The Great Ark: Survival Evolved Uproar: New Upgrades Cost $60

The news that Studio Wildcard, the developers behind Ark: Survival Evolved, had announced a $50 bundle for the Unreal Engine 5 upgrade of the game came as a shock to many players, who had been expecting it to be free as originally promoted. After the uproar from the community, Studio Wildcard has now revised its plan, offering the upgrade as a standalone package with several DLC upgrades included, all at the price of $60.

The studio's position is that Ark: Survival Ascended is far from just a graphical upgrade from the Switch version. It will include new creatures, items, structures, and other content not previously seen in the original game, as well as extra features such as a photo mode and Nvidia DLSS support. Additionally, the upgraded version includes the benefit of dynamic navigation mesh and creature pathfinding overhaul, Wild Baby dinos, Snap point improvements, character creation and customization improvements, and cross-platform multiplayer with full Blueprint modding capabilities.

It appears that Studio Wildcard's decision to offer the upgrade as a paid package instead of free is a matter of practicality. With the introduction of major changes and a new version of the game, the old save data would be invalidated, and it would take significant resources and time to maintain and operate the old version of the game. This is why they have decided to shut down the official servers of Ark: Survival Evolved on August 31, shortly before the launch of Ark: Survival Ascended.

Though the revised plan from Studio Wildcard is likely to have been welcomed by some fans, many are still likely to be disappointed that the upgrade isn't free as first advertised. It's hard to deny that this is an increase of $10, and even though it does include a lot of content, some may still see it as an attempt to cash in on a game that has been out for five years.

Ultimately, the pricing of the upgrade is a tough decision for Studio Wildcard, as it has to balance the resources and expectations of the players. It remains to be seen whether the $60 package will be enough to appease fans, but with the official servers due to be shut down soon, the time to make a decision is running out.