Forgive us if we’re starting to sound like a broken record, but Ark: Survival Ascended’s launch on Xbox has been delayed. It’s the third time developer Studio Wildcard has delayed its dinosaur survival game in a month.
Earlier this week, Ark: Survival Ascended’s Xbox Series X and S release date was delayed just a day before it was due to come out. Developer Studio Wildcard had already delayed the console version following the Steam launch, with the Xbox and Windows PC version set to come out on November 14, and the PlayStation 5 version due out at some point later this month.
Studio Wildcard had said Ark: Survival Ascended was going through Xbox’s certification process, which caused the delay, but expected the game to launch on Xbox and Windows PC “later this week”. At the time, Ark fans expressed a healthy dose of scepticism about the release window. It turns out they were right to.
Today, Studio Wildcard issued another update, this time to delay Ark: Survival Ascended again to “early next week”.
“Unfortunately, the certification process has yielded some unexpected issues, so we are working with Microsoft to resubmit the build as soon as possible,” Studio Wildcard said in a statement. “We’re currently targeting Ark: Survival Ascended to launch early next week, and we hope to share a more precise update by the end of the week. We apologise for the added delay, we’re working hard to get it out the door.”
As you’d expect, fans have expressed just as much healthy scepticism about this latest release window as the last. Will Ark Survival Ascended come out on Xbox early next week? Roll the dice!
PC tribes are going to have their whole map spammed off with tek foundations by the time I get to place my Thatch hut in console.
— Captain_Magnus (@xCaptainMagnus) November 16, 2023
— Holla Atcha Bowl (@HollaAtchaBowl) November 16, 2023
Yea yea we know soon…
— AverageAndy (@Tummyexplr) November 16, 2023
I based all my plans of the week around this dropping for Xbox and now I’m out of vacation days and won’t be able to have the time to enjoy the game when it does finally launch on Xbox. Unbelievable that you guys do this again and again.
— Trevor Bredlau (@Trev_B22) November 16, 2023
Lol ? of course it did. This is completely expected news. More popcorn folks!
— David Neal (@Osinaki1) November 16, 2023
Early next week turns to after thanksgiving, which will turn to around Christmas, which will turn to early 2024. 16 delays later they’ll release a game that’s still bugged out and prone to crash. ?
— Justin (@Jmon3y7) November 16, 2023
rest in peace Wildcard, it was fun ?
It’ll be released in 2024 confirmed
— Jakeclip (@JakeclipsESO) November 16, 2023
Despite all this, Studio Wildcard insisted Ark: Survival Ascended on PlayStation 5 is “still on track for launch at the end of this month”. “We know you’ve been looking forward to ASA, and we’re sorry to keep our console survivors waiting.”
Ark: Survival Ascended is Studio Wildcard’s Unreal Engine 5 remake of the original Ark: Survival Evolved. It’s out now on Steam (if you're playing, check out IGN's comprehensive Ark: Survival Ascended guide).
Ark: Survival Ascended quickly shot to the top of Steam's best-selling games list upon release, but players ran into performance issues that marred the launch. The game currently has a ‘mixed’ Steam user review rating of 56%.
Studio Wildcard has acknowledged these issues, admitting to "a few bumps" since launch. But, it stressed, it's working to address issues players report with patches.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
