The ARK video game series has really fallen from grace. From its terrible remaster, ARK: Ascended, that has been plagued with bugs, poor development support, and a hefty price tag, to the controversial ARK 2, which has been missing in action since its Vin Diesel reveal trailer back in 2023.
Sadly, the series has stumbled once again in ARK: Aquatica, a new DLC announced for the “remastered” ARK: Ascended. The DLC was announced by the co-developer studio of ARK, Snail Games. It has also been entirely created using AI.
If you want to know how “magical” AI is for video games, just watch this trailer. It is just horrible. Everything in the trailer, including the voice-over, has seemingly been slapped together using some sort of AI tool, and it results in the usual AI cliché slop you find all over the internet.
Fans have called out Snail Games for the trailer, saying it is a pathetic attempt to announce the DLC. One comment sums this up perfectly by saying, “The trailer has no real, animated, or in-game footage”.
One comment on the video highlights the clear signs of AI with examples. They say the fish magically phase in and out during one shot, the guy holding the speargun has three hands, the boat is merged with the rocks in one scene, and the swimmer’s feet turn into flippers in another shot.
You can watch the video below. It hasn’t tracked well. At the moment, it is sitting with a 98% dislike ratio. Studio Wildcard, the original studio of the ARK series, has issued a statement saying that this new DLC is being worked on by Snail Games and that they are fully dedicated to the production of ARK: Survival Evolved and ARK 2.
