The planned shutdown of the original release is also delayed.
Screenshot from the survival game with dinosaurs, Ark: Survival Evolved.

Plans for Ark: Survival Ascended are once again getting changed. The remastered version of the survival game with dinosaurs, Ark: Survival Evolved, now has a slightly different price, changed plans for the remastered expansions, and is now coming out in October instead of a "late summer" release. This new update comes months after Studio Wildcard faced a lot of backlash for their weird release decisions involving Ark: Survival Ascended and Ark 2.

First off, the planned shutdown date for Ark: Survival Evolved servers slipped from August to September 30th. Those of you who have no plans to spend more money on the game now have a fair bit of extra time to enjoy this original release on official servers.

The Unreal Engine 5 powered remake, Ark: Survival Ascended, also had its planned price changed once again! The remake went from being a free upgrade, to being bundled with Ark 2 for $50, to then being pulled from a bundle with Ark 2 and priced at $60 but with some planned remade expansions.

Now, the plan is to release Ark: Survival Ascended for a price of $45, with a launch discount that brings the price down to about $40. Studio Wildcard plans to keep Ark: Survival Ascended listed as an Early Access release until late 2024. By that time, the entire suite of planned remade content will be out. Studio Wildcard says that the Scorched Earth expansion will be out in December 2023, a shift from the original plan to have it released alongside Ark: Survival Ascended. The other expansions, Ragnarok and Aberration, will hopefully be out early in 2024.

As for Ark 2, the release date is still up in the air for that Vin Diesel powered sequel. It is expected to be out before the end of 2024, but no release date has been announced. We haven't seen much from that sequel since its reveal nor have we seen anything yet for Ark: Survival Ascended.

Hopefully this ends up being the last time Studio Wildcard changes something with Ark: Survival Ascended. If not, we'll see you in a couple of months for another update article.