Evolve, Revise, Delay, Ascend
It’s messy work this game development gig this is. Studio Wildcard is in the process of upgrading Ark: Survival Evolved to Ark: Survival Ascended. They are having a tougher time than they thought bringing the game to the most recent Unreal Engine, but that is not their only problem.
Studio Wildcard also has to contend with the wild world of marketing. Ark: Survival Ascended will cost players money even if they already own Survival Evolved. At first, the only way to buy Ark II on PC or Xbox was to by it bundled with Survival Ascended.
That did not sit very well with fans, since they had no way of verifying the quality of Ark II. Not long after the initial announcement, Studio Wildcard cancelled the bundle, allowing fans to buy Survival Ascended on its own. However, that meant it would be more expensive to buy separately.
Here we are a few months later and we are still trying to find the best solution for all parties. First, Ark: Survival Ascended has been delayed to October. Survival Evolved was meant to go transition to Survival Ascended in August, but that has been pushed back.
Secondly, the price of the upgrade has changed. It was a full $60, but now the Early Access base price will be $45. If you buy it at launch, it will be discounted to $40. I suppose this is good news? No matter how you slice it, if you bought Survival Evolved, you are still paying for a game that you kind of own.
Ark: Survival Ascended is now expected to come out in October. It will be available for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.
Will you be buying Ark again? Let us know in the comments below.