Update, Oct. 25: Lead designer Craig Brown teased on X/Twitter on Wednesday that Ark: Survival Ascended will hit Steam today.
"Guess what's coming out later today..." Brown wrote, pasting the link to Ark's Steam page, where it's listed in early access. The release date currently just says "coming soon."
Guess what's coming out later today...https://t.co/0iEx6RoMJ0
— CraigBrownCraigBrown (@CraigBCBrown) October 25, 2023
Previous story follows:
Previous story: Microsoft has revealed a first look at Ark: Survival Ascended, the Unreal Engine 5 remake of the original Ark: Survival Evolved.
The video, shown off during the Xbox Partner Preview broadcast, showcased familiar dinosaur-filled environments that made 2015's Ark: Survival Evolved such a huge hit across PC and console.
Developer Studio Wildcard announced Ark: Survival Ascended is "coming soon," and supports cross-platform modding with Unreal Engine 5, which means the Xbox Series X and S version will benefit from mods created for the PC version.
The new in-game CurseForge mod browser, which will be directly accessible from the main menu of the game, will soon be filled with new structures, dinos, maps, decorative pieces, and game modes, Studio Wildcard said in a post on Xbox Wire. Interestingly, Studio Wildcard said it's working with professional game studios and developers to bring their original content and IP to Ark: Survival Ascended "to make it the ultimate gaming modding ecosystem".
Elsewhere, Ark's user interface has been overhauled. It’s been "punched up visually," Studio Wildcard said, with more functionality. The third-person campera is improved, and there's a new, highly detailed map system that supports world pings and points of interest. The developer highlighted advanced dynamic navigation for intelligent creature pathfinding, "so no more running into walls of your base, but running away from Carnivores just got tougher!"
Ark: Survival Ascended includes all its previously released DLCs and maps in remade form and will have its own content roadmap. This includes new story content for the game, further gameplay/quality-of-life changes, new DLC, seasonal events, and over time, 11 brand new creatures. Studio Wildcard is also working on a sequel, Ark 2, as well as Ark: The Animated Series.
For more, check out our full recap of everything shown during today's Xbox partner showcase.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.