Publisher Snail and developer Studio Wildcard have announced ARK: Lost Colony. It is the first major expansion of ARK: Survival Ascended. The expansion will launch sometime in November and will cost $30. The expansion will feature Michelle Yeoh as Mei Yin and will have several cinematic anime sequences by Japanese studio MAPPA (Attack on Titan). A teaser trailer was also released. ARK: Survival Ascended is available now in Early Access for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC via Steam.
The expansion’s details:
Confront the demons of Arat Prime—birthplace of the ARKs—in ARK: Survival Ascended‘s first massive canonical expansion pack, ARK: Lost Colony! Starring Michelle Yeoh as Mei Yin in cinematic anime sequences by legendary Japanese studio MAPPA, the epic new story of ARK: Lost Colony bridges the gap from ARK: Extinction to ARK: Genesis and into the world of ARK II. As you follow in Mei Yin’s footsteps through an intense journey into the heart of darkness, you’ll unlock powerful “Lost” character ability trees, befriend exotic tames, craft “Cursed” tiers of gear, and master advanced new building systems!
But beware, the frozen wastes of Arat Prime are not devoid of intelligent life; on the contrary, the city has become a war-torn battleground between twisted Element-powered ‘factions’ seeking to undo what was accomplished at the end of ARK: Extinction. Together with generations of heroes, you’ll unite the past and the future of ARK!
The game’s details via the publisher:
Xbox Series X/S and Windows:
As we get closer to the launch, we’ll share more information on precisely when it should be available for you to download. The Xbox version will be up-to-spec with the latest PC functionality as of Nov 14, and will launch directly into crossplay with the PC version (along with new servers, including Xbox-only servers).
PlayStation:
We’re hoping to have a more precise date to share with you soon as we’re currently finalizing this with Sony, but it is slated for the end of November. We know this isn’t ideal, but we’re optimistic we’ll be able to share a date very soon!
Following the PC launch and the information and data we’ve gathered, we’ve decided to make some changes to our plans for the console launch. Here’s how everything is going to shake up:
Xbox Launch
Cross-platform with Steam will be enabled Day One.
We’ll be onlining a new set of Official Servers for the respective game modes (PVP, PVE, and Small Tribes). These servers will be running boosted rates for a period of time to allow players starting on them to catch up. Our hope is to synchronize the rates by mid-December.
We’ll also be onlining our first set of console-specific servers at this moment so that players who do not want to play on crossplay can play on those
PlayStation Launch
Cross-platform with Steam and Xbox will be enabled Day One
We’ll be onlining another new set of Official Servers for the respective game modes (PVP, PVE, and Small Tribes). These servers will be running with even higher boosted rates for a period of time to allow players starting on them to catch up. Our hope is to synchronize the rates by mid-December.
We’ll also be onlining an additional set of console-specific servers with higher rates that will get synchronized by mid-December
Of course, there have been a few bumps along the way, and we’re working hard to address any issues that players are reporting. We’ve put out a record number of patches this week, but the patches can be summarized as
Bug fixes: We’ve fixed a number of bugs, including server crashes, dino spawn issues, and mesh exploits.
Performance improvements: We’ve made a number of performance improvements, including optimizing the dynamic navmesh system, server code (80%+ reduction in out-of-memory issues), and foliage. We’re also pleased to announce that we’ve significantly reduced server RAM usage. This should improve the player experience and help make servers more accessible for everyone
Security improvements: We’ve added client-side protections to prevent players from listing unofficial servers as fake officials, and we’ve fixed a number of exploits.
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