Studio Wildcard is celebrating the 10-year anniversary since the early access launch of ARK: Survival Evolved in its Unreal Engine 5 remaster, ARK: Survival Ascended, which was released nearly two years ago.
During this event, Survivors can collect cake slices for buffs, discover a flashy set of Party Dinos, and grab new cosmetics like the Birthday Suit and Party Hat skins. There's even a DJ Party emote, a Rave Dance, and a Club ARK tropical Island makeover. The 10-year anniversary celebration is already live on official servers until Tuesday, June 17. Owners of unofficial ARK servers can enable it by adding "-ActiveEvent=Birthday" to their command line. The developers also introduced a drop-down option to enable Active Events in Host/Single-Player mode under Game Rules > Rules.
There's a lot more in store for fans than just the event, though. A free update has been released, updating the game from Unreal Engine 5.2 to Unreal Engine 5.5. According to Studio Wildcard, players can expect a noticeable performance boost, not to mention improved visual rendering, quicker loading times, and a lower install size thanks to optional downloads for the expansion DLCs. Additionally, PlayStation 5 Pro owners can look forward to improved long-range shadow and support for the PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) upscale, which delivers up to 30% higher frame rates.
There's also new content available for owners of the Astraeos DLC. The Lemnokis update adds another vast island created by the renowned ARK modder Nekatus. This sprawling new island features diverse biomes, hidden caves, and towering redwoods. Its ancient ruins and colossal statues hint at lost civilizations. However, the lush expansion isn't just for sightseeing, as players can also take on the game's first-ever duo minibosses: Kalydonios and Erymanthian. These two massive boars fight with fire and poison. From deep-sea resource zones and the mysterious Maelstrom far offshore to a glacier cave tucked beneath the redwoods, Lemnokis is loaded with far-flung new adventures and prime build spots, not to mention the return of the fan-favourite snow owls.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
Follow Wccftech on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds.
