Update: October 26, 2023 - The PC version of Ark: Survival Ascended is now live on Steam. However, the Xbox and PS5 versions of the game have been delayed until sometime in November.
Original story - Studio Wildcard first announced it is developing a remaster of the hugely popular Ark: Survival Evolved earlier this year. However, other than some changes to its original, and controversial, release plans, not much details about the project had been revealed, until now. Today during the Xbox Partner Preview Showcase, the studio showed off the Unreal Engine 5-powered remaster, and gave some more details about the experience.
Watch the debut gameplay trailer below, which gives a look at the massively upgraded environments, dinosaurs, base building, and battles, that the ARK: Survival Ascended remaster will offer.
The remaster will feature modding on console platforms for the first time. PC players will be able to create mods using the new Ark Devkit via the Epic Games Launcher. They can then upload them to the in-game CurseForge mod browser for sharing.
"The DevKit provides mod creators the capability to use the full power of Unreal Engine 5, including Blueprint, to create essentially anything, any kind of new content or gameplay," says the studio. Aside from depending on the community for mods, Studio Wildcard is partnering with third-party studios and developers to bring cross-over content to Survival Ascended, aiming to make it the "ultimate gaming modding ecosystem."
Moreover, Survival Ascended will be leveraging Unreal Engine 5-exclusive tech for upgraded visuals. This includes Lumen for much richer global illumination that changes dynamically, Nanite for highly-detailed dinosaurs and environmental assets, the Chaos real-time destruction system, and Instanced Rendering for keeping frame rates intact even in giant player-made bases.
The studio is also promising a brand-new and fully customizable user interface, letting players make it as minimalist or content-packed as they want. Expect upgrades to the third-person camera, intelligent creature pathfinding, a map with world pings, new character customizations, split-screen multiplayer, and more features when the title drops onto PC and consoles soon.
Unfortunately, Studio Wildcard did not have a firm release date for ARK: Survival Ascended"s console version, with only a "coming soon" still being attached to the project. The title is coming to PC today, October 25, in Steam early access, and it will include all previously released DLC and maps for the original game as part of the package.