grotesque Cave Crustacean and Reaper Queen are good for taking out enemies.

As you may know, Ark: Survival Evolved is all about gathering resources and crafting. Aberration adds more than fifty unique new items. You can protect yourself with hazmat outfits, explosive rounds, railguns and much more. Gathering resources is also easier because now you can use fishing baskets, gas collectors, and other tools.

Environmental hazards are a new problem to contend with and players will experience everything from earthquakes, radiation exposure, and gas leaks. One of Aberration's greatest challenges is a collection of monsters called the Nameless. These creatures have been infused with a mysterious substance called Element that makes them incredibly powerful and deadly. However, they're all controlled by a master which only the most skilled survivors can face in the deepest depths of the map.

Aberration will be available as a standalone expansion pack for $19.99 or as part of the Ark: Explorer's Edition. Since its launch into Steam's Early Access program in June 2015, over twelve million survivors have experienced the game. This is quite an achievement despite the fact that the game has performance issues and other problems on Xbox One. It even suffers from extreme screen tearing on Xbox One X.

Keep an eye on WindowsCentral.com/Gaming for all the latest in Xbox and Windows 10 gaming, accessories, news, and reviews!

Ark: Survival Evolved features two graphics modes on Xbox One X [updated]

Asher Madan — Tue, 17 Oct 2017 18:54:30 +0000

One such developer is Studio Wildcard, the team behind Ark: Survival Evolved. There was a rumor that the game would support 4K resolution but then the team said that they were working on just a 1080p 60 FPS mode for the console. Well, today we have a definitive answer.

In a statement made by the studio, Studio Wildcard confirmed that Ark: Survival Evolved on the Xbox One X will feature HDR and two graphics modes. The first is a "Detailed Graphics" setting with 1440p resolution and High setting at 30 FPS. The second is a 1080p mode which equates to the current Xbox One graphics, with improved 60 FPS. Those with a 4K display will benefit from the 1440p resolution and those with a 1080p display will also receive a boost. Though, you can also run the game at 1440p and enjoy the supersampled visuals on a 1080p display. The choice is yours!

The studio mentioned that the Xbox One X has increased RAM, which will help to eliminate memory issues. It also means faster loading times and better streaming.

However, it's not all great news. Xbox Play Anywhere support and cross-play have been delayed until November. The reason behind this is that they want to get their BattlEye technology working properly on the console. BattlEye is a sophisticated anti-cheating program which is regarded as the gold standard nowadays. With this in mind the team is cautious to enable cross-play until BattlEye is working on Xbox One. The last thing console players want is to have their experience ruined by cheaters.

Ark: Survival Evolved is an extreme survival game which requires patience as well as resource-gathering to succeed. Stranded on the shores of a mysterious island, you must hunt, harvest resources, craft items, grow crops, research technologies, and build shelters to survive and eventually thrive. One of the greatest mechanics has to be how you can use your skills to tame dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures. The game has numerous servers so you can team up with your friends and other individuals to conquer the challenges together. However, that's not all: You also have to uncover the mystery of the Ark and why you're there. Is this an alien spaceship? What purpose does it serve? The game is addictive and it'll become an obsession for a while. Be sure to check out the title at retailers because it's quite good already, and it'll be even better on Xbox One X.

Update 11/30/17: According to Digital Foundry, the game runs at dynamic resolution on Xbox One X in both of its modes. It's not locked at 1440p or 1080p depending on the mode.

Keep an eye on WindowsCentral.com/Gaming for all the latest in Xbox and Windows 10 gaming, accessories, news, and reviews!

ARK: Survival Evolved launches August 8; will be enhanced for Xbox One X

dan.lancaster@mobilenations.com (Dan Thorp-Lancaster) — Mon, 12 Jun 2017 19:46:25 +0000

After a lengthy two-year stint in early access, ARK: Survival Evolved is finally set for a full release. Available for preorder now, the game will officially make its way to Xbox One, PS4, and PC on August 8 with digital and retail boxed releases.

ARK has been arguably one of the biggest survival titles in development over the past couple of years. In it, you're tasked with the type of intense resource management and weapon and settlement building that you'd expect from a survival title, but set in a gorgeous world filled with dinosaurs and other wondrous creatures that you can hunt, tame, or run from in utter terror.

Along with a standard digital and physical release, ARK is also getting some pretty neat collector's editions. The first, simply called the Explorer's Edition, offers the base game and a season pass that will give you access to all expansion packs for $99. The top-end Limited Collector's Edition, however, packs in a ton more in a faux-wooden chest for $160. Here's a look at what's inside:

A handcrafted leather-bound Explorer's Notebook, featuring the Dossiers of every in-game creature
An official ARK necklace
A cloth map of the ARK island
A poster of the Studio Wildcard development team
The official ARK: Survival Evolved soundtrack, recorded live at Abbey Road with the Philharmonia Orchestra
Manufactured by Triforce, the best designer of high-quality video game collectibles!

Finally, the ARK team has announced that the game will be a launch title for the new Xbox One X this November. The goal is to have it running on Epic settings at 60 frames per second. The game will also be Xbox Play Anywhere enabled, allowing you to buy it once and play crossplay on both Xbox One and Windows 10.

ARK: Survival Evolved adds Scorched Earth expansion as part of big update

John Callaham — Thu, 01 Sep 2016 17:27:40 +0000

Developer Studio Wildcard has announced Scorched Earth, a big expansion for its popular PC and Xbox One game ARK: Survival Evolved. The expansion, which adds a new map to the game, costs $19.99 to download and is part of an overall update to the main game.

Studio Wildcard states:

Scorched Earth is an completely new and different experience from The Island. Stranded naked, dehydrated and starving on a fiery, drought-ridden desert world, Survivors must immediately seek water, hunt for food, harvest new flora, craft new items, and build shelter from the extreme heat. Scorched Earth is an entirely new map, composed of seven unique, desert themed biomes – dunes, high desert, mountains, canyons, badlands, oasis and the ever-dangerous dragon trench – each with their own aesthetics, resources & ecosystems, and littered with ruins, geysers, and intricate ancient cave systems.The desert's biomes are filled with fantastical new creatures, many of which can be tamed. Lead a caravan of the camel-like Morellatops, or rain fire down on your enemies from the back of a Wyvern. Just mind your step in the vast desert, or you might attract a Death Worm!

While the expansion costs $19.99, PC and Xbox One players who have yet to purchase ARK: Survival Evolved will be able to do so at a 40% discount for the next several days. The game is also getting an overall free update, which will offer Xbox One owners some extras and improvements:

The update will also include a HD resolution upgrade to fully support 720p gameplay with 1080p UI's. Primitive+ is now an official part of ARK: Survival Evolved on Xbox One, which features over 100 new items, weapons, structures, and survival mechanics oriented towards "primitive" style living -- effectively doubling the amount of content within ARK! Newly available as part of the 'ARK Official Mods Program' today, Primitive+ is a functionality mod playable on official ARK maps, challenging players to use weapons and tools only made of wood and stone, without the benefit of advanced metals to create weapons such as guns. It's a whole new set of items and detailed mechanics focused on 'primitive' survival, which fits snugly in the world of ARK.In addition, the versatile Pelagornis and the pack-minded Allosaurus, along with a new Fishing Rod and fishing mechanic, and a flurry of additional gameplay features have been added!

ARK: Survival Evolved is still listed in Steam Early Access for PC and on Xbox One Game Preview.

ARK: Survival Evolved will finally hit HD resolution on Xbox One this week

Jez Corden — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 02:37:44 +0000

In a forthcoming update, ARK: Survival Evolved's dinosaur hunters on Xbox One will finally be able to enjoy the game in 720p HD, thanks to on-going optimizations. Not only that, but the pixelated UI will also be bumped to 1080p, which should make it much sharper on your Xbox.

Studio Wildcard lead developer Jeremy Stieglitz confirmed the news on Twitter, bumping the resolution from its presently sub-HD implementation.

I'm happy to say this week's Xbox update includes full 720p 3D rendering, & 1080p UI! Thursday gonna be crazy, sleep'll be but a memory :-D

In addition to upping the game's visuals, Patch v739 slated for September 1st will induce a 10% improvement in the game's less-than-stable frame rate, and bring in many features PC players have been enjoying for a little while now.

The update will include four new creatures: Pelagornis, Allosaurus, Tapejara and the Archaeopteryx. Industrial grinders, spiral staircases, and large ceiling dinosaur doors will also be added. As someone who spent a lot of time idling in Orgrimmar in World of Warcraft, my favorite feature of this update is the inclusion of all new fishing mechanics.

Studio Wildcard is also teasing "something very big" for this update, likely to be announced on the company's official Twitch channel this Thursday at 10am PST for the patch's official reveal.

Do you play ARK: Survival Evolved? What do you think of it? Let us know in the comments!

ARK: Survival Evolved preview sells 1 million units on Xbox One, full release delayed until late 2016

John Callaham — Sat, 23 Apr 2016 13:41:22 +0000

Developer Studio Wildcard has announced that their dinosaur-themed action game ARK: Survival Evolved has sold 1 million units on the Xbox One in a preview release, along with 4 million on the PC.

ARK: Survival Evolved was first released in June 2015 on the PC, via Steam Early Access, and the Xbox One version was launched in December as part of Microsoft's Game Preview program. According to GameSpot, Studio Wildcard has decided to delay the full release of the game from a planned summer launch to the holiday time period of 2016.

In related news, ARK: Survival Evolved will launch its official Mods program in May. Community members will be able to submit mods could be integrated into the official game. The first such mod is a massive new map called The Center:

Designed by community member Ben Burkart, The Center adds an over-the-top, fantasy-themed map that doubles the size of the current game and is more varied than the original ARK map, with tons of new biomes, dungeons, floating islands, end-of-the-world waterfalls, massive ancient ruins, along with other wonders to explore and secrets to find. Drawn completely by hand without any auto-generated content, The Center is a massive increase in the game's official playable content and is free to both PC and Xbox One players.

Primitive+, a mod that's already available for the PC, will be launched this summer for all ARK: Survival Evolved members:

In the case of Primitive Plus, players are challenged to use only wood and stone without the benefit of advanced metals to create weapons such as guns. A whole new set of items and detailed new mechanics focus the player on 'primitive' survival, which fits snugly in the world of ARK. Primitive Plus will be playable as a functionality mod on all official ARK maps.

ARK: Survival Evolved brings giant rideable beavers and terror birds to Xbox One

dan.lancaster@mobilenations.com (Dan Thorp-Lancaster) — Mon, 07 Mar 2016 23:06:11 +0000

ARK: Survival Evolved for the Xbox One has received a fresh update that adds loads of fun in the form of new tamable and rideable creatures, tools and more. Most notable, the latest update brings the Xbox One version of the survival-centered game up to par with its PC cousin by giving players the ability to tame and ride giant beavers and terror birds (in case the giant kangaroos and dinosaurs weren't already awesome enough).

Additionally, players can now take advantage of some new tools, including handcuffs and grappling hooks. As you'd expect, the grappling hook lets you do a number of things ranging from scaling cliffs to hitching a ride from a flying creature that happens to be passing by. The Handcuffs, on the other hand, allows you to keep your prisoners in check.

Finally, ARK is set to come to a load of new countries this week with Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Singapore, Sweden, Taiwan and Turkey. The latest update adds localization in preparation for that expansion.

Here's the full official breakdown of what's new in the latest ARK: Survival Evolved update for Xbox One:

DINOS: Tame, Train and Ride the Giant Beaver and the Terror Bird
TOOLS: Use new tools including the Grappling Hook and the Handcuffs
TRIBE ALLIANCES (PvE and PvP). Yes, finally, small Tribes can band together against larger ones!
Approximately 20% performance increase!
All options exposed for dedicated servers, finally! Even custom lists of Engrams & Dino Multipliers, etc!
Numerous crash fixes
Community-contributed Game Localization in 8+ languages — French, Italian, German, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese Brazil, Simplified Chinese, Danish, Dutch, Polish, Swedish, Traditional Chinese, and Turkish

ARK is due for a full launch on Xbox One sometime in summer 2016. However, those who want an early look at the game can snag ARK: Survival Evolved as part of the Xbox One Preview Program for $34.99.

ARK: Survival Evolved for Xbox One adds split-screen support with latest update

John Callaham — Sat, 13 Feb 2016 12:36:17 +0000

Xbox One players of the popular dinosaur-themed survival game ARK: Survival Evolved can download the latest update to the game. It offers, among other things, support for split-screen two-player multiplayer in both offline and online modes on non-dedicated servers.

The split-screen support will only be available on the Xbox One version of the game for a while, but it will eventually be added to the PC version as well. This week's update also adds some content to the Xbox One version that is already available for PC players, including three new creatures (the Dimetrodon, the Dung Beetle and the Gallimimus). Here is a quick look at what else has been included in the ARK: Survival Evolved update:

SWAT-style Assault Armor for all your raiding needs!
Greenhouse structure pieces to aid survivors in growing crops
The shockingly powerful Electric Prod easily capable of knocking you out.
Deep-Sea Loot Crates: swim into the deep and discover the highly valuable loot that exists below
Craftable Beer Kegs for making tasty brews, with various status enhancing effects, however the subsequent 'hangover' effects are not so pleasant!
Loads of bug fixes, serious performance update (~15%), fixed memory leak
Non-dedicated servers now support up to Eight survivors and 33% larger tether distance

ARK: Survival Evolved is currently available as part of the Xbox Game Preview Program and will officially launch sometime this summer.

Source: ARK: Survival Evolved

Giant rideable kangaroos hop into ARK: Survival Evolved for Xbox One

dan.lancaster@mobilenations.com (Dan Thorp-Lancaster) — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 22:51:20 +0000

ARK: Survival Evolved, a game that pits you in a world of dinosaurs and other giant creatures to survive the elements, has received its first big update for the Xbox One, and it's a doozy. Alongside a slew of fixes and balance changes, the update brings the ability for players to ride a Procoptodon — essentially a giant prehistoric kangaroo.

The Procoptodon can support two players, allowing one to control the movement while the other sits in the pouch and fires away with weapons. You can check out the Procoptodon jumping over walls and just generally being awesome in the video above. Of course, there's a bit more in the update as well; here's a breakdown:

Dino rebalancing
The addition of a primitive cage and stone fireplace items
Fixed Cave Loading crash/fall-thru
Improved performance: better framerate, less stalls
Fixed crosshair not appearing
Fixed potential loss of character save data in local mode
Fixed fur armor colorization
Improved speed of server listing
Fixed Taming Dinos losing Inventories/messed-up-Inventories upon reloading single player save game
Fixed a memory leak that was typically causing crashes around the Volcano area

While ARK isn't due for a full, official launch until on Xbox One until sometime this summer, it was released in mid-December as part of the Xbox One Preview program, allowing you to test the game out as it develops. If your interest is piqued and you're okay with dealing with some inevitable bugs as development goes on, you can pick up ARK now on the Xbox Store for $34.99.

See at the Xbox Store

Xbox One Preview: ARK: Survival Evolved – impressions so far

jez@windowscentral.com (Jez Corden) — Fri, 08 Jan 2016 22:20:12 +0000

ARK: Survival Evolved is among the earliest titles to join the Xbox One's Game Preview program, via ID@Xbox. Its unique blend of crafting, survival, and dinosaur hunting gameplay has been quite a hit.

Games in the preview program are still in mid-development. ARK keenly informs users on its welcoming screen that aspects of the game might be broken, or even suffer from crashes.

Even in its primordial state of development, the time I've managed to spend inside ARK: Survival Evolved has been intriguing, even exciting. The game will see many months of development ahead of its planned June 2016 launch date, and here are my thoughts so far.

At its core, ARK: Survival Evolved, as its name suggests, is a multiplayer survival game. The genre hinges on character progression and player-driven emergent gameplay – and ARK delivers on these ideas well. As mentioned, ARK is still knee-deep in active development, and even the biggest budget titles have issues at this early stage. Thankfully, titles in the preview program are required to offer a one hour trial, so jumping in to try it out is a risk-free affair.

Minecraft popularized the early access development model, shipping as a bare bones Lego-sim before growing into the blockbuster craft 'em up we know and love. ARK uses a similar model, offering players both on PC and Xbox One a chance to jump in early, for a discount, to try out its features and help shape the game by sending feedback over to the official forums. ARK also actively uses its Xbox One game hub to deliver updates and communicate with fans.

ARK: Survival Evolved for Xbox One has overtaken the PC title to become the most popular version, forcing the developer to open dozens of extra servers to accommodate demand.

ARK: Survival Evolved is targeting a June 2016 completion date, and even in this early state, ARK is an impressive, engaging, and incredibly fun title.

Survival Evolved

ARK: Survival Evolved's greatest achievement, so far, is its feature set. ARK allows players to do things that are typically resigned to quirky mods of other games – ride dinosaurs, build castles, and defecate on defeated foes. Okay, maybe that last one isn't super desirable, but hey, ARK is all about freedom (and perhaps those suspiciously detailed piles of slime have a gameplay use).

While ARK still has a quite a long way to go on the optimization front, it's lovingly detailed, and quite a beautiful game – built in Unreal Engine 4. To qualify for ID@Xbox, your company needs to be below a certain revenue threshold, making ARK's budget-defying visuals all the more impressive. Gigantic Brontosauruses roam majestically in dense forests, sunshafts penetrate the trees and dynamic shadows make those coveted camp fires all the more inviting.

Speaking of campfires, survival is key to ARK's gameplay, and you'll be managing more than hunger. Maintaining your character's warmth and thirst, in addition to scavenging for food and building shelters keeps you firmly on your toes – providing they haven't been chewed off by an angry Compsognathus.

When your character lands in ARK: Survival Evolved, you'll find yourself completely naked, save for a mysterious chip embedded in your wrist. Actions you take in the game, whether it's punching dodos to death or stripping a bush of its fruits and fibers, accrue EXP. Higher EXP means higher stats and new crafting patterns. To start with, you'll find yourself punching down trees and gathering stones to fashion your first mining pick, aspects Minecraft fans will find familiar.

In-keeping with the Minecraft similarities, should you find yourself injured, either by enemy players or unruly beasts, your health will regenerate providing your hunger has been attended to. If you die in ARK, you'll lose your inventory, and respawn in a random location – but retain those all-important levels and crafting recipes. Death is punishing which makes your survival skills all the more meaningful and therefor rewarding. Until you've established yourself a shelter, complete with a locked door, respawn-point bed, and adequate supplies, it's frequent to find yourself in dangerous situations, particularly if you haven't joined up with a tribe.

Experience points are shared among tribe members, making collaboration not only fun but rewarding as well. There's a primal joy about working together to build a functional shelter, complete with farms, tamed beasts, and defenses, and ARK taps this feeling masterfully.

As you ascend in levels, you'll learn how to craft ever-advancing tools and buildings, from stone hatchets and straw shacks, all the way up to rifles and fortresses built of stone and steel. Should you find yourself with the right tools and skills – unlocked as you level – you might find yourself riding atop a personal Tyrannosaurus Rex pet, or soaring the skies of the game's 50 kilometer-square map on the back of a Pterosaur (complete with gun turrets).

The game's 70-player servers support all sorts of emergent gameplay. Gigantic wars between feuding tribes, the destruction, and plundering of large and established bases, an enormous map to explore filled with secrets and end-game content, and an ever-evolving development cycle, bringing bug fixes, optimization, and new features.

ARK: Survival Evolved seems like a safe bet for fans of survival games, but there are some key issues that the development team needs to address before the game's full release this summer.

Feedback: Some of the biggest issues so far

ARK: Survival Evolved is an ID@Xbox title in the Game Preview program. As mentioned, development is on-going, both on PC and Xbox – bugs and other issues are to be expected.

The biggest problem I encountered with the preview version pertains to the server browser. Demand is high, with the Xbox version beating out the PC version for traffic, but simply adding more servers doesn't help with the game's biggest problem – getting back into your character's existing server can be a pain.

Between frequent connection issues and full servers with the inability to queue, I've found myself unable to continue the characters I spent several hours investing my time into. I've also found it impossible to accept invites from other players into specific servers, probably an extension of general connectivity issues.

Of course, you can circumvent this by playing solo or in a personal private match, but you'll lose the dynamism found in a populated dedicated server in the process. Even when you are on a private server, the players need to stay within 200 meters of the host, which is equal parts strange and frustrating. More robust connectivity features are a must, and given the amount of complaints I've seen, I'd say they've heard the message loud and clear.

The visuals, while detailed and beautiful, need a fair bit of optimization on Xbox One. Screen tearing is rife, anti-aliasing is minimal, and the game can stutter quite frequently. Thankfully, though, it is stable, I haven't yet experienced a full crash to the dashboard.

I'd also like to see the UI get some love, as it's quite clearly designed for a mouse. Also, the game could use some form of in-game tutorial to help new players as well – as it stands, you're thrown in at the deep end (sometimes in the midst of hungry beasts).

Hopefully, most of these are issues that can be rectified with further development. I haven't found much to complain about as far as the game's direction goes, and the development team seems generally diligent at taking fan feedback.

ARK: Survival Evolved has a solid foundation

Issues aside, ARK is receiving frequent feature updates. The most recently posted PC patch notes include beer brewing, tribe alliances, and tribe member rankings in addition to the traditional bug fixes. January will also see DX12 support hit PC, new terrains and boss battles. The Xbox One version will soon gain feature parity with the PC version as well, adding ridable Procoptodons (giant Kangaroos – awesome).

However, ARK's developers recently hit some of the game's most powerful tamed dinosaurs with the nerf bat, reminding us that ARK is still a work in progress. Although, PC gamers who have invested dozens, occasionally hundreds of hours into the game aren't taking the news too well – but this represents one of the downsides of Early Access. By jumping in early, you're signing up to help test and develop a game in mid-development.

ARK: Survival Evolved is a unique title, managing to not only balance some wild gameplay ideas but also give them depth and purpose. While the server issues and poor connectivity features make it hard to recommend in its present state, if you're a fan of the genre, you should at the very least keep tabs on the game's development.

ARK: Survival Evolved has more daily Xbox One players than PC

John Callaham — Thu, 31 Dec 2015 20:34:48 +0000

Studio Wildcard, the developer of the popular PC game ARK: Survival Evolved, has already had a huge success with the Xbox One version. It was released just a couple of weeks ago for Microsoft's console. and a new report from the team says the Xbox One port already has more daily players than the PC version.

Jesse Rapczak, the co-founder of Studio Wildcard, stated:

"In under a week ARK was downloaded over 1,000,000 times and Survivors had lasted a combined 200,000 real-life days against the dinosaurs and perils of the island, including other players! There's no question that survival games have taken the PC world by storm lately, and as the only true large-scale multiplayer survival game available on console, perhaps it comes as no surprise that ARK's daily Xbox One player count is already bigger than on PC."

By comparison, the PC version of ARK: Survival Evolved, which was first release via Steam in June, has about 55,000 concurrent players during peak hours. The Xbox One version of ARK: Survival Evolved is part of the Xbox Game Preview Program, and the "final" version of the console game won't be released until June 2016. Rapczak wrote:

"During that time you can expect community feedback to be integrated into the Xbox One version of the game with regular updates about every two weeks. This will eventually include highly-demanded features like split screen support, gamepad customization, UI improvements, tweaks to current game modes, balancing improvements and all the new content that is going into the PC version. That's awesome considering there is already three times as much content in the game today compared to the PC launch 7 months ago."

Source: Xbox Wire

ARK: Survival Evolved swoops down as the latest Xbox One Preview

rich.edmonds@futurenet.com (Rich Edmonds) — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 11:53:29 +0000

ARK: Survival Evolved is part of an ever-expanding genre of games. While there are a number of open-world, survival-type titles already available on PC, the team behind ARK have brought the game across to the Xbox One. It's now available on the Xbox One Preview program for $34.99. Should you be a fan of ARK on PC or would like to have a go at surviving in a harsh, yet highly rewarding multiplayer experience, this is your chance to get started.

The world is your oyster, quite literally. In ARK, the early days are dedicated to simply surviving the rather harsh environment. In later stages you'll be comfortable enough to begin friending some dinosaurs and tame other beasts to better defend your territory or take out your rivals. It's reported that you'll be able to host your own server on an Xbox One, which should be good to host more than 50 people. (Depending on your connection, of course!)

There's also a bunch of Xbox One-exclusive content too, including a bionic "Tek" T-Rex skin, ARK Founder's Hat skin, and ARK Founder's Trophy. Ready to get started? Download the title from the Xbox One Preview for $34.99.

$34.99 on the Xbox One Store

ARK: Survival Evolved coming to Xbox Game Preview on Dec. 16

dan.lancaster@mobilenations.com (Dan Thorp-Lancaster) — Wed, 09 Dec 2015 23:11:02 +0000

ARK: Survival Evolved, a first-person survival action game that has already made a splash through Steam's Early Access program on PC, is destined to get a little early access love on Xbox One on December 16. As reported by IGN, ARK: Survival Evolved will be available in mid-December for $34.99 through the Xbox Game Preview program, which debuted earlier this year. Speaking to IGN, developer Studio Wildcard's co-founder Jess Rapczak talked a little bit about the studio's goals with ARK on the Xbox Game Preview program:

"Through all of this, we hope to help Microsoft build out Xbox Game Preview while giving Xbox One gamers something totally new and different than the standard updated version of old franchises. Gamers want new experiences on their consoles, and we feel that ARK, which is one of the few dinosaur games on the market, and one of the only, if not the only true multiplayer survival games on console, will bring that fresh gaming experience that helps define this generation."

Rapczak says that when ARK: Survival Evolved makes its XPG debut later this month, it will have all of the same content that is currently in the PC preview.

The game is due to officially launch on consoles and PC in June 2016. Will you be snagging the game early through the Xbox Game Preview program? Let us know in the comments below!

Source: IGN

Watch this gameplay preview of ARK: Survival Evolved, coming to Xbox One next year

Paul Acevedo — Wed, 01 Jul 2015 19:05:57 +0000

Dinosaurs are big right now. Of course, they've always been physically large (except for the little ones like Compsognathus). But the recently-released Jurassic World movie broke all kinds of box-office records (despite featuring some unnecessary cruelty). People just love dinosaurs, and yet they hardly show up in movies or games.

If you do dig dinos, then indie developer Studio Wildcard has just the game for you. ARK: Survival Evolved, currently available via Steam Early Access and coming to Xbox One next year, is a cooperative survival game featuring all manner of dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures. Players will have to work together to survive, build shelter, tame or kill primeval beasts, and ultimately escape from the island that time forgot.

We recently grilled ARK's Senior Technical and Gameplay Designer about dinosaurs, development, and much more. Read on for our quick impressions with an exclusive interview and gameplay video!

Welcome to the island

ARK: Survival Evolved is a large-scale online multiplayer survival game, much like Day Z, H1Z1, Rust, and others. To begin with, you'll select a server – each one supports up to 70 players. Local single-player is also supported. After creating a character, you'll wake up on the beach of an island known as ARK.

The ARK is a mysterious island that exists outside of time, where dinosaurs and other long-dead species (including dodo birds, which jerk humans hunted to extinction!) still survive. The island contains all manner of fauna and biomes to explore, including underwater regions. Strange and alien pylons (called beacons) dot the landscape as well. Some unknown entity drops supply crates near these beacons at regular intervals.

Being a survival game, ARK requires players to manage several needs to survive. First and foremost, you'll have to find sources of food and water. Players also need to manage their temperatures, with rain causing coldness and torches and campfires giving off heat. Temperature varies across different regions on the island as well.

Harness the power

Beyond exploration and survival, a huge part of ARK's appeal comes from its wildlife. At present, the game features 13 species of dinosaurs, such as Ankylosaurus (one of my faves), Brontosaurus ( science says we can call them that again), Stegosaurus, and of course, Tyrannosaurus Rex. Some of the 26 non-dinosaur creatures currently available include Mammoths, Sabretooth Tigers, and Pteranodons. Just typing some of those names gives this dinosaur fan chills!

As you'd expect, herbivores are generally friendly, and carnivores see players as food. During my first time playing, I was forced to punch an attacking Dilophosaurus to death on the beach. "That one's for Nedry!" I might have said. Many of ARK's dinosaurs and creatures can even be tamed, after which they will act as pets or mounts. Amazingly, players can even saddle and ride the Megalodon, a gigantic prehistoric shark.

Taming dinosaurs, fighting boss creatures, and constructing shelters are some of the tasks in ARK that encourage player cooperation. Those tasks take time, and your fellow players can protect you while you work. Unlike the other survival games I mentioned, ARK is mostly meant to be played cooperatively, and players can't kill each other (PvP servers exist as well). When you run across another human on this island, you'll think about how you can help each other instead of how to kill and rob him or her.

More evolution to come

ARK: Survival Evolved is a Steam Early Access game, so it still has a lot of development to go through before it officially launches on PC and consoles next year. The UI needs a lot of work (as does controller support for menus), and the game currently requires a fairly beefy system to run well. The developers tell us they plan to address these issues over time, in addition to adding lots of new content and more than doubling the dinosaur and creature count.

Dinosaur fans with the hardware to run ARK: Survival Evolved will definitely want to give it a try. If you can't run it or only play on consoles, you can still look forward to the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions in June 2016.

ARK: Survival Evolved – Windows PC, Mac, and Linux – $29.99 – Steam Link