ARK: Survival Evolved took the world by surprise upon its release and quickly became one of the most popular survival video games on the market. A remastered version made with Unreal Engine 5.2 is on the way, but fans will have to be more patient. However, there is good news.

In a statement, Studio Wildcard announced that ARK: Survival Ascended, the name given to the remastered version, has been delayed and will now arrive in October of this year under the early access model. It is worth noting that its release was originally planned for this summer.

ARK: Survival Ascended suffers a delay but will be cheaper

"We found it challenging to work with Unreal Engine 5.2, but at the same time, it was very exciting. We discover new ways every day to take the technology to the next level; combined with the work needed to have a fully cross-platform and mod-compatible game ecosystem on consoles and PC, it is clear that we need a little more time," reads the announcement.

The Scorched Earth expansion of the game was supposed to be included in the release of ARK: Survival Ascended, but the developers confirmed that it will now debut in December as a free update. Similarly, the expansions Ragnarok and Aberration will arrive early next year.

Due to the delay, the servers for the original version of ARK: Survival Evolved will be shut down until September 30th. Additionally, Studio Wildcard confirmed that the new remastered version for next-gen consoles and PC will cost $45 USD and will have a special discount of $40 USD during the launch.

This project was initially announced as a free update to the original game. The studio changed plans and revealed that it would be a $50 USD replacement for the first game, which would also include ARK II, the sequel starring Vin Diesel. After complaints from the community, the developers separated the remastered version and the sequel, but the remaster ended up costing $60 USD. This move, as expected, also caused controversy.

But tell us, are you looking forward to this title? Let us know in the comments.

ARK: Survival Evolved is available for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.