ARK: Survival Ascended, the remaster of ARK: Survival Evolved, took its time launching but will finally be available today to download and play on PC. A console release is planned for a little further down the road.
While you contemplate whether you want to give the game a go, here’s everything we know about ARK: Survival Ascended. Thanks to a breakdown video by LoadedCrysis on YouTube and the recent Xbox Partner Preview, we already have a lot of details to share about ARK: Survival Ascended.
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ARK: Survival Ascended release date, explained
On October 25, 2023, we learned via the Xbox Partner Preview that ARK: Survival Ascended was coming soon. Literally, everybody thought we’d get a release date then, but the Xbox Partner Preview wasn’t the place to confirm that information because the game’s release varies by platform.
Fuller details came courtesy of the description beneath the ARK: Survival Ascended launch trailer. There, we learn that ARK: Survival Ascended is shadow-dropping today, October 25, 2023. If you sprinted to Steam only to still see the “coming soon” message like I did, all you need to do is wait a little longer and Studio Wildcard will more than likely release ASA today.
Today’s surprise drop on PC follows an October 16 post on the official Ark Twitter (or X), where the developers confirmed that the certification builds for ARK: Survival Ascended have been published and indicated a release date is imminent. Now, we have a better idea just how imminent.
LoadedCrysis said to expect an ARK: Survival Ascended announcement this week, which had optimists looking forward to a trailer and a release date. Sometimes, optimism is rewarded.
With news about ARK: Survival Ascended promised at some nebulous point ahead of the end of October 2023, we had expected it to arrive in early- to mid-November. That still seems likely for the console versions, but PC gamers no longer have to wait. ARK 2 also has a trailer indicating it’ll be released in 2023, which in my opinion, is definitely not gonna happen.
Will ARK: Survival Ascended have DLC and mods?
According to the developers, ARK: Survival Ascended includes all the maps and features from all ARK: Survival Evolved DLC and seasons. As someone who hasn’t ever tried ARK: Survival, this is a very enticing prospect. And if you played all of ARK: Survival Evolved, you can take heart knowing ARK: Survival Ascended will keep everything you enjoyed in the first game.
On top of all the DLCs coming to ARK: Survival Ascended, the game will also feature mods. The ARK community loves their mods and some of the best ones feature maps, weapons, and cosmetics. As far as we know, unlike with Counter-Strike 2, all the mods will work on ARK: Survival Ascended.
There will also be premium mods that work similarly to Minecraft crossovers. With premium mods, we’ll get IP crossovers like Jurassic Park in ARK: Survival Ascended.
For PC gamers, ARK: Survival Ascended’s extended dance with a firm release date has finally ended in the best of possible ways. The game should be available to download and play sometime today, October 25, 2023. Now we just have to wait and see when it drops on Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5.
