For many fans of dinosaurs and survival games, Ark: Survival Ascended was a welcome re-imagining of the beloved franchise. This open-world game launched into Early Access in October 2023 and lets players re-enter the world of Ark with a newly designed, immersive world. The initial Early Access launch includes various worlds from the Ark franchise, promising to make the survival experience better than ever. Now that the game has been out for over a year, however, players are eager to see what’s next – and a teaser trailer for the game’s first story expansion is here to deliver.
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Ark: Survival Ascended remains in Early Access as of now, with the developers continuing to offer periodic updates with new content and bug fixes in response to ongoing player feedback via Discord, Twitter, and beyond. The game currently includes access to remastered takes on Scorched Earth, Aberration, Extinction, Ark Genesis Part 1 & Part 2, with plans to continue adding expansions throughout the Early Access and initial launch periods. While initially only available via PC, the game eventually made its way to PlayStation 5 and Xbox consoles.
In fact, Studio Wildcard recently launched a December update that added Ark: Extinction Ascended and Bob’s Tall Tales: Wasteland War to the game. This update also kicked off the final Ark: Survival Ascended in-game event of 2024, a Winter Wonderland spectacular featuring the return of RaptorClaus, alongside the Abominable Snowman, Pegomastax Grouch, and of course, wild rideable Reindeer. This live event runs until January 9th, 2025 and is packed with new and returning goodies for fans to enjoy.
ARK: Lost Colony Expansion Coming in 2025
However, 2024’s Winter Wonderland event is not the only holiday gift that Studio Wildcard has in store for players. In a recent post to X/Twitter, they’ve shared that 2025 will bring the first story expansion for Ark: Survival Ascended. The new story expansion will be called Ark: Lost Colony, and it will feature anime-style sequences from MAPPA, the studio behind Jujustu Kaisen. A teaser trailer reveals a sneak peak at some of these animations, with a frozen world and outfit that can’t help but bring to mind Avatar: The Last Airbender‘s Northern Water Tribe.
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The featured character is a legendary Ark survivor named Mei Yin, who will lead players on a quest deep into a newly added frozen world. So, in addition to new story content, it seems fans will get another area to test their survival skills in the game. Mei Yin’s new story will be called Ark: Lost Colony. The events will fall between Ark: Extinction and Ark: Genesis, leading into the story of Ark 2. For players looking for more lore to flesh out the Ark world, this upcoming expansion looks poised to deliver. Beyond this very brief sneak peek at our new legendary hero’s fighting style in the icy terrain, however, there aren’t many details about just what will unfold in this new Ark: Survivor Ascended tale just yet.
While an exact release date is yet to be revealed, the new expansion will arrive sometime in 2025. In a recent holiday post, Studio Wildcard shared their continued enthusiasm for what’s ahead for Ark: Survival Ascended in the new year, suggesting that this upcoming story addition may very well be the first of many exciting plans for 2025. For those who have yet to get in on the action, Ark: Survival Ascended is currently on sale as part of the Steam Winter Sale, making now a good time to grab the title and get ready for this latest update to drop.
