If you enjoy playing Ark: Survival Evolved, you may have already heard about Ark: Survival Ascended (ASA). Recently, there was a surprise release of ASA on Steam, following a gameplay reveal during the Xbox Partner Preview live stream. This unexpected release may have taken you by surprise, and many people rushed to purchase it immediately. However, if you're still uncertain about whether to buy it or wait, here are some points to consider that might help you make a decision.

First and foremost, I think the easiest thing to clarify is that this is not Ark 2. That game is still a ways away from us supposedly coming at the end of 2024, but we’ll see. I’d much rather it be delayed that be released in a poor state.

Secondly, what you can expect this game to be since it isn’t Ark 2. ASA is more of a reskin of the Ark we already know. ASA is the same game but reprogrammed into Unreal Engine 5. Personally, I think UE5 is perfect for Ark. From the trailer alone there are tons of things that you can notice with the new engine, from water and terrain textures looking amazing to dinos having fresh and crispy new looks. In the trailer you can also see new social and wild animations for wild dinos along with even baby dinos! I think that UE5 was the right choice for Ark.

One last thing to think about, ASA is not a console release yet. So you can play it on your Xbox Series X quite yet, so you’ll have to think about your PC Specs. According to Steam you’ll need at least the following:

OS: Windows 10/11 with updates
Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 2600X, Intel Core i7 - 6800K
Memory: 16 GB RAM
Graphics: AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT, NVIDIA GeForce 1080
Direct X: Version 12
Network: Broadband Internet Connection
Storage: 70 GB Available space

Now that is just the minimum specs not what they recommend. I have a little bit extra, with 32 GB RAM and a NVIDIA GeForce 2060 Super with an intel i7-9700K and ASA struggles a little bit. Steam recommends a bit of a newer set up with the following:

OS: Windows 10/11 with updates
Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 3600X, Intel Core i5-10600K
Memory: 32 GB RAM
Graphics: AMD Radeon RX6800, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080
Direct X: Version 12
Network: Broadband Internet Connection
Storage: 70 GB Available space

Ark: Survival Ascended is currently 10% off on PC via Steam, but hopefully this helped you in your decision on whether you wanted to buy it or not.