Ark 2: Souls-Like Action, Release Date Window, And Everything We Know

Ark 2 has been in development for several years now, and after a few delays, the game is currently aiming to unleash the power of Vin Diesel’s dinosaur-taming likeness in 2024. With the Fast ‘n Furious star attached, a big shake-up to its action formula that pushes the series into third-person Souls-like action, and a fanbase hungry to explore a strange alien frontier, expectations are high for this sequel.

News on the game has been hard to come by in recent years, and after several no-shows across various Xbox showcases, one of the biggest Xbox console exclusives remains largely a mystery. Still, some details have managed to slip out, and we’ve rounded up all the vital information below. From its release date window to Vin Diesel’s involvement, here’s everything that we know about Ark 2 so far.

Ark 2 release date window

After it was first revealed at The Game Awards in 2020, Ark 2’s release date has slipped a couple of times. Originally aiming for a 2022 launch, the game slipped to 2023, and in one of the more recent updates, it was confirmed that it had been delayed to 2024. Developer Studio Wildcard said that the delay was made “for the betterment of the final product” and the team’s well-being.

Ark 2 platforms and Game Pass

When it does launch, Ark 2 will be available for PC and on console it’ll be exclusive to Xbox Series X|S. On that console platform, Ark 2 will be available through Xbox Game Pass as a day-one launch.

Ark 2 story

Set after the events of Ark: Survival Evolved’s fifth and final paid DLC, Genesis: Part 2, Ark 2’s story remains vague for now. What we do know is that at the end of the expansion, the Genesis colony ship was destroyed and split into two parts. One part of the interstellar megastructure was left to crash into a gas planet, while the second half remained in space. Just before the ship was destroyed, a clone of Santiago da Costa was ejected from the ship and found himself on course for an Earth-like planet that’s likely the setting for Ark 2.

The official Steam page for the game describes how you’ll awaken “on a strange primal world filled with dinosaurs and humans struggling for dominance,” and as Santiago, the goal will be piece together the history of how you arrived there. You’ll also have to “confront powerful dark forces seeking to control the fate of all life” as you work to protect Santiago’s daughter Meeka from this malevolent entities.

Yes, that’s really Vin Diesel you’re seeing in the trailers

Yup, that’s really the likeness of renowned family man and Hollywood actor Vin Diesel being used for the protagonist Santiago. This clone of the original Ark: Survival Evolved character has–naturally–started his own family on the mysterious planet that Ark 2 takes place on, and he’ll stop at nothing to protect them. Beyond his starring role in the game, Diesel also holds the fancy position of “president of creative convergence” at Studio Wildcard, and he claims to have logged over a thousand hours in Ark. Studio Wildcard CEO Doug Kennedy says that Diesel is also lending his expertise to the development of Ark 2.

Ark 2 gameplay

Actual gameplay for Ark 2 has yet to be revealed, but Studio Wildcard has mentioned that this sequel contains improvements over the first game and its take on the action-adventure survival genre. The sequel is being built on the Unreal 5 Engine, and is described as being both technically and tonally different to its predecessor.

“Ark 2 has some pretty significant design changes from the original game, which may not make it as appealing to everyone–looking at you, Souls-like combat, primitive-only weaponry, strict third-person mechanics, and an overall ‘very serious’ tone–which is why we feel it is essential to provide players with a fully next-gen version of the original experience to ensure that fans can continue to enjoy the Ark they know for years to come,” the developer said in an April 2023 update.

Another change is the environment itself, as similarly to several other live-service games on the market, Ark 2’s map will have dynamic world events that can be interacted with to gain valuable rewards. Cross-platform mod and user-generated content will also be supported on the mod.io platform.

Studio Wildcard said that “Ark 2’s fully stackable user-created mods will open the door for players to generate new dinosaur and creatures, items, and gameplay features, with maps distributed across all platforms–including onto Xbox–and support for modded servers, via mod.io.”