Wildcard Community StudioWildcard Posted January 10 Wildcard Community Posted January 10 We hope your year’s off to a good start, and that you’ve had a chance to spend some time recharging over the holidays, whether that meant catching up with loved ones, getting outside, or sneaking in a few extra gaming sessions. However you rang in the new year, it’s been great seeing players carving out their foothold in Lost Colony, sharing their stories, and pushing deeper into its frozen reaches. As the team comes back together and this new year gets going, we’re turning our focus to what’s coming next. Looking ahead, we want to share a high-level outline of what’s on the horizon for ARK: Survival Ascended. Below, you’ll find an updated product roadmap highlighting major upcoming expansions and releases planned across 2026 and into 2027, giving you an overview of what you can expect in the coming year. Download in full resolution Survival of the Fittest by Studio Sirens: A new vision for the free Mod within ASA, refreshed and improved with better mechanics, competitive matchmaking systems, and meta game reward loops. Being developed by the Studio Sirens team! Bob's True Tales: Tides of Fortune: Continue the journey of Bob and Meeka after the events of Lost Colony, as they seek out the Evercave where ancient secrets have been buried. Meanwhile, on a revamped Genesis Part 1, enjoy a rollicking maritime adventure over a map-wide Ocean biome with real water physics, customizable pirate ships, randomized semi-procedural islands & fortresses, and big naval battles across the high-seas! ASA World Creator: Want to make maps but don't want to learn the ARK Dev Kit, or don't have a high-powered PC? With the ASA World Creator, you'll be able to do basic editing of existing maps or even create whole new ones, entirely from within the game itself, on any ASA platform, and share them with other players via the Mod Browser, using a new “World Creator” mode. While you won't be able to generate new art assets in “World Creator”, or do the deep construction associated with the full Dev Kit, you will be able to place and modify actors (and create reusable templates), edit their properties, edit overall world settings, add & configure volumes & spawners, apply mods and skin packs, and add simple functional text scripting. In other words, the “World Creator” will be the easiest and fastest way for novice and beginning creators to build a custom environment for their server or their friends, or for builders to assemble their ultimate visual showcase that other players can download & play in! Dragontopia: A mythical world of fire, stone, and sky, this non-canonical expansion pack will revolutionize how taming and creature interactions can work within ARK. Answer the riddle of flame with us in December Atlantis: From the dynamic rolling seas to the depths of the vast sunken city itself, the non-canonical map of Atlantis will build on the mechanics of Tides of Fortune, presenting Studio Wildcard’s ultimate vision for water-oriented ARK gameplay and world design. Bob's True Tales: Galaxy Wars: On the world of Arat, old legends never die, with all being revealed as Bob and Meeka's journey reaches an end. While on a revamped Genesis Part 2, a new giant map-sized outerspace biome takes the battle outside the Seed Ship as starfighers, bombers, capital ships, and colonizable planetoids are up for grabs in a fight to control the fate of humanity. Legacy of Santiago: Everything leads to this -- after an unyielding power is unleashed across Arat, heroes old and new join the veteran survivors on a quest unlike anything seen before. Completely redesigned gameplay mechanics and features, coupled with a totally new way to enjoy living on this new world of ARK, in this standalone expansion series comprising the future of ARK. Also in 2026-2027, Survivors can expect many new creatures, TLC's, holiday events, QOL improvements, upgraded legacy maps, and other surprises for the game they know & love! Performance remains a major focus for us this year, and a key part of that work is our upcoming Unreal Engine 5.7 upgrade, currently targeting April. Compared to its October 2023 launch, ARK: Survival Ascended currently runs roughly 40–50% better on the same hardware, the result of ongoing optimization and engine improvements. The move to Unreal Engine 5.7 is expected to push that further, with an additional ~30–40% performance gain across both CPU and GPU. Much of this comes from deeper engine-level changes Epic has made in recent Unreal Engine versions. Unreal Engine 5.6 introduced major improvements to how work is shared across the game thread, render thread, CPU, and GPU, allowing systems to run far more efficiently in parallel. Unreal Engine 5.7 builds on that with a new Nanite-based foliage rendering system that significantly improves performance in large, vegetation-heavy environments, which is especially relevant for ARK. Internally, we’re already seeing meaningful gains on existing maps without sacrificing visuals or memory. This is about as close to a “magic bullet” as performance work gets, a rare case where it’s an unalloyed win. There’s still work to do before release, including engine prep, testing, and recooking mods to ensure everything continues to run smoothly. But this upgrade represents the most significant performance gain ASA will see this year, and something players should feel directly and dramatically once it’s in their hands. It also, ahem, unlocks the potential for a certain portable console port of the crossplatform game… We’re getting ready to roll out the first major update for ARK: Lost Colony this weekend, bringing balance and progression adjustments alongside a range of fixes and polish informed by early player feedback. This update addresses a lot of pain points from the Expansion’s launch last month, and it sets the foundation for what’s next as we continue refining the Lost Colony experience. You’ll find the full patch notes below. As always, thank you to everyone who’s been sharing valuable reports, feedback, and suggestions. We’ll continue polishing Lost Colony and iterating on improvements, and you can expect major updates with similar scope of improvement each week over the near-term. Balance Changes Resource Caches: Reduced wave count from 5 to 3 Removed Neophytes Increase XP awarded from spawned enemies by 5x Restore 20% health to the Resource Cache after completing each wave Increased the chances of getting Artic Armor/Fabricated Weaponry Ossidon: During Taming, Wild Ossidon heals back to 100% after dismounting the player Ossidon’s taming time limit and num icicles/dino’s required now scales with taming speed multiplier config Fabricated Crossbow: Increased Fabricated Crossbow damage in Sniper mode by 33% Increased Fabricated Crossbow base durability by 50% Holo-Decoy Reduced Holo-Decoy crafting requirements by approximately 30% Removed Gunpowder as a Holo-Decoy crafting requirement Bug fixes: Fixed a case where a player inventory would visually disappear after teleporting away with a thrall Speculative fix for players being unable to access terminals on LC map Aureliax, Sky gate no longer blocks projectiles Aureliax, Fixed a case were the entering render distance would change its head rotation When Veilwyn transforms, it should now keep its spayed/neutered status Fast traveling with beds, should no longer break Solwyn mini-game buff Solwyn/Malwyn should now update Imprint bonus correctly Fixed a case where Malwyn would rarely become invincible during missions Fixed another Feline form exploit. Beaver dams can now spawn on LC map Desmodus Mini boss will no longer stretch dinos and thralls when picked up LC Ambient sounds should no longer be stacking. Maeguana, can now enable nursing while underwater Fixed a zero gravity bug with a bison attack When controlling a thrall, it will now return back to the player character when teleporting into the boss arena. Fixed up some LC explorer notes, not being translated properly Improved Lost colony spawn points LC “City” Spawn will no longer be the default spawn location in the list Fixed a case were Thralls could spawn inside of each other Updated "Ambushing Strike" description to match its effects Fixed a couple of LC map holes Fixed some LC assets not having proper collision Updated LC ascension explorer note icon Added some missing audio from waterfalls on LC map Fixed issue with TheCenter displaying the wrong textures, while on Epic graphic settings Upsell for LC should no longer display incorrectly when set to chinese Higher Quality Tek Armour should now cost the appropriate amount when repairing Fixed a lighting issue with Character creator, on consoles Client crash fix when users attempt to load into the game. While in proximity of a taxidermy equipped with a custom cosmetic Fixed a Crash when attempting to ascend with a Thrall Fixed a couple of Server Crashes Survivor, the sun is setting on Arat Prime, and the war for the city has begun. This is no longer just about survival. It is about dominion. Three forces now clash for control of the Necrocene. We want you to bring that conflict to life, through the lens of your chosen faction. The Faction Art Contest begins. Pick your side, draw your allegiance, and help your faction conquer the Lost Colony. Entries Open: Friday, December 19th Entries Close: Monday, January 19th Finalist & Voting Announced: Friday, January 23rd Winners Announced: Friday, January 30th Choose your muse carefully. Each faction carries its own visual identity. The Vibe: Scrappy, defiant, warm. The Lore: You are the survivors. You do not belong here, but you refuse to die. You bring fire to the ice and technology to the ruins. You are the spark in the dark. The Vibe: Cold, regal, gothic. The Lore: The Lost King’s eternal army. They are the statues that watch you, and the guards that hunt you. Woven into the architecture itself, silent and deadly. The Vibe: Twisted, alien, neon. The Lore: Rockwell’s nightmare has leaked into the city. Spikes, tentacles, madness. They are the chaos devouring all remaining order. Create an original piece of art representing one of the three factions Submit your work in the #lostcolony-submissions thread on the ARK Discord CRITICAL: Your post must begin with the faction tag [TRESPASSER] [DAMNED] [CORRUPTED] We will select a shortlist for each faction, then open voting to the community to determine: Best in Class The best artist for each individual faction. All Best-in-Class winners and runners-up will receive Lost Colony keys. The Grand Victor The single artwork with the most votes overall decides which faction claims the Discord. Grand Victor rewards include: Server Banner: The winning artwork becomes the faction’s pinned banner for the week. Exclusive Role: The Grand Victor receives a unique “Champion of the Lost Colony” role. The Grand Prize: TOTAL DISCORD SERVER TAKEOVER! The winning faction will conquer this Discord for a full week. Your submission must be on theme. You need to have the rights to the image you submit. No copyrighted material or artwork made by others without consent. One submission per user. No multiple submissions or submissions across multiple categories. Content must follow server rules: No NSFW, derogatory, discriminatory, or disrespectful content. PG-13 only. No AI-generated content. Not an artist? You can still fight for your side. React to this post with the emoji of your chosen faction in the ARK Discord to gain a special role. The faction with the most pledges at the end of the contest will receive a special community reward. ARKpocalypse servers have been wiped today! What is ARKpocalypse? ARKpocalypse are monthly-wipe servers with higher than usual rates and monthly curated mods. Next wipe: February 6th, 2026 You can join them by typing "Arkpocalypse" in the server browser! Happy Surviving! This weekend, the Official Network will be receiving bonus rates! It will be active until Monday, January 12. PVP/PVE: 2x Harvesting, Taming, and Experience, and Breeding Small Tribes: 4.5x Harvesting, Taming, and Experience + 4x Breeding ARKpocalypse: 5x Harvesting, Taming and Experience, and Breeding Fan Art Gallery | Screenshot Gallery | Artist Feedback Form Creator: Etholdir A looming Gothic Vampire castle is slowly taking over the cliffs, casting shadows over the valley. Creator: Raasclark Raasclark goes over all the creature locations you need to know in Lost Colony! Banish the darkness by @falco_luna ARK Lost Colony, but it's Antonblast by gman2006 Malwyn by @SS38529630 Unite the past, and the future by @TekARK_01 ARK Cryolophosaurus wandering through the snow biome by @rainesaur Photo Mode by baha88 My new favorite dino by frozen_soap Loving this city by nesvog Photo Mode by catcatswaggin Revenant Malwyn by anhagath Enjoy your weekend! Studio Wildcard Twitter: twitter.com/survivetheark Discord: discord.com/invite/playark Reddit: reddit.com/r/playark Instagram: instagram.com/survivetheark Twitch: twitch.tv/survivetheark Steam: steamcommunity.com/app/346110 Youtube: youtube.com/survivetheark Facebook: facebook.com/survivetheark Threads: threads.net/@survivetheark Official Wiki: ark.wiki.gg View full article
CapitalBlue Posted January 10 Posted January 10 Another half a year for Genesis Part 1 and then another year for Part 2. Why. 1 1
VelocityVectorSV Posted January 10 Posted January 10 I haven’t been playing Ark in a while. Why are there no maps on the roadmap? When is Crystal Isles coming? 1 2 1
Thesurvivalist2019 Posted January 10 Posted January 10 14 minutes ago, Crysis3108 said: No Ark 2 news? legacy of santiago
Arkentia Posted January 10 Posted January 10 my question is the following: will it be possible to download a map made with worldcreator into the devkit and then make more in-depth modifications to it? If so that would be totally awesome! 1
RKGS Posted January 10 Posted January 10 (edited) Please, please, PLEASE give us the Mining Drill (this should release with Gen 1, but w/e), Loadout Mannequins, Tek Canteen and Tek Bow in Gen 1's ASA release, alongside some of the other Gen 2 items. Waiting until next year is just... pain... Also, I really hope the Tek Claws aren't useless like they were in ASE, their parry didn't even work properly either. Also, this is a step in the right direction for Ossidon taming, but the taming effectiveness being lost on each remount is just brutal. I couldn't imagine trying to hunt for traits on Ossidons on reaally slow taming speeds, you'd be better off using your time trying to win the lottery! Edited January 10 by RKGS 1
Ambrose12912 Posted January 10 Posted January 10 My only concern is there is no announcement for fjurdr, lost island, crystal isles, nothin, love whats to come but definitely need to know when we get the rest of the maps 1 1
Theismarius Posted January 10 Posted January 10 38 minutes ago, VelocityVectorSV said: I haven’t been playing Ark in a while. Why are there no maps on the roadmap? When is Crystal Isles coming? This content is premium content, free content is not showed 1
Theismarius Posted January 10 Posted January 10 2 minutes ago, Ambrose12912 said: My only concern is there is no announcement for fjurdr, lost island, crystal isles, nothin, love whats to come but definitely need to know when we get the rest of the maps This is a roadmap for mostly premium content from the investors call, need another roadmap for the free stuff 1
Greatchawhee Posted January 10 Posted January 10 So we get to be hyped for 2028. Lost island map first half and crystal isles last half. Then 2028 for Fjordur? As long as that Atlantis map is not just Ark Aquatica Ascended. We DO NOT WANT THAT GARBAGE.
MrWhity Posted January 10 Posted January 10 First what is with Genesis 1? And i hope we will get some day a dino or a structure wich can imprint all baby dinos in one pls! 1
Blackmage2015 Posted January 10 Posted January 10 Guys love the work but when are we going to be able to really join the bad side and become red element sucking vampires with wings.
azkalimas Posted January 10 Posted January 10 (edited) 41 minutes ago, Greatchawhee said: So we get to be hyped for 2028. Lost island map first half and crystal isles last half. Then 2028 for Fjordur? As long as that Atlantis map is not just Ark Aquatica Ascended. We DO NOT WANT THAT GARBAGE. Heard Atlantis will be made by Nekatus, same guy who has done Fjordur, Svartalfheim, Valguero, and Astraeos. I think we can expect good things from it Edited January 10 by azkalimas
ladyteruki Posted January 10 Posted January 10 That is so much DLC (and I assume there's also some some Fantastical Tames and Where You Can Pay For Them coming too) for a game still in Early Access. I know the feedback for Lost Colony's gameplay has been overall positive, but it really feels like a lot of paid content is pushed when a lot is still unfinished. Fjordur is not out, but Nekatus is working on Astraeos and reportedly Atlantis, for instance. People paid in 2023 for ASA, a game that's supposed to include all the ASE maps, and it's still not going to be feature complete by 2027 ? What are we doing here ? Quote ASA World Creator: Want to make maps but don't want to learn the ARK Dev Kit, or don't have a high-powered PC? With the ASA World Creator, you'll be able to do basic editing of existing maps or even create whole new ones, entirely from within the game itself, on any ASA platform, and share them with other players via the Mod Browser, using a new “World Creator” mode. While you won't be able to generate new art assets in “World Creator”, or do the deep construction associated with the full Dev Kit, you will be able to place and modify actors (and create reusable templates), edit their properties, edit overall world settings, add & configure volumes & spawners, apply mods and skin packs, and add simple functional text scripting. In other words, the “World Creator” will be the easiest and fastest way for novice and beginning creators to build a custom environment for their server or their friends, or for builders to assemble their ultimate visual showcase that other players can download & play in! Honestly ? That's great. Hopefully it will keep being supported after release (contrarily to procedurally generated maps in ASE) so that new maps, creatures and assets can keep being used. ...The only thing that bothers me is : if only the future paid content is listed in this roadmap (as seems to indicate the absence of Crystal Isles, Fjordur or Lost Island, or the remaining Garuga dinos), does this mean that the World Creator is going to be paid content ? You're going to ask people to pay in order to create user-generated content for the game, is that where we're at ? WildCard used to be a shining example of encouraging free user content, with tools like the free devkit, with programs like sponsored mods, and sometimes promoting talented people in the community who had created things for free by making them basegame for free. That was in ASE however. In ASA, you promote monetization at every corner : premium/freemium mods, a partner DLC, and now potentially this World Creator... while at the same time ignoring the community's talent. When was the last time you elevated a talent who emerged during ASA's lifetime ? I am so, so happy for Nekatus, CodigoAlex and Garuga, who are immensely talented people (and at least Garuga's creatures have come mostly for free). Their appeal was first demonstrated thanks to free mods, and were turned into free content for everyone to appreciate and their names to be deservedly respected. But what are you doing for the people who have been showing just as much talent after 2023 ? Where is their ascension ? There is no longer an avenue for people to get the kind of opportunity Nekatus, CodigoAlex and Garuga have gotten in the past, and this culture of monetized UGC worsens it. Quote Being developed by the Studio Sirens team! You sound much more excited than what this name currently evokes. How do we know that Studio Sirens is going to be working in better conditions this time, instead of a remake of the horrible situation of ASE Aquatica ? Will they have enough people (there were layoffs DURING the development of Aquatica, weren't there ?), resources, time, everything ? Quote a rollicking maritime adventure over a map-wide Ocean biome with real water physics, customizable pirate ships, randomized semi-procedural islands & fortresses, and big naval battles across the high-seas a new giant map-sized outerspace biome takes the battle outside the Seed Ship as starfighers, bombers, capital ships, and colonizable planetoids ASA does not need to be ARK + Atlas + EVE Online/No Man's Sky + whatever else. It does not need to try and mimic every game out there. It does not need to be an everything game. Make ASA run well, and then we'll talk. 1
kaprosuchus93 Posted January 10 Posted January 10 1 hour ago, Arkentia said: my question is the following: will it be possible to download a map made with worldcreator into the devkit and then make more in-depth modifications to it? If so that would be totally awesome! That's actually a really good question. I hope wildcard can provide an answer.
Amyndrea Posted January 10 Posted January 10 1 hour ago, Theismarius said: This is a roadmap for mostly premium content from the investors call, need another roadmap for the free stuff Its not "free stuff" its purchased stuff we pre-paid for. 4
Michau Posted January 10 Posted January 10 2 hours ago, arkark said: Lost Colony performance in multiplayer is horrible. Close to 150 fps in single player but in official it looks like its capped to 35 fps plus stuttering. So hard to see that you are flexing about +50% performance gain cause its far from being true. Also, you need to do that LC outposts break all structures around because in official almost all posible outpost spawns are taken. Maybe you should do like you did with Redwood Forest back in ASE times. Put some visible areas during two or three days or so, so people inside spawn points realize they must move and then after a grace time period let the outpost destroy structures in their spawn area. Not that hard, WC. IT should be hard coded and forbidden to build in those areas. Period. Nowe what could be done is to put a marker visible only when placing structures on mission areas so the owner of the spot knows he/she is blocking the spot. This would be a delicate signal that they should move a little. Map is vast, there is plenty of space everywhere
geassrailfan Posted January 10 Posted January 10 Why is once again nothing being said about the status TAS P2? Can you at least confirm its indeed coming summer of this year? Per this article Source: Interview: Ark Series Dev Explains How Lost Colony is a 'Love Letter' to the series, and how it leads into Ark 2 | MMORPG.com
Retrowarrior Posted January 10 Posted January 10 YESSSS!!! Let's go SOTF is back BABY please make it like the 2016 version tho the new battle royal one wasn't it.
Luminus Posted January 10 Posted January 10 The absence of any updated info on Crystal Isles and Lost Island makes me wonder if they plan on skipping these completely? 1
MJAInc Posted January 10 Posted January 10 Die Zukunft ist strahlend! - ARK2 & ASA News | Deutsche ARK2 Community - ARK2 | Deutsches Community Forum https://ark2.de/news/die-zukunft-ist-strahlend-r220/
Jurassictom22 Posted January 10 Posted January 10 i just hope Map Creator can be used on consoles and i never got to enjoy crystal isles back on ASE (i was like 8-10 or something)
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