ARK: Survival Evolved takes back promise of free Unreal Engine 5 upgrade

Back in January Studio Wildcard revealed that the team is working on a remaster of ARK: Survival Evolved which was stated to be a “complete free upgrade/remaster”. Now, the team have officially detailed the remaster – but unlike what was promised, the upgrade will in fact cost more than a brand new game.

Making the announcement on their blog, Studio Wildcard officially unveiled ARK: Survival Ascended – “a next-generation remaster of our beloved ARK: Survival Evolved, harnessing the power of Unreal Engine 5”. The game is in the works for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S and is planned for release by the end of August 2023.

While initially an exciting concept, this upgrade will unfortunately cost users $40, and that only includes the base game, Survival of the Fittest and the non-canon DLC maps. Those wanting the full ARK experience will need to cough up a further $40 for the game’s two expansion packs, meaning that all-in-all those wanting to upgrade to UE5 will need to spend more than the price of a brand new game to do so.

What’s more, come the launch of this UE5 release, all official servers of the original release of ARK will be shut down. The one saving grace comes in the fact that players will still be able to host their own unofficial servers and will also be able to play solo with no issues.

Still, the way in which current ARK players are having their hands forced is not fun – especially since the upgrade was previously claimed to be free. The full details surrounding the upgrade including all its features and more can be found HERE, but for $80 it is certainly a tough sell.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of this latest announcement? Will you be paying the premium for this upgrade? Let us know down below.

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