Ark Survival Ascended, the controversial Unreal Engine 5 remaster of the beloved dinosaur survival game, finally has a date for its long-awaited Scorched Earth DLC, and it’s coming a touch later than initially suggested. While you’ll be waiting a bit more to get into the unforgiving desert, it will see the addition of a Wild West style Frontier Adventure pack, which includes cowboy gear and even buildable trains, so you can live out your ‘Red Dead Redemption 2 but with dinosaurs’ fantasy in the glorious UE5 open world.
Ark: Survival Ascended still has its community split. The Unreal Engine 5 overhaul to the popular multiplayer survival game has wowed with its impressive visuals, but many players remain unconvinced, with its Steam score still a ‘mixed’ 59% and negative user reviews citing the need to rebuy the game, crashes, server instability, and the fact that it’s caused a soft reset of the game’s early access, meaning we’re once again waiting for all the DLC packs to release in the new version.
The first major update of these to arrive is Scorched Earth, the first paid DLC for Ark: Survival Evolved, which originally launched in September 2016. While developer Studio Wildcard had been planning to hit a March 2024 launch for the remake’s release, it seems that will no longer be the case – now, the Ark: Survival Ascended Scorched Earth release date is Monday, April 1, 2024.
As mentioned, when the new desert biome arrives, you’ll also have the option to buy a new DLC bundle, the Frontier Adventure pack. This Wild West collection is “a treasure trove of desert-themed goodies that’ll make you the envy of any wasteland wanderer,” and will include a selection of cowboy outfits and accessories, along with the ability to build trains and lay tracks across the desert.
If you can’t wait until then, there’s more coming to Survival Ascended in the near future. New creature the Gigantoraptor, the winner of the fifth creature vote back in June 2023, is set to arrive alongside new map The Center, another returning location from the previous game. A user-created custom map that was integrated as official free DLC, it’s a diverse spread of jungles, ice peaks, and crystalline caverns, and arrives in the dinosaur game at “the end of February.”
In its latest community crunch, Studio Wildcard also says the team hears players “loud and clear” on server performance. It says it’s “relentlessly optimizing the server infrastructure to ensure silky smooth gameplay,” and that server transfers on official servers will be enabled on Wednesday, January 24. The team is also “actively battling exploits and hacks with a vengeance, deploying new detection and prevention measures at a frequent and regular cadence.”
If you’re looking for somewhere new to play, we’ve rounded up the best Ark servers in 2024, along with the best Ark Survival Ascended mods to get the most out of your time playing.
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