Ark: Survival Evolved has been receiving negative reviews on Steam since developer Studio Wildcard announced that it will be releasing a paid upgraded version of the game called Ark: Survival Ascended. Studio Wildcard also announced that all official servers for the original version of Ark: Survival Evolved will shut down in August, with the option to migrate saves to the new upgraded version.
Players on Steam have taken issue with the Unreal Engine 5 version of the game, because Studio Wildcard is charging for the upgrade and closing the official servers for the original version. It’s important to note that players can still operate their own servers in Ark: Survival Evolved, but all of the official servers are being migrated to Ark: Survival Ascended. This also includes the servers for the Xbox One and PS4 versions of the game, despite Ark: Survival Ascended only releasing on current-gen consoles and PC.
One player with nearly 10,000 hours in Ark: Survival Evolved left a negative review, citing the server wipes and paid upgrade path. Another player left a negative review, simply stating that the game closing in August and the developer selling the game with all of the DLC again was unacceptable.
As for the exact pricing of the upgrade, Studio Wildcard is selling a bundle of Ark 2 and Ark: Survival Ascended for $50 USD on Xbox Series X|S and PC, with PS5 users only able to purchase Ark: Survival Ascended for $40 USD. The DLC will also be sold separately, split into two bundles each priced at $20 USD.
This announcement came alongside the delay of Ark 2 into 2024 at the earliest.
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