ARK: Survival Evolved

ARK: Survival Evolved is a survival sandbox from Studio Wildcard. After waking up on a strange island with no gear, your first priorities are food, water, shelter from the weather and dangerous creatures. Later you build permanent bases, specialised tools, advanced technology and entire tribes.

Its defining feature is tamable dinosaurs and other creatures: they serve as mounts, transport helpers, fighters or breeding animals. The game world combines free exploration and base building with survival systems, bosses and a science-fiction story that unfolds gradually.

The PC version launched on June 2, 2015 on Steam in Early Access. For Xbox One, an explicitly unfinished Game Preview version followed on December 16, 2015, while ARK was already listed on the German PlayStation Store for PS4 on December 5, 2016 (the US press release came out on December 6). The full release took place at the end of August 2017. Steam lists August 27, while the developer communication at the time gave August 29 as the official launch.

The standalone Nintendo Switch version arrived on November 30, 2018. In 2022 it received a technically reworked version by Grove Street Games. An early console launch should not be confused with the release date of the finished PC version.

The native base game versions linked here are PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. The PC history includes Windows as well as older macOS and Linux versions; actual usability depends on operating system, store and current client. Steam explicitly warns that its older Mac version is incompatible with macOS Catalina 10.15 or newer.

PlayStation presents the PS4 game as playable on PS5 too. Nintendo lists the Switch game as compatible with Switch 2. Both are backward compatibility, not proof of a separate native PS5 or Switch 2 version of Survival Evolved. ARK: Survival Ascended is a different product and is listed separately. The original mobile versions are also not evidence of a current, identical iOS/Android version.

At the start there are tools made from simple materials and the search for safe water and food. Wood, stone and later materials are used to build shelters, defenses and large bases. Character stats, equipment and researchable blueprints open up new possibilities over time.

Taming changes the rhythm of play: wild animals are overpowered or obtained in other species-specific ways, cared for and then deployed. Reproduction and inheritance enable targeted breeding. Different biomes, caves, artifacts and boss encounters give the otherwise open sandbox longer-term goals.

The main game was expanded with large regions featuring their own creatures and systems. Scorched Earth leads into a hot desert, Aberration into a dangerous underground ecosystem and Extinction to a devastated Earth. The original Survival Evolved Season Pass bundles these three expansions. Later, the Genesis Season Pass added further campaign content in Genesis Part 1 and Part 2.

Additional free maps appeared too, such as The Center, Ragnarok, Valguero, Crystal Isles, Lost Island and Fjordur. Content and availability partly differ by platform and edition. A DLC, Season Pass or the Ultimate Survivor Edition is not the same product as the base game license alone.

Steam lists at least an Intel Core i5-2400 or AMD FX-8320, 8 GB RAM, a GeForce GTX 670 with 2 GB or Radeon HD 7870 with 2 GB, DirectX 10 and 60 GB free storage for the older Windows version. Multiplayer requires a broadband connection. Larger maps, mods and DLC can significantly increase the actual storage requirement.

The store listings show historical Windows versions from 7 onward, but the current Steam client has required at least Windows 10 since 2024. An old game system entry is therefore not a recommendation to use Windows 7 or 8.1 today. For macOS, Steam also notes that its old version is incompatible with Catalina 10.15 and newer.

ARK can be played alone, cooperatively on privately run worlds or in competitive PvP. On persistent servers, things keep running even when a player is logged out. Tribes share tasks such as resource gathering, breeding, base building and defense.

Choosing the server is crucial: private and unofficial worlds set their own rules and are not automatically compatible across PC, PlayStation, Xbox and Switch. Cross-platform play between all versions is therefore not guaranteed. Single-player mode must be distinguished from operating an official online network.

The end of the original official servers does not mean ARK: Survival Evolved was fully shut down. Studio Wildcard ended the original official PC/console network in 2023 in connection with the launch of the technically standalone ARK: Survival Ascended. Local worlds, player-run servers and the Steam Workshop on PC remained usable.

For Nintendo Switch, Studio Wildcard announced that the official servers for Survival Evolved and Ultimate Survivor Edition will shut down on August 31, 2026. The studio explicitly stated that single player and unofficial Switch servers will remain playable afterwards. If you're looking for multiplayer today, you need to look specifically for a suitable private server for your version and should not expect the former official worlds.

On PC, the Steam version supports community mods via the Steam Workshop. They range from minor quality-of-life tweaks and additional items and creatures to fundamental changes to gameplay. You can also adjust server settings and rules to the desired PvE or PvP style.

Workshop mods for the original Steam version are not automatically compatible with console versions or with the standalone successor ARK: Survival Ascended. The shutdown of official servers announced in 2023 explicitly left mod use and privately run servers in place.

Studio Wildcard led development of ARK: Survival Evolved, supported by Instinct Games, Efecto Studios and Virtual Basement, among others. On Steam, Studio Wildcard and Snail Games USA are listed as publishers. The PlayStation and Nintendo store pages list separate distribution details for their versions.

The later-released ARK: Survival Ascended is not a mere store edition of Survival Evolved, but a separate remake with newer technology, its own server network and a standalone product purchase. Releases, DLC content and server status of the two games must therefore be assessed separately.

Steam lists German as a supported interface and voice-over for the PC version, Nintendo lists German for the Switch version. The PC version also documents full controller support, Steam achievements and Workshop features. Localization and feature lists of individual stores do not automatically apply to every platform.