Ark Developers Backtrack on Controversial Decision

The developers behind the Ark franchise have recently backtracked on their decision to offer Ark: Survival Ascended as part of the Ark 2 bundle for Xbox. Studio Wildcard decided to give up on these plans after receiving rather negative feedback from the Ark: Survival Evolved community.

Ark fans have been in an uproar lately, as Studio Wildcard announced that it would shut down the servers of Ark: Survival Evolved soon, and that players would need to purchase a new upgrade to keep playing. By getting Ark: Survival Ascended, they would be able to play the game in Unreal Engine 5 with several upgraded capabilities, as well as new content. However, this caused a huge backlash, as fans understood that they were being sold the same game twice, and for a hefty price. Ark: Survival Ascended cost $49.99 in the Ark Respawned Bundle for Xbox or $39.99 for PlayStation gamers.

Studio Wildcard decided to cancel the Ark Respawned Bundle after negative feedback from its customer base. According to the company’s recent blog post, Ark: Survival Ascended would be originally offered to Xbox and PC users as part of a bundle that contained Ark 2. The goal was to offer two games for the price of one, but it seems that most fans were displeased as, according to the developers, the customers did not know enough about the currently delayed Ark 2 to buy it just yet.

Now the bundle has been ditched, and players can buy Ark Survival Ascended for $60 on all platforms, essentially paying more money for the same game, and without taking Ark 2 home. Players will get DLC in this package but will have to pay more than before. It’s not a great deal, but the current Ark servers are set to shut down by August 31, so current players have no choice but to purchase the game again in case they still want to keep playing. As seen by the delay of Ark: Ultimate Survivor on Switch last year, and Ark 2 recently, waiting for the sequel may also take a while, too.

So, it seems that the drama surrounding the Ark franchise will keep going on for a while. While Studio Wildcard claims in its updates that it was not trying to mislead players with promises of a free update, the developers’ decisions misunderstand their player base at best. Gamers who simply don’t want to leave Ark: Survival Evolved while they wait to play Ark 2 will lose all official support and access to servers, but they may also keep playing via unofficial player-hosted sessions, at least.

Ark: Survival Evolved is available now for Mobile, PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.