Ark 2 has been delayed to 2024. Studio Wildcard announced that its much-hyped sequel to the Ark series which was announced last year, won’t make its debut until late 2024. Ark 2 was announced during the Xbox & Bethesda Showcase in 2022 as an Xbox exclusive starring Vin Diesel. However, no gameplay has been shown off yet.
Unfortunately, the Ark 2 delay isn’t the only bad news to come out of Studio Wildcard. The developers have also announced that the current Ark: Survival Evolved is shutting down on last-gen hardware including the PS4 and Xbox One. Players will still be able to play the game but all official servers will go offline in the months ahead.
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It gets worse. Studio Wildcard is re-releasing Ark: Survival Evolved as a current-gen upgrade for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S called Ark: Survival Ascended but this upgrade is going to cost you $40. You can only buy a special bundle called Ark Respawned for $49 on Xbox which includes the remastered game and Ark 2 for whenever the game is finally released.
If you don’t upgrade to the new Ark: Survival Ascended game, you won’t be able to play the original Ark: Survival Evolved to a certain degree as the servers will go offline at the launch of the remaster. You won’t even be able to play the game through backward compatibility on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S as many gamers have been doing so for a while now.
Studio Wildcard says that save data from Ark: Survival Evolved is being uploaded to the new Ark: Survival Ascended game but players will need to pay the hefty $40 upgrade fee to access it. Players who don’t pay for the upgrade can still play single-player, non-dedicated, player-dedicated and unofficial server content on the original game. However, Ark; Survival Ascended will have its own official networks which aren’t linked to the first game.
If that wasn’t bad enough, Xbox gamers won’t be able to purchase the standalone Ark: Survival Ascended upgrade for $40 when it launches in August 2023. They are forced to spend money on the $49 bundle which includes the remaster and Ark 2 even though the sequel is set to launch on Game Pass in 2024.
Studio Wildcard says:
“So why the delay? Our goal is to make ARK 2 the best game it can be and provide a truly exceptional and rewarding experience for players. Unreal Engine 5 is incredibly new technology to us (and all developers), and we aim to use this cutting-edge tech to its fullest potential while creating a game with never-before-achieved scope at Studio Wildcard. As we learn more about the engine and develop the sequel, we have adapted our workflows and adjusted our pipelines to accommodate this new next-generation paradigm, and because of everything that involves, we need more time for development.”
Source: Studio Wildcard
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