ARK’s second attempt at a Switch port looks much better than the first

ARK: Survival Evolved was first ported to the Nintendo Switch all the way back in 2018. Unfortunately, the port was neither performant nor pretty, making for a highly sub-standard experience. In an unexpected move, it was later announced that the Switch would be getting a brand new port of the same game – the first footage of which has now been released.

Publishing a video on YouTube, 6 minutes of ARK gameplay running on Nintendo Switch’s handheld mode has been released, and while no in-depth specifications have been detailed, the footage itself clearly looks much improved when compared to the original port.

Following the initial announcement of this port, Studio Wildcard co-founder and co-creative director Jesse Rapczak said “Overhauling the gameplay for ARK on Switch has been on our radar for a while and we’re happy to have found a talented team who can help us realize that vision.”

That team is now confirmed to be Grove Street Games, the studio behind the greatly controversial GTA Trilogy: The Definitive Edition. Of course, the issues with the GTA Trilogy goes much deeper than simply the studio behind it.

With ARK: Ultimate Survivor Edition being a from-the-ground-up port, hopefully Grove Street Games were given the time, budget and technology necessary to make a competent Switch port – and from what we have seen so far, this seems to be the case.

The original Switch version of ARK was practically unplayable with resolutions dropping as low as 170p with frame rates below 20fps at times. What we have seen of this new port already looks much improved, and so hopefully come its release in September, Switch owners will have a competent port of ARK Survival Evolved.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of this new port so far? Does it look better than the original release in your opinion? Could this upcoming port redeem Grove Street Games in your eyes? Let us know your thoughts down below.

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