Snail Games USA shared a new trailer for ARK: Aquatica, a new expansion coming to ARK: Survival Ascended. The new trailer is so bad that the main developer on the ARK franchise, Studio Wildcard, pre-emptively distanced itself from the project by informing fans on social media that this expansion is being made only by Snail Games.
The trailer released yesterday by Snail Games utilizes generative AI (gen-AI) for basically the entire duration. Outside of the logos and possibly a few seconds near the start of the trailer, everything was made with gen-AI. Everything from the short snippets of footage to the narrator were done using AI.
The use of generative AI is extremely obvious. The reception to the trailer was so negative that Snail Games briefly delisted the trailer from public view. Not only is it a terrible showcase of terrible gen-AI, but it tells the viewer nothing about the expansion itself. This entire trailer is garbage and the fact that it was not only greenlit but was approved for public viewing is absolutely baffling.
As for Studio Wildcard, they are working on several ARK-related projects themselves. First up is ARK: Survival Ascended, the Unreal Engine 5 remake of ARK: Survival Evolved. Survival Ascended has been categorized as "Early Access" since October 2023. Studio Wildcard is also working on ARK: Lost Colony, a major story expansion for ARK: Survival Ascended that will bridge the gap between ARK and ARK 2.
Of course, ARK 2 is also apparently still in development. ARK 2 was revealed at the 2020 Video Game Awards and shown to star Vin Diesel. ARK 2 was apparently set to be released at some point in 2023 but was delayed into 2024. As it stands here in 2025, ARK 2 has no release date yet.
