Before PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Fortnite and other battle royale games took over the gaming world, another genre was captivating gamers and stealing countless hours from their weeks. They were called survival games, and few were more popular than Ark: Survival Evolved. In Ark, players find themselves stranded on a mysterious island filled with dinosaurs, which they could hunt for resources or tame as companions.
Although survival games aren’t quite as ubiquitous as they were a year or two ago, Ark is still one of the most played games on Steam every day of the week. And now even more gamers are going to get a chance to explore the island, as Studio Wildcard announced on Thursday that Ark is coming to mobile devices later this spring.
In order to bring the entire massively multiplayer experience to mobile, Studio Wildcard has teamed up with War Drum Studios, which has previously ported Bully, Max Payne and a few Grand Theft Auto titles to mobile. The press release says that the mobile version of the game will feature over 80 dinosaurs to tame and do battle with, a massive island to explore, the ability to craft and build, and the option to group up with other players.
The biggest change from the PC and console version to the mobile version appears to be the pricing model. Rather than paying a flat price up front for the entire game, Ark: Survival Evolved on iOS and Android will be free to play. It’s unclear how this will impact the game, as the studio didn’t provide any additional details.
The game won’t be out on mobile devices until later this spring, but you can pre-register for more information and for a chance to get into the iOS limited closed beta (which is kicking off today) on the Ark: Survival Evolved website.
