ARK: Survival Evolved Aberration DLC & Xbox Update Get Release Dates

ARK: Survival Evolved will be updated in a big way as 2017 comes to a close, and we have the official blog post to prove it. After a substantial delay, the spooky Aberration DLC is finally set to arrive Dec. 12. At that time, an update will also dispatch to allow Play Anywhere cross-play between Xbox One and PC. Both features have been at the top of fan request lists.

For those who missed the news on what Aberration is all about, the new map takes season pass owners to a derelict Ark buried deep underground in an area with high radioactivity. To traverse the new land, players will take control of previously unseen Dinos with some seriously unique abilities. Additional gear, including hang gliders and extendable ladders, will allow survivors to reach previously unseen heights. The expansion’s supernatural elements were meant to arrive alongside Halloween, but now they’ll be a main companion to your pre-holiday plans.

Before getting to experience that new content, however, PC players will first have to adjust to the game’s brand new turret system. Studio Wildcard recently announced plans to limit the number of turrets in a given radius to maintain server performance. Now that the feedback from fans has been heard loud and clear, Wildcard has detailed exactly when and how the rollout is going to work.

Here’s an easy-to-read recap of the timeline:

• Nov. 27: A new Heavy Turret will be introduced to the game with limits on how many can be placed in a close radius. There will be no limit on other turrets at this time.
• Dec. 12: Aberration launches on all platforms with a hard-limit on all turrets for that map. The Heavy Turret will also launch on consoles.
• Late December: The full turret hard-limit will be enforced on all PC maps with an advance warning of two weeks.
• Several Weeks Later: The hard-limit will be enforced on consoles.

With all of these changes in mind, there will be no Thanksgiving event in ARK: Survival Evolved this year. The Studio Wildcard team is currently toiling away to get these huge updates ready for public consumption, so there simply isn’t enough time to tweak evolution values and watch server performance afterward. Thankfully the intent is to offer a Christmas-themed event sometime next month.

ARK: Survival Evolved is available now on PC, Xbox One, PS4, OS X and Linux.

How do you feel about ARK’s Aberration DLC and upcoming turret changes? Will new content make the game better? Tell us in the comments section!