ARK 2 Delayed Until Late 2024; UE5 Remaster of ARK Coming This August with RTX Direct Illumination Support

wccftech.com:

Yesterday, Studio Wildcard announced a delay for ARK 2, its hotly anticipated sequel to the wildly successful survival game ARK: Survival Evolved. Previously scheduled for release sometime this year, ARK 2 will now be launched in late 2024 for PC and Xbox (as a Game Pass day one release, where the game will stay for at least three years).

The developers cited the need to get more comfortable with the Unreal Engine 5 while trying to make the best game possible. There is a silver lining, though, as Studio Wildcard decided to remaster ARK: Survival Evolved in Unreal Engine 5, both as a testbed for ARK 2 and as a forward-looking platform for those who might not be satisfied by the sequel (which will be designed differently, having Soulslike combat, third-person only view, no modern weapons, and a more serious tone).

Thus, ARK: Survival Ascended is being developed for a late August release on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series S|X. It will include support for NVIDIA's RTX Direct Illumination ray tracing technology on PC as well as taking advantage of Unreal Engine 5's signature features, Lumen and Nanite. Studio Wildcard also mentioned dynamic water, interactive foliage, various rendering improvements enabled by UE5, updated art assets, cross-platform multiplayer (including cross-progression), cross-platform modding powered by Overwolf with full blueprinting support, directional running and walking, new third-person camera, new structures, overhauled minimap, new ping system, new queuing system, and more.

ARK: Survival Ascended will include the Battle Royale-inspired Survival of the Fittest as a game mode that will be supported over time with a dedicated team. ARK: Survival Ascended will also include The Island and the non-canon