Studio Wildcard announced that the release of the Unreal Engine 5.5 update for ARK: Survival Ascended has been delayed to June 2. This is to allow for more work to be done before the update goes live.
Back in March of this year, it was reported that this update was coming out between April 15 and May 15. While the release has been delayed, the studio assured everyone in a post that this remains to be their top priority. In particular, the core engineering resources are focused on bringing it over the finish line.
The additional work is likely due to the patch offering immediate performance benefits that include enhanced rendering and faster load times. It's also set to restructure how the game is packaged so that non-Island maps for example become optional downloads and thus lower the base installation size.
Change in Ragnarok Launch
With the change in the schedule of the transition to Unreal Engine 5.5, it also means there's revisions in the schedule for the other releases. The Ragnarok DLC for example is now coming out on June 18 instead of the originally planned launch date of June 2.
Even with the delay, the excitement is sure to stay especially knowing that this upcoming DLC is set to offer these new content:
- Ragnarok Ascended: The fan-favorite ancient battleground of beasts and myth awakens again, fully remastered.
- Bison (Free Creature): Horned heavyweight champion of headbutts and highland havoc.
- Lost Colony Expansion Pass: Day Zero Content: A first step into the upcoming full-sized canonical expansion pack.
Attention Mod Creators
As part of the preparation for the Unreal Engine 5.5 update, the studio revealed that it is temporarily pausing all new mod cooks/updates beginning May 20. That means no new mods or mod updates are possible until the update has been released. This means all players need to make sure that their updates are out before May 20.
ARK: Survival Ascended offers the ultimate survival experience as it invites players to design their own Survivor, tame dinosaurs, and unravel the true nature of The Island and worlds beyond. There are also quality of life enhancements that include a refreshed user interface, intelligent creature pathfinding, wild babies, new map system, updated tracking system, new structures, creatures, and much more. Get ARK: Survival Ascended on Steam now.
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