What you need to know
- After initially debuting during the Xbox Partner Preview showcase, Ark: Survival Ascended was launched only on Steam due to last-minute Xbox certification issues.
- Studio Wildcard, the developers behind ASA, posted an 11th-hour image last week when the game was delayed for Xbox and Windows PC after failing certification a second time.
- Ark: Survival Ascended will release on Xbox and Windows PC on Tuesday, November 21 at 9 AM PT/12 PM ET.
- Studio WildCard has also revealed that the PlayStation launch window has been delayed until early December.
The console launch troubles for the Ark: Survival Ascended development team at Studio Wildcard may finally end. After multiple last-minute delays caused by "critical issues" in multiplayer and failed Xbox certification attempts, Ark: Survival Ascended will launch on Xbox and Windows PC today, Tuesday, November 21, at 9 AM PT/12 PM ET.
Ark: Survival Ascended was first revealed in April this year as a reconstruction of the famous dinosaur survival game Ark: Survival Evolved. The remake would be built in Unreal Engine 5 and launch with cross-platform support for multiplayer gameplay and mods. News about the game's launch was sporadic until Studio Wildcard shared plans to shut down the official Ark: Survival Evolved servers in preparation for ASA's eventual launch.
On October 16, Studio Wildcard shared that ASA had been submitted for console certification on Xbox and PlayStation. During an Xbox Partner Preview showcase in October, Ark fans finally got their first look at a trailer for the upcoming game, but there was still no mention of a proper release date. To everybody's surprise, Ark: Survival Ascended launched in the middle of the night, seemingly at random, on October 26 to Steam.
Studio Wildcard's leading hook for Ark: Survival Ascended is the game's cross-platform support, which has made the ongoing delays exceptionally problematic. The studio initially planned to turn off cross-play with Steam when ASA hit consoles but later changed this strategy. Instead, Studio Wildcard will offer official servers for consoles that feature temporarily boosted progression so that console players can catch up before moving their characters to cross-platform servers.
Players can expect another delay with the console launch as the official servers for Ark: Survival Ascended on the console will not go online until a few hours after launch. However, players can play single-player and on private save files.
Studio Wildcard has had an ongoing positive relationship with Xbox, with Ark: Survival Evolved and all DLC content for the game continuing to be a part of Xbox Game Pass. The upcoming sequel for Ark, featuring Vin Diesel, was announced during an Xbox showcase and is slated as a Day One addition to Xbox Game Pass. However, there has been no statement from Xbox nor Studio Wildcard about whether Ark: Survival Ascended will be a part of the subscription service.
