The newArk: AquaticaDLC forArk: Survival Evolvedhas essentially broken the game after its recent release. This DLC was eagerly awaited by the fanbase, but its launch has been quite disappointing for theArk: Survival Evolvedcommunity.
Ark: Survival Evolvedreleased Version 1.0 in 2017, and it has seen incredible success since, selling over 76 million copies. Despite theArk: Survival Ascendedremaster being released in early access in 2023, the original title continued to be popular, and is still receiving updates from developer Studio Wildcard.Ark: Survival Evolved’s latest DLC was released on July 15, promising to bring a vast underwater biome system to the game, but it hasn’t been as successful as many hoped.
Soon after its release, the newArk: AquaticaDLC has essentially brokenArk: Survival Evolved, making existing saves no longer playable for some gamers, resetting settings, and even being incompatible with previous mods. As spotted byThe Gamer, the community is furious with the current state ofArk: Survival Evolved’s DLC. There arereportsof players spawning into empty maps, the game running slower, and even problems for those who have not purchased the DLC. Developer Snail Games, who created the DLC, addressed the issues, stating that the team has “enabled a public branch of the game that was the previous build before the update at launch,” which should at least alleviate the issue while they fix the problems.
Gamers Are Frustrated by the Current State of Ark: Survival Evolved
The entire launch of theArk: AquaticaDLC has been seen by the community as a trainwreck. Not only is the DLC currently boasting “Overwhelmingly Negative” reviews onSteam, but the recentArk: Aquaticatrailer was accused of using AI-generated content, which caused enormous backlash.
At the time of its release, thedevelopers ofArk: Survival Evolveddenied knowing that the trailer used AI, and Studio Snail Games confirmed that generative AI tools were not used in the development of the DLC. It remains to be seen how the studio will address the poor state of the DLC, however.
While these problems are happening withArk: Survival Evolved,Studio Wildcard continues to work onARK 2, which does not have an official release date. Earlier this year, Studio Wildcard revealed thatArk: Survival Ascendedwill have a new DLC calledArk: Lost Colony, which will be released in November 2025, and it’s said to tie the storylines ofARK: ExtinctionandARK: Genesistogether, as well as lead into the events ofARK 2.
