Ark: Survival Evolved Is Shutting Down and Players Will Have to Buy the Game Again for the Current-Gen Remaster

Ark 2, the sequel to famous dinosaur survival game Ark: Survival Evolved is now delayed to 2024. This announcement was overshadowed by the news that Ark: Survival Ascended, an enhanced remaster of the original game, would be coming to current-gen consoles and that the original version would cease to exist.

Surely, this would come with a free upgrade for existing buyers given that it’s just an engine switch? You’d be mistaken, as the only way to acquire the remastered game is to buy it in a bundle with the currently delayed sequel.

“Xbox Series S/X and PC players will only be able to get it via an ultimate-value bundle known as the ARK Respawned Bundle,” Studio Wild Card said in the announcement. “This bundle includes ownership of both ARK: Survival Ascended AND ARK 2 and will be priced at $49.99.”

It gets even worse, as the same announcement reveals that players will have to repurchase the DLC packs for $19.99 for the remaster instead of just being bundled in. You’d think that a definitive remaster would include all the content, but then again, most remasters don’t sunset the servers for the original game and ask players to shell out another $50 for a game they already own.

Members of the game’s subreddit took the news poorly. Memes criticizing Studio Wild Card’s greed and hoping that the announcement was a delayed April Fool’s joke dominate the discussion.

Funnily enough, the upgrade was initially supposed to be free according to a now deletedtweet from Jeremy Stieglitz, the studio’s founder. But for now, Ark: Survival Evolved players will have to live with the knowledge that the original game will disappear sometime this year.

Ark: Survival Ascended launches sometime this year. Ark 2 will release sometime in 2024.