ARK: Survival Evolved Launch Trailer Reveals New Dinos, Tek Sword & More

ARK: Survival Evolved is nearing its official release date of Aug. 29, and we have the launch trailer to prove it. It premieres two new Dinos, some additional Tek gear and a whole lot more. A fresh blog post from Studio Wildcard also highlights some secondary Gamescom reveals.

Let’s start off with the two newest Dinos joining the ARK family. The Otter is a small fish-eating beast that, once domesticated, can ride on the player’s back to keep them warm. When not in travel, it spends its time harvesting fish and potentially gathering pearls. The Phoenix is a small bird that’s fierce in combat and capable of cooking meats on the fly. These Dinos were formally unveiled over the last few days, but this trailer offers the first chance to see them in action.

With regard to gear, the Tek Sword and Tek Shield are the latest expansion of endgame rewards. Now you’ll be able to fly like Iron Man and fight like a futuristic knight on the ground. We expect it will take some time and plenty of rare resources to unlock, just like the other Tek gear, but if the picture above is any indication, it’s absolutely going to be worth the effort.

These reveals came part and parcel with a Gamescom stream that concluded just minutes ago. During a larger conversation, Studio Wildcard community management staff unboxed the game’s $159 Collector’s Edition that includes the game, season pass, necklace, map, poster, soundtrack and dossier book in limited faux-wooden packaging. The dossier book is pictured below.

The soundtrack is officially available for pre-order here for $9.99. Crafted by Ori And The Blind Forest Composer Gareth Coker during three days at London's historic Abbey Road studio, it features over an hour’s worth of epic music spread across 24 tracks. The versions featured on the album are also specially altered for pleasurable listening outside the game.

This major fanfare is befitting of a title that will finally be unleashed on a wider public audience following two years of early access availability. When the launch SKU does finally arrive, however, even longtime ARK players will have plenty of new content to experience. During the stream, developers teased the inclusion of major story content that will answer questions fans have been asking about this game since its initial reveal. More specifically, we’ll finally learn why we’ve been brought to this island and what the locale has to contribute to a larger narrative. An Ascension “ending” was added to the early access game a few months back, but it’s been widely described as a placeholder for an even bigger surprise to come.

ARK: Survival Evolved is available now in early access on PC, Xbox One, PS4, OS X and Linux. It releases on those same platforms Aug. 29.

What do you think of the new Dinos featured in the ARK: Survival Evolved launch trailer? Will you be playing this game on day one? Tell us in the comments section!