Ark: Survival Evolved

Ark: Survival Evolved
Developer(s) Studio Wildcard
Publisher(s) Studio Wildcard
Director(s)
  • Jesse Rapczak
  • Jeremy Stieglitz
Producer(s)
  • Navin Supphapholsiri
  • Dave Loyd
Designer(s) Kayd Hendricks
Composer(s) Gareth Coker
Engine Unreal Engine 4
Platform(s)

Release August 29, 2017
Genre(s) Action-adventure, survival
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Ark: Survival Evolved (stylized as ARK) is an action-adventure survival video game in development by Studio Wildcard in collaboration with Instinct Games, Efecto Studios, and Virtual Basement. It is scheduled to be released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, OS X and Linux in August 2017. In the game, players must survive being stranded on an island filled with roaming dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals, natural hazards, and potentially hostile human players.

The game is played from either a third-person or first-person perspective and its open world is navigated on foot or by riding a prehistoric animal. Players can use firearms and improvised weapons to defend against hostile humans and creatures, with the ability to build bases as defense. The game has both single-player and multiplayer options.

Development began in October 2014. The development team conducted research into the physical appearance of the animals, but took creative license for gameplay purposes. One of the game modes, Survival of the Fittest, was released as a free standalone game in March 2016. Egypt-based developer Instinct Games was hired to facilitate the game's development. Several expansions to the game have also been released as downloadable content: The Center, Primitive Plus, Scorched Earth, and Ragnarok.

Gameplay

Ark: Survival Evolved is an action-adventure survival game set in an open world environment and played either from a third-person or first-person perspective. To survive, players must establish a base, with a fire and weapons; additional activities, such as taming and feeding dinosaurs, require more resources.[1] The game's world, known as the "Ark", is approximately 48 km2 (19 sq mi) in size:[2] there is approximately 36 km2 (14 sq mi) of land with 12 km2 (4.6 sq mi) of ocean.[3]

To build a base, players must gain structure components—such as floors, doors and windows built with the resources littered throughout the world—which are earned as they progress and gain levels. These components can be crafted and placed in the world. Players can create any structure, as long as they have the logistics and resources; the structural integrity of the building is compromised when the pillars and foundations are destroyed.[1] Creating structures out of metal make them the most durable; only titanosaurs and explosives can damage metal structures. Players can also craft items in the game, such as weapons, by collecting the resources and technology required for crafting.[4] In addition, players can craft and attach accessories to their weapons, such as a scope or flashlight for a pistol or machine gun.[5] Should players take damage, their health meter will gradually regenerate if they have consumed the necessary food, or if they craft items that regenerate the health meter at a faster pace.[6]

There are sixty species of dinosaurs in the game.[7] Dinosaurs in the game can be tamed by feeding them food after they have been rendered unconscious, or by using kibble designed especially for each species. Once a dinosaur is tamed, players can utilize the dinosaur's abilities, such as flight or fast underwater movement, as well as its statistics, such as speed, health and damage.[1] When riding atop certain creatures, players can use their weapons. With the larger dinosaurs, other players can ride on the side with full control of their own weapons.[8] They can also be used to carry items, and players can issue offensive and defensive commands to them; for example, a pack of Utahraptors can be assigned to defend the base, or a group of Triceratops can be ordered to attack an enemy's base.[1] The game also features various other animals, such as the dodo, saber-toothed cat, woolly mammoth, Meganeura, Titanomyrma, and Doedicurus.[3] Every creature in the game has living ecosystems and predator hierarchies.[9]

Development

Preliminary work on Ark: Survival Evolved began in October 2014.[10] Studio Wildcard, the Seattle-based team behind the game, co-opted Egypt-based developer Instinct Games to facilitate development.[11] When researching for information about the game's prehistoric species, the development team read "general audience books" and online articles, and sought assistance from friends who studied in the fields in biological sciences.[3] When creating the species and world, the team took creative license for gameplay purposes, although there is an in-game reason that the species have diverged from their historical counterparts.[3]

The team added features to the game that would appeal to all players, as opposed to specifically players of the survival genre, such as the ability to simply explore the island and compete against large bosses, as a reward for uncovering secrets of the island.[12] They also added an end-game for players to strive towards, as they felt that most survival games lack a final goal. They wanted to "provide a depth and scope that allows for the world to not just be a means to an end [...] but also a place to explore", said creative director Jesse Rapczak.[1]

The game, powered by Unreal Engine 4, contains "tens of thousands" of artificial intelligence entities, according to Rapczak.[9] It also features support for virtual reality gameplay; Rapczak, who has almost three years of experience with head-mounted displays, described the game as being designed with VR in mind from the beginning.[9]

The game was initially released through Steam Early Access for Microsoft Windows on June 2, 2015,[7] for Linux and OS X on July 1, 2015,[11] and through the Xbox Game Preview Program for Xbox One on December 16, 2015;[13] a PlayStation 4 version was released on December 6, 2016.[14] The final game will launch in August 2017;[14] it was originally intended for release in June 2016,[11] but was delayed in April.[15] The game will launch with support for Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR,[7] and the Xbox One version will be released via the ID@Xbox program.[11]

On March 16, 2016, the Survival of the Fittest game mode was released in early access as a free standalone game with no microtransactions; it was scheduled to fully launch in mid 2016,[15] but was eventually merged back to the main game as the development team did not wish to monetize on its release, and wanted to ensure that modders can apply the development kit of Survival Evolved to create mods for Survival of the Fittest.[16] There will be various eSports tournaments of the game mode, with a prize pool of US $50,000.[17] Players who played Survival of the Fittest before it was merged back into the main game can continue to play the game without paying an extra cost, while new players must pay before getting access to it. It will be available for every player who purchases the main game.[16][18]

On September 1, 2016, Studio Wildcard released the paid downloadable content (DLC) Scorched Earth. The expansion includes a new, desert map as well as several desert-themed resources and items. It also features ten new creatures, some of which are fictional, like the Wyvern. The release of paid DLC for a game still in early access caused negative reaction among players of the game, resulting in lots of negative reviews on Steam right after the expansion launch.[19]

The game will leave early access on August 29, 2017, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The standard version will be released alongside an "Explorer's Edition", which includes a season pass with three expansions, and the "Collector's Edition", which includes a season pass as well, a necklace, a map, a notebook, a development team poster, a wooden chest packaging, and the game's official soundtrack.[20]

Sales

Within a month of its early access release on Steam, Ark had sold over 1 million digital copies.[21] By August 2016, the game had over 5.5 million sales across both Windows and Xbox, with about 1.5 million from the Xbox One platform.[22]

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Fight for Life in Studio Wildcard's ARK: Survival Evolved". Xbox Wire. Xbox. Microsoft. May 15, 2015. Archived from the original on May 17, 2015. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  2. ↑ Rapczak 2015, 20:20
  3. 1 2 3 4 Karunakaran, Jathiesh (May 12, 2015). "Frequently Asked Questions". Steam. Valve Corporation. Archived from the original on June 3, 2015. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
  4. ↑ Rapczak 2015, 31:31
  5. ↑ Rapczak 2015, 31:51
  6. ↑ Rapczak 2015, 41:02
  7. 1 2 3 "Ark: Survival Evolved – A New Breed of Open-World Dinosaur Adventure is Coming" (Press release). Seattle, Washington: Studio Wildcard. May 11, 2015. Archived from the original on May 18, 2015.
  8. ↑ Rapczak 2015, 36:27
  9. 1 2 3 Rapczak, Jesse (May 11, 2015). "Ride dinosaurs in ARK: Survival Evolved, coming soon to PS4". PlayStation Blog. Sony Computer Entertainment. Archived from the original on June 3, 2015. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
  10. ↑ Rapczak 2015, 7:38
  11. 1 2 3 4 "Ark: Survival Evolved Available Now for Mac and Linux on Steam Early Access" (Press release). Seattle, Washington: Studio Wildcard. July 1, 2015. Archived from the original on July 2, 2015. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
  12. ↑ Rapczak 2015, 38:59
  13. ↑ McCaffrey, Ryan (December 9, 2015). "Ark: Survival Evolved Xbox One Footage and Early Access Details". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on December 9, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
  14. 1 2 Yin-Poole, Wesley (November 30, 2016). "Ark: Survival Evolved finally has a PS4 release date". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on November 30, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
  15. 1 2 Makuch, Eddie (April 22, 2016). "Dino Game Ark Passes New Sales Milestone on Xbox One and PC, Full Release Delayed". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on April 25, 2016. Retrieved April 24, 2016.
  16. 1 2 O'Conner, Alice (August 2, 2016). "Mod Me Up! Ark: Survival Of The Fittest No Longer F2P". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved August 3, 2016.
  17. ↑ Morrison, Angus (March 16, 2016). "Ark: Survival of the Fittest becomes free standalone with cash prizes". PC Gamer. Future plc. Archived from the original on March 16, 2016. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
  18. ↑ Yin-Poole, Wesley (August 3, 2016). "Ark dev folds Survival of the Fittest back into Survival Evolved". Eurogamer. Retrieved August 3, 2016.
  19. ↑ "ARK: Survival Evolved Pounded With Negative Reviews After Releasing Paid Early Access DLC". Game Revolution. September 2, 2016. Retrieved November 3, 2016.
  20. ↑ "Community Crunch 98: Gold Master Edition". survivetheark.com. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  21. ↑ Minotti, Mike (February 10, 2017). "Conan Exiles hits 320,000 sold after one week on Steam Early Access". Venture Beat. Retrieved February 10, 2017.
  22. ↑ Calvin, Alex (August 4, 2016). "Ark: Survival Evolved hits 5.5m on PC and Xbox One". The Market for Computer & Video Games. Retrieved February 10, 2017.

Sources

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