ARK 2: Release Postponed by 18 Months to the End of 2024

Developer Wildcard has announced its official roadmap for the ARK franchise, with both good and bad news for fans. While the Unreal Engine 5 update for ARK 1 will be released later this year, the release of ARK 2 has been pushed back by about 18 months to the end of 2024. The latest Community Crunch 355 by Wildcard discusses the future of the ARK franchise in more detail.

ARK 2 is Delayed by 18 Months, But Why?

A few months ago, Wildcard developers announced plans to update ARK: Survival Evolved to Unreal Engine 5. However, some fans worried that the development of ARK 2 would be impacted, potentially leading to a delay. Initially slated for release in 2022, ARK 2 was later postponed to the first half of 2023. Unfortunately, it has now been announced that the game's release will be delayed once again, this time until the end of 2024.

In Community Chrunch 355, Wildcard provided an explanation for the latest delay:

“Our goal is to make ARK 2 the best game it can be and provide a truly exceptional and rewarding experience for players. Unreal Engine 5 is incredibly new technology to us (and all developers), and we aim to use this cutting-edge tech to its fullest potential while creating a game with never-before-achieved scope at Studio Wildcard. As we learn more about the engine and develop the sequel, we have adapted our workflows and adjusted our pipelines to accommodate this new next-generation paradigm, and because of everything that involves, we need more time for development.”

Additionally, the upcoming release of the Unreal Engine 5 update for ARK: Survival Evolved, expected to launch at the end of August 2023, is another factor contributing to the delay. After the update, the game will be sold under a new name, ARK: Survival Ascended. Developers continue to say:

“We also recognize that ARK 2 has some pretty significant design changes from the original game, which may not make it as appealing to everyone (looking at you, Souls-like combat, primitive-only weaponry, and strict third-person mechanics – and an overall “very serious” tone), which is why we feel it is essential to provide players with a fully next-gen version of the original experience to ensure that fans can continue to enjoy the ARK they know for years to come.”

With all of these factors in play, the developers have announced a further delay for ARK 2, in order to give themselves more time to focus on the game's development. In the meantime, they are likely putting their attention toward completing ARK: Survival Ascended, which we'll be covering in a separate article.

Assuming there are no further delays, ARK 2 is set to launch exclusively on Xbox and PC by the end of 2024. A PlayStation version may be released sometime in 2025 or early 2026, though there has been no official confirmation yet.