The tumultuous journey of Ark: Survival Ascended continues. The remaster of the dinosaur survival game was originally scheduled for release in August, but now the release date has been pushed to an unknown day in October.
Developer Wildcard explains the delay by stating that it is “challenging” to work with the Unreal Engine 5.2 game engine, which Ascended is switching to. The shift to UE5 was also cited as the reason for the delay of Ark 2 from 2023 to 2024. At the same time, it is described as “incredibly exciting” to work with.
The delay also brings changes to the pricing. The early access version will cost $45, and around the launch, it will be reduced to $40. For that price, players will get the remaster and a set of add-ons. However, there have been further changes to the plans: at release, only The Island will be included, while Scorched Earth, which was supposed to be included, will now be delayed until December. Other add-ons and maps will be released throughout 2024.
We’ve also decided to separate the release date of The Island and Scorched Earth. With what we’ve learned about remastering The Island from the ground-up, it wouldn’t be feasible to complete Scorched Earth to a standard we’re happy with. So for now, we’re going to plan that Scorched Earth will be coming to ASA in December this year, Ragnarok and Aberration will follow in Q1 2024, and the rest of the maps beyond then.
The old Ark: Survival Evolved servers will be shut down on September 31st.
