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. We learned that “ARK: Survival Ascended is designed for next-gen consoles and has no upgrade path available.”
Original article: ARK: Survival Evolved will be discontinued in August on PS4, and support will switch to a remastered PS5 version called ARK: Survival Ascended, all as part of a complex roadmap for the dinosaur survival series. The re-release will run on Unreal Engine 5 and 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 cost you $39.99, even if you’ve been a gamer for a long time than the original.
In fact, the entire pricing model is a bit messy. As you already know, the following 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 the Microsoft device that includes both ARK: Survival Ascended and its sequel for $49.99. While PS5 owners will pay $10 less in total, it’s best to include the sequel as well. Although it has now been postponed, 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 have to exit last $19.99 for a Genesis card, including two parts of The Genesis Story. Again, absolutely no word on these discount deals for people who already bought them on PS4. We will check with the developer.
To its credit, the Remaster has some nice improvements, such as dynamic weather, interactive foliage, and cross-platform multiplayer. The studio also brings a host of gameplay and user interface improvements. That sounds good, but we struggle with the idea of a developer locking up the original version of a game and then asking fans to buy it back for a new console. This does not suit us at all!
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