Ark 2 is coming, and with its planned release date approaching fast, we wanted to gather everything we know so far about the dino-packed dive into Arat and its denizens.
Ark: Survival Evolved is widely regarded as one of the best survival games out there and despite being released in 2017, still commands an average player count of over 20,000 in a month, with peaks of over twice that. Just last year the then-six-year-old game was in the top 50 games sold in Japan. To say that excitement for the sequel is high would be an understatement.
When is Ark 2 being released?
Players have been waiting for a long time for the game – it was announced at the Game Awards in 2020 to much fanfare with a cinematic trailer that had people hyped for the planned release date of 2022.
However, after two years of no further news, the development team Studio Wildcard pushed the release to 2023, and then took the tricky decision to push it back even further.
Currently, the planned release window for early access is late 2024. This was confirmed to still be the plan in late 2023 by Jim Tsai, the CEO of Snail Games, a studio supporting Studio Wildcard on the development of Ark 2, when he spoke at a business conference.
Given that it is currently August 2024 and new info from the developers is thin on the ground, there’s a chance of a further delay, but we remain hopeful.
There was some excitement that we’d finally get a look at some gameplay at GamesCom after it was listed as a playable game by an official Xbox post. However, it was later edited to remove it with a note saying “Editor’s Note: ARK 2 was originally listed as playable on the Xbox booth – this mention was made in error, and has been removed,” which is not very reassuring.
What platforms will Ark 2 be on?
According to Studio Wildcard, when Ark 2 is finally released, it will be on PC, Xbox, and GamePass. We don’t know yet whether it will be a day-one GamePass release or if it will come later to the subscription service.
We also don’t know if it will remain an Xbox exclusive for a long time, or if it will see PlayStation or Switch releases relatively quickly.
Ark 2 will star Vin Diesel
Yes, that Vin Diesel. It turns out he’s quite the fan of Ark: Survival Evolved, having racked up thousands of hours in the dinosaur survival title, according to a press release issued by Studio Wildcard.
As well as playing the hero in the game’s main story plot, Santiago, a clone of the player character from the first game, Diesel will be taking on the role of Executive Producer and “President of Creative Convergence”, whatever that means.
It does seem to be the case that Diesel is passionate and invested in the game, having earned shoutouts on social media by the developers for reporting bugs in the game.
.@vindiesel reported this btw
https://t.co/5DWZDe2W6e
— ARK: Survival Ascended (@survivetheark) December 11, 2020
“An immensely talented actor and producer, Vin is also an accomplished gamer who has played 1000s of hours of ARK: Survival Evolved,” said Doug Kennedy, CEO of Studio Wildcard in the press release which was issued the day after the Game Awards announcements of Ark 2.
“He understands the game intimately and is providing direct feedback to the development process. With last night’s reveal of the ARK sequel and animated TV series, Vin will be involved with each as we look to expand the ARK franchise even further, now and into the future.”
Ark 2 gameplay
Studio Wildcard is holding its cards close to its chest and hasn’t released any footage or even a whiff of a demo for Ark 2, so we’re going purely on what they’ve said in various releases and interviews. Even the in-engine trailer from 2022 doesn’t show any gameplay.
While the original plan was a “more of the same” kind of sequel, reprising the sandbox open-world survival gameplay of Ark: Survival Evolved, it seems that some changes have been made as the game has gone through the development process.
In the same update where Studio Wildcard announced the latest delay to Ark 2, they talked about how some of the reasoning behind that was wanting to ensure they got it right because it is quite a departure from the prior game.
Players can expect “Souls-like combat, primitive-only weaponry, and strict third-person mechanics – and an overall ‘very serious’ tone” from Ark 2.
This means that the combat is likely to receive an increased focus compared to the first game. Souls-like combat is not for the faint of heart and will require a lot of practice for anyone unfamiliar with the style. Expect locking-on and dodge-rolling to become a part of your life.
How much is Ark 2?
This is one area where we have absolutely nothing to go on from Studio Wildcard or Microsoft.
The plan is to launch Ark 2 in early access, so it probably won’t cost as much as a brand-new triple-A title, but it’s still going to be a huge game with celebrity involvement.
The next-gen version of the first game, Ark: Survival Ascended, is still in early access presently and will set you back $45. It’s very unlikely that Ark 2 will cost less than that on launch, so we’d estimate that it will be around $50 at least, possibly as much as $60.
If you know you’re going to want to play the game, getting it during early access could be a way to save some money as games’ prices usually increase when they receive a full launch.
We also don’t know yet if it will be a day one GamePass game. Subscribers to the Xbox service may be able to play Ark 2 on launch day if they have a GamePass Ultimate. Until we learn more, this is all speculation.
Featured image credit: Studio Wildcard
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