Fight, tame, survive – ARK: Survival Ascended releases on Xbox!

It’s a big day for the dinosaur loving gaming community as we get the chance to respawn into a brave new world, all thanks to the release of ARK: Survival Ascended on Xbox. 

Some six years after ARK: Survival Evolved released in full on Xbox, comes the next iteration in the franchise. And ARK: Survival Ascended looks to be the absolute bomb. That’s what happens when you create something in Unreal Engine 5. 

A reimagined ARK experience

Available right now across Xbox Series X|S and PC is ARK: Survival Ascended. It’s priced at £37.49 from the Xbox Store and a download will drop you straight into a dinosaur survival experience like no other. Taking the best bits of Survival Evolved, ARK: Survival Ascended will give you the tools to crack right on, wandering the world, attempting to survive by whatever means are necessary. 

Reimagined from the ground up, there’s an absolute ton going on in ARK: Survival Ascended as Studio Wildcard look to go all-in. With full access to all previous ARK lands, you’ll now get to enjoy them with new physics, better mechanics, quality-of-life improvements and more dinosaurs than you can shake a stick at. And judging by how we found life in ARK: Survival Evolved, stick shaking is about all we’re good for. 

Throw in some cross-platform mods and multiplayer play, and we’d think that ARK: Survival Ascended launches on Xbox and PC with huge excitement from many. And if you’re not excited, just check out the list of key features showing on the Xbox Store page…

Features include

• ARK: Survival Ascended has completely recreated and redesigned the artwork and worlds of ARK to take advantage of the latest in videogame technology, Unreal Engine 5, using high-end graphics features such as fully dynamic Global Illumination (“Lumen”), so that light bounces realistically of off surfaces and provides realistic reflections, and advanced mesh streaming (“Nanite”) of hundreds of millions of triangles for extreme detail.
• Advanced new physics systems such as dynamic water so that 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 all the foliage on its way down to smacking into the grass below! Detect an enemy moving sneakily through the grass as it shifts and sways in response to their presence. Demolish a building and watch the pieces break apart realistically, interacting with the grass and water as they fall.
• ARK: Survival Ascended includes access to all of ARK’s worlds, including Scorched Earth, Aberration, Extinction, ARK Genesis Part 1, ARK Genesis Part 2, and more. The Island is released now, with the subsequent expansion worlds to be added at no additional cost on a regular basis.
• The definitive survival experience returns better than ever: design your Survivor, form a tribe, and tame, train, breed & ride dinosaurs within a living ecosystem. Watch your food, water, temperature, and weather patterns. Slowly expand outwards as you harvest, build structures, farm crops, customize your visual designs, and proceed to explore to uncover the true nature of The Island and the worlds beyond.
• Thorough Quality of Life revamps in every area: redesigned User Interfaces, dynamic navigation for intelligent creature pathfinding, Wild Babies, Photo Mode, new Camera systems, new Map system, Tracking System, new Structures and Items, new Creatures, and much more.
• Cross-Platform Modding: Download & play new custom content created by players, including new maps, creatures, items, and game modes, through a dedicated new Mod-bowser directly within the game! Enjoy an endless stream of new ARK content as the creativity and talent of the community is fully unleashed for the first time ever across gaming platforms!
• Cross-Platform Multiplayer: form your online tribe across different gaming platforms as you work together to survive and thrive on the ARK!
• Supports public online multiplayer for up to 70 players, private-session multiplayer for up to 8 players, and local split-screen for 2 players.

Buy now!

ARK: Survival Ascended can be purchased and downloaded right now from the Xbox Store. From there, play it on Xbox Series X|S or PC. This one is not available on Xbox One though. 

Stick around for a review. 

ARK: Survival Ascended Game Description

Respawn into a new dinosaur survival experience beyond your wildest dreams… as ARK is reimagined from the ground-up into the next-generation of videogame technology with Unreal Engine 5! You awake on a mysterious island, your senses overwhelmed by the blinding sunlight and brilliant colors bouncing off every surface around you, the azure waters of a verdant Island lapping at your bare feet. A deep roar echoes from the misty jungle, jolting you into action, and you stand up – not afraid, but intrigued. Are you ready to form a tribe, tame and breed hundreds of species of dinosaurs and other primeval creatures, explore, craft, build, and fight your way to the top of the food-chain? Your new world awaits… step through the looking-glass and join it!