If you’re a fan of ARK: Survival Evolved and have spent countless hours playing it, then you’ll be excited to know that you can now start playing ARK: Survival Ascended on your Xbox Series X/S consoles. Today, Studio Wildcard released ARK: Survival Ascended (ASA) – a next-generation remake of the popular game ARK: Survival Evolved – on both Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC platforms.
I am excited to see the advancements made in ARK: Survival Ascended on the Unreal Engine 5. With the new update, players can now create tribes together online across various gaming platforms and collaborate to survive and thrive on ARK. Additionally, ARK mods created on PC can now be used on the Xbox Series X/S, providing a new way for mod makers to showcase their creations and offer a unique experience to console gamers.
Check out the ARK: Survival Evolved spotlight trailer showcasing some of the cross-platform mods now available on Xbox Series X/S below.
As I have mentioned previously, I have invested a considerable amount of time in playing the original ARK game. After looking at the screenshots of the Next Generation, I cannot deny that I am looking forward to playing it with my friends for a long time. The island in the game is vast, and there is so much to explore and discover, making every adventure within ARK unique from the previous one. You can take a look at some of the screenshots from the game I have included in this article below.
If that wasn’t enough, this new version of the game offers a plethora of new features. Here is a comprehensive list for you to explore.
NEW FEATURES INCLUDE:
- Unreal Engine 5 Delivers:
- Nanite mesh rendering allows incredibly high-detail assets directly within the game, which gets scaled and streamed onto the graphics processor in real-time, tremendously increasing the visual fidelity of ASA. This delivers more environmental details, including realistic rocky textures, accurate tree patterning, and flourishing fauna.
- With fully dynamic “Lumen”, light now bounces realistically off of hundreds of millions of triangles for extreme detail.
- Chaos, a physics destruction system, simulates large-scale destruction in real-time. Blasting a base with a rocket launcher has never looked more realistic!
- Building Revamp: ASA has revamped building systems so players can construct the bases of their dreams with over 15 new structures, from tilesets to decor to gameplay-enhancing TEK Teleporters, combined with QOL improvements like structure snappoint improvements, raising/lowering foundations, to provide players with a lot more choice and reliability when constructing their bases!
- Ascended Physics System: Dynamic water so every creature creates waves, ripples, splashes, and bubbles as they move through fluids, and fully interactive physical foliage where every blade of grass, bush, and tree reacts to characters, explosions, projectiles, and physics objects. Knock down a tree and see it crash into other trees and disturb foliage on its way down to smacking into the grass below it! Demolish a building and watch the pieces break apart realistically, interacting with the grass and water as they fall.
- Extensive QOL and Gameplay Improvements: Thorough Quality of Life revamps in every area: redesigned User Interfaces, dynamic navigation for intelligent creature pathfinding, new Camera and Map systems, Dino Tracking System, Wild babies, added Structures and Items, and much more.
- Cross-Platform Modding: Download and play new custom content created by players, including new maps, creatures, items, and game modes, through a dedicated Mod-browser found directly within the game! Enjoy an endless stream of ARK content as the creativity and talent of the community are fully unleashed for the first time ever across gaming platforms! Through Overwolf’s CurseForge platform, mod authors are already building out exciting new content for ARK’s fanbase, including more dinosaurs, structures and weapons, while game developers such as Blue Isle Studios and Skymap Games are creating DLC-level Premium Mods.
- Cross-Platform Multiplayer: Form online tribes across different gaming platforms and work together to survive and thrive on the ARK!
- Multiplayer Options: Supports public online multiplayer for up to 70 players, private-session multiplayer for up to 8 players, and local split-screen for 2 or 4 players.
- Photo Mode: Use the built-in capabilities to share epic screenshots and thumbnails with friends. With a deep dropdown menu of settings, you can get the perfect shots of your favorite dino, put on your director’s hat, and start filming the ARK movies you envisioned!
ARK: Survival Ascended is now available on Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC for $44.99 and is also available on Steam. The PlayStation 5 version is scheduled to release in early December.
For the latest updates, join the ARK Survivor’s conversation on Discord, follow the team on Twitter, like them on Facebook, subscribe to developers on YouTube, you can also visit the website at playark.com and watch them tame ‘n train leviathan dinosaurs on Twitch.TV.
