A game as demanding on hardware as ARK: Survival Evolved is a thrill for anyone with the ability to run the game. While this largely means the most optimal dinosaur-wrangling experience is found on the PC, owners of the Xbox Series X are being brought up to speed with ARK: Survival Evolved's latest performance oriented update.
Having been steadily amassing DLC paid or otherwise since its official release in 2017, ARK: Survival Evolved's uncompromising scale has kept many players from exploring the island, the game typically requiring over 100 GB to download not including expansions. However, by utilizing nearly everything the Xbox Series X's impressive hardware has to offer, Studio Wildcard is already shaping up to bring the worlds of ARK: Survival Evolved to life better than any previous porting attempts.
Addressing several criticisms regarding the game's performance on the current generation of consoles, this coming Xbox Series X patch aims to bring console players not only 4K resolution at 30 to 60 FPS, but even some statistical improvements over its mouse-and-keyboard counterpart build with draw distances surpassing that of the PC version. While ARK: Survival Evolved has undergone several optimization updates over the years, Studio Wildcard's commitment to growing the game has typically forced fans with older computers to keep up with the already gargantuan game, and console owners historically having to settle with ports sacrificing visual quality and frame rate.
Capitalizing on the opportunity to establish a good impression with new audiences while competing with the PlayStation 5, the Xbox Series X patch aims to introduce the intended ARK: Survival Evolved experience with every display option comfortably running at the game's epic settings. Support for dedicated server hosting capable of accommodating up to 100 players is also an advertised feature of the Xbox Series X version.
Despite the emphasis on the Xbox Series X, owners of the Series S can expect an equally impressive ARK: Survival Evolved port with some minor hardware specific limitations in place, chiefly running the game at 1080p resolution instead of the Series X's capacity for 1440p resolution. While undoubtedly important for gameplay, having over 200 different creatures rendered as intended reminds the player of how beautiful the game's multiple hand-crafted maps are, ranging from sun-scorched deserts and tropical islands to irradiated cyber-flora covered asteroids and everything in between.
Fortunately, for anyone unsure about committing the massive about of hard-drive space to ARK: Survival Evolved, the title joins the Xbox Game Pass as soon as November 17th, allowing players to test their survival instincts and hardware limitations free of purchase.
ARK: Survival Evolved is available for Android, iOS, Linux, PC, PlayStation 4, Switch, and Xbox One.