Ark 2: release date, platforms, gameplay and more

Amidst the plethora of survival games that hit the market after the release of Minecraft, only a few were able to capture the hearts of users, win their love and stay on gaming platforms. Among them were those that had strong and tricky mechanics, lots of content, and a unique approach to the world. Ark: Survival Evolved was in some ways a latecomer, going into early access in 2015 and fully launching in 2017, but the game was a hit from the start. Thanks, of course, to its key feature — dinosaurs.

Survival Evolved’s dinosaurs.

The sequel was not only announced, but it also featured Vin Diesel himself. Seeing him on the back of Tyrex might be enough to convince most people to play this ambitious survival game. But for everyone else who needs a little more information before investing in this prehistoric adventure, here’s some info on the upcoming second installment about Ark 2.

So here’s some information about the upcoming second installment about Ark 2.

Release date

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The release of Ark 2 has been repeatedly delayed, with the latest reports suggesting a late 2024 release.

Platforms

In contrast to Ark: Survival Evolved, Ark 2 will release on consoles and PC at the same time. However, according to Microsoft on its website, Ark 2 will be a console exclusive for the Xbox Series X/S. This means that PlayStation 5 players will not be able to play for some time. That could be as short as three months, as long as six months or even a year. There is no exact information — everything will depend on the terms of the deal. What is known for sure is that the game will only be released for PC and the current generation, so there will not be a version for Xbox One or PS4.

Trailers

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The Ark 2 announcement trailer debuted at the Game Awards in December 2020, revealing a striking and lengthy clip.

An announcement trailer for Ark 2 debuted at the Game Awards in December 2020.

The trailer opens with a girl watching a strange creature disguised as a flower. She watches it run down a branch, and none other than caveman Vin Diesel comes up behind her and tells her they need to leave. They rejoin their little tribe roaming the jungle, but they are pursued by cloaked beast men. Vin gets into a protracted fight with the leader of this group, which ends with Tyrex bursting through the trees and eating the beast-man.

Another fight with the leader of this group ends with Tyrex bursting through the trees and eating the beast-man.

When he attacks Vin’s tribe, someone sacrifices himself to save the girl. Lots of fighting, running and epic music until Vin, the girl and the woman escape into a cave. Here we see that everyone has a glowing stone embedded in their forearm, reacting to some sci-fi technology. The screen scans Vin, identifying him as Santiago Da Costa, and gives a bunch of details about him, including that his engram imprinting is incomplete and he’s not allowed access to cloning.

Santiago turns off the device, and they exit the cave and find themselves in a huge area with impossible lands and dinosaurs.

The next trailer didn’t appear until June 2022 at Microsoft and Bethesda.

This much shorter trailer finally gives a glimpse of Ark 2’s plot and world. In the opening monologue, Mika, the girl from the first trailer and Diesel’s daughter, explains that there was a war in the past that left the world a mishmash of prehistoric animals and futuristic technology. Their life on a new planet inhabited by animals sent from Earth — is a constant struggle for survival.

They’ve been living on a new planet inhabited by animals sent from Earth.

The trailer’s main shot — Santiago and Mick riding on the back of a huge dinosaur, decked out in saddle and armor.

Although the main focus of the trailers is on Diesel’s character — Santiago, Ark 2, like the first installment, will be primarily a sandbox game. According to the plot of the first game, Santiago — is a clone of the player character from that game. The action will take place after the release of the final expansion to the first game in 2021, although the story was never given much emphasis.

Santiago Ark 2 will take place after the release of the final expansion to the first game in 2021.

Wildcard Studios confirmed to Gamespot that gameplay will not be shown in 2023, and the first trailer showing the game in action will appear sometime in 2024.

Gameplay

Everything shown in Ark 2 was cinematic in nature, but as a sequel, much should be similar to the first game. We expect it to still focus on survival and crafting, with tons of recipes and things to unlock, upgrade, and build. It should be a game where you alone or with friends start from scratch, but will be able to reach a nearly unbeatable level. The first game also had tribe mechanics and some very interesting ways for characters to interact with each other.

The first game also had tribe mechanics and some very interesting ways for characters to interact with each other.

The combat, again borrowed from the first game, may or may not have equally futuristic weapons. We haven’t seen them yet, but the first game had all sorts of fancy guns alongside primitive spears and axes. As with any other survival game, in addition to enemies with artificial intelligence, you’ll be able to team up with or fight other players.

Survival Game.

Battle is said to be more Souls-like, featuring blocking, dodging, combos, composure and special moves. In addition to this, Ark 2 will now be playable in third or first person. This will not only help with the new combat, but also with the new movement methods. The developer said so:

Arc 2 has some pretty significant design changes from the original game that may not be to everyone’s taste: Souls-like combat, primitive weapons, strict third-person mechanics and an overall «very serious» tone — which is why we feel it’s important to give players a fully next-gen version of the original experience so that fans can continue to enjoy the Ark they know for years to come.

Which is why we feel it’s important to give players a fully next-gen version of the original experience so that fans can continue to enjoy the Ark they know for years to come.

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There will be a lot of RPG elements in Ark 2, mainly in the form of leveling up and dealing with a skill tree with various abilities, perks and buffs.

The new enemy faction in the game will be called the Atarai, who will attack any player. They will be able to harness their dinosaurs as well, making them potentially very deadly.

The new enemy faction will be called Atarai.

And finally, and most importantly: dinosaurs! There’s no way Ark 2 could have abandoned this aspect, and it looks like the game is doubling down on the ability to tame and ride these prehistoric monsters. How it’ll work this time around, we don’t know, but we can’t wait to find out.

How it’ll work this time around, we don’t know.

Ark 2 is a fully multiplayer game, and that’s all we know so far. We don’t know what multiplayer mechanics will be carried over from the first game, or even how many players will be able to be in the same world at the same time. We also don’t know if you’ll be able to create your own world and play alone.

One thing we do know for sure — Ark 2 will have cross-platform support for players on PC and Xbox, as well as presumably PlayStation when the game launches there as well.

We do know that Ark 2 will have cross-platform support for players on PC and Xbox, as well as, presumably, PlayStation when the game launches there as well.

Pre-order

There is currently only a wide release window — late 2024, so there are no pre-orders yet. However, PC users do have the option to add the game to their wishlist on Steam if they want to get it sooner. It’s also known that the game will be released on Game Pass, so if you’re subscribed to that service, you’ll be able to play it on the first day of release.

Here’s what we know.