to update: A Studio Wildcard spokesperson has confirmed to us that there will be no upgrade path for existing owners of ARK: Survival Evolved to ARK: Survival Ascended. “ARK: Survival Ascended is designed for next-gen consoles and has no upgrade path available,” we were briefed.
Original article: ARK: Survival Evolved will close in August on PS4, and support will move to a remastered PS5 version called ARK: Survival Ascended, all as part of a complex roadmap for the dino survival series. The re-release will run on Unreal Engine 5, and will include content like The Island and Survival of the Fittest, but oddly enough, it doesn’t look like there will be an upgrade path for existing owners. This means that the new version will set you back $39.99, even if you were an old player of the original.
In fact, the entire pricing model is a mess. As you already know, the sequel ARK II It looks like it will be a console exclusive to Xbox Series X | S, so developer Studio Wildcard is offering a bundle on Microsoft’s device that includes ARK: Survival Ascended and its sequel for $49.99. While PS5 owners will pay $10 less overall, it would probably be nicer to include the sequel as well. Although that is now delayed, to 2024.
Expansion packs will also be sold separately for the remastered edition, so an Explorer pass including Scorched Earth, Aberration, and Extinction will cost $19.99. You will then need to exit last $19.99 for a Genesis card, including two parts of The Genesis Story. Again, absolutely no word on these being offered at a discount to people who already bought them on PS4. We will check with the developer.
To its credit, the Remaster promises some nice meat improvements, such as dynamic weather, interactive foliage, and a multi-platform player. The studio also brings in a host of gameplay and user interface improvements as well. It looks good, but we struggle with the idea of the developer locking up the original version of the game and then asking fans to buy it back for a new console. This does not sit with us at all!
