The developers behind theArkfranchise have recently backtracked on their decision to offerArk: Survival Ascendedas part of theArk 2bundle for Xbox. Studio Wildcard decided to give up on these plans after receiving rather negative feedback from theArk: Survival Evolvedcommunity.
Arkfans have been in an uproar lately, as Studio Wildcard announced that it wouldshut down the servers ofArk: Survival Evolvedsoon, and that players would need to purchase a new upgrade to keep playing. By gettingArk: Survival Ascended, they would be able to play the game in Unreal Engine 5 with several upgraded capabilities, as well as new content. However, this caused a huge backlash, as fans understood that they were being sold the same game twice, and for a hefty price.Ark: Survival Ascendedcost $49.99 in theArk Respawned Bundlefor Xbox or $39.99 for PlayStation gamers.
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Studio Wildcard decided to cancel theArk Respawned Bundleafter negative feedback from its customer base. According to the company’s recent blog post,Ark: Survival Ascendedwould be originally offered to Xbox and PC users as part of a bundle that containedArk 2. The goal was to offer two games for the price of one, but it seems that most fans were displeased as, according to the developers, the customers did not know enough aboutthe currently delayedArk 2to buy it just yet.
Now the bundle has been ditched, and players can buyArk Survival Ascendedfor $60 on all platforms, essentially paying more money for the same game, and without takingArk 2home. Players will get DLC in this package but will have to pay more than before. It’s not a great deal, but the currentArkservers are set to shut down by August 31, so current players have no choice but to purchase the game again in case they still want to keep playing. As seen by thedelay ofArk: Ultimate Survivoron Switchlast year, andArk 2recently, waiting for the sequel may also take a while, too.
So, it seems that the drama surrounding theArkfranchise will keep going on for a while. While Studio Wildcard claims in its updates that it was not trying to mislead players with promises of a free update, the developers’ decisions misunderstand their player base at best. Gamers who simply don’t want to leaveArk: Survival Evolvedwhile they wait to playArk 2will lose all official support and access to servers, but they may also keep playing via unofficial player-hosted sessions, at least.
Ark: Survival Evolvedis available now for Mobile, PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
