Ark: Survival Ascended launched in early access for PC on October 25, however, the majority of players are complaining of performance issues and have even compared it to a PowerPoint presentation.
Studio Wildcard‘s remake of Ark: Survival Evolved was worked on with Grove Street Games and Instinct Games. The former was the developer that brought Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition to PC, last generation and current generation consoles, and the latter team has been involved with the Ark series since 2015.
Though this is an early access game and will be improved in updates that roll out over the course of the next 12 months, players of Ark: Survival Ascended are not pleased with their experience thus far.
“Feels like 2015 all over again: single digit frame rates and bodies disappearing into the ground geometry… Who needs shiny new maps or a sequel?” said one. “Not me! I will be here, playing Ark: PowerPoint Ascended. Thanks for the memories and the slideshow, Wildcard.”
Others claiming to be running the game on advanced graphics cards like the Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti, 3080 and 4090 also aired their aggravation over the state of Ark: Survival Ascended.
In spite of the power of their PCs, they shared that they have gotten frame rates of less than 60, and even less than 30 in some instances.
As a result, 60 per cent of the game’s 2,000 player reviews are negative, ascribing it as a “Mixed” release on Steam.
“Developing directly with the community’s input is important to us, and we plan to do so by directly engaging with players across multiple social channels and platforms,” said Studio Wildcard in the game’s description on the distribution service.
At the time of writing, lead community manager Cedric Burkes has acknowledged the server issues in a post to Ark‘s official website and assured that there is “more to come” on that front.
In other gaming news, Fortnite welcomed classic horror character Michael Myers with his own outfit and Halloween themed cosmetic content for players to purchase.