ARK: Survival Evolved Release Date, Pre-Order Perks, New Dino Revealed At E3 2017

ARK: Survival Evolved announced its retail release date on Aug. 8 for Xbox One, PS4, PC, OS X and Linux. In a new blog post, its developers at Studio Wildcard talked pre-order bonuses, Microsoft crossbuy and a brand new Dino.

First let’s discuss pre-orders. There will be a basic edition of the game for $59.99, as well as a $99.99 Explorer’s Edition that includes the base game plus all existing expansions and a season pass for 2018 DLC. Those who want the truly special treatment can also purchase a $159.99 Collector’s Edition with all Explorer’s Edition content plus a notebook with every Dino dossier, a necklace, a map, a poster of the team and a soundtrack CD.

While all of those perks are platform agnostic, one benefit that will be exclusive to Microsoft is support for the platform holder’s Play Anywhere Program. It means anyone who owns the Xbox One version of the game will get the Windows 10 build for free and vice versa with full save transfers. Crossplay features will also be available online, which means Xbox One owners can play with those on Windows 10 and Steam.

For those who’ve already been exploring ARK for a while, E3 brought reveals of some new content too. Chief among those is a brand-new sponsored mods program where talented fan-made creations can be added to the game. Headlining the initiative is a new map called Ragnarok with distinct biomes, caves, variations of existing Dinos, dungeons and more. It’s available now on PC and will come to consoles next month.

Last but certainly not least is a brand new Dino called the Griffin. It’s a winged carnivore with an aggressive temperament, but it can be tamed by a skillful player as assumingly one of the best flying beasts in the entire game. No date has been revealed for its arrival, but, given the game’s retail version is just months away, we’d expect it to be before the Aug. 8 release date.

Getting a full retail release date for ARK: Survival Evolved is a pretty big deal considering some of the game’s most passionate players believed that day might never come. Released on Steam Early Access two years ago, the project has grown substantially with monthly updates, console versions and entirely new maps. Players had become so accustomed to the drip feed of stable content that the prospect of a final version seemed strange. It’s a game that a hardcore community of players has mastered and enjoyed for a long time.

That being said, recent updates had offered hints that initial development was nearing completion. It’s now possible to finish the game with a placeholder ending, even though five new Dinos were just added to the roster this month. Moving forward, it will be interesting to see how new features are parceled out between freebies and season pass exclusives.

ARK: Survival Evolved is available now on Xbox One, PS4, PC, OS X and Linux. During E3, it was also revealed the game will support Epic settings on Microsoft’s upcoming premium console, the Xbox One X.

What do you think of ARK: Survival Evolved finally getting a full release date with pre-order bonuses? Do you expect Studio Wildcard to still offer content to Early Access backers? Tell us in the comments section!