Cancel Your Plans - ARK: Survival Ascended Is Free To Play This Weekend

Summary Experience the excitement of a sci-fi world where you can hunt and tame dinosaurs over the weekend for free in ARK: Survival Ascended.

Dive into a larger-than-life remastered version of ARK: Survival Evolved with revamped visuals, new features, and a dedicated player base.

Enjoy a free weekend on Steam to explore the game before deciding to purchase, and take advantage of a 20% discount if you decide to continue playing.

Players who've been eager to play ARK: Survival Ascended but haven't felt like parting with their cash just yet are in luck because the game will soon be free to play. Launching in late 2023, the remastered version of the popular ARK: Survival Evolved may not have established itself as a powerhouse in the genre like its older iteration, but the game still boasts a dedicated community. While the price for entry is still fairly steep, those who want to understand why the game is so beloved and hated in equal measure can now do so without spending a cent.

Over on Steam, developer Studio Wildcard announced that ARK: Survival Ascended will be hosting a free weekend on PC where interested players can check it out for free until April 7. There's no restriction on how long can be spent in-game, meaning with some dedication and a healthy amount of time, a dedicated consumer could see the bulk of what's on offer if they play for the whole weekend. To make the deal sweeter, Survival Ascended is also on sale for 20% off its usual price so those who enjoy the trial can continue playing once Monday rolls around.

Related 10 Awesome Ark: Survival Ascended Player-Built Bases Players have built masterpieces in Ark: Survival Ascended. Its vibrant biomes and robust crafting system offer designers the perfect playground.

What Is ARK: Survival Ascended All About?

Definitely One Of The Less Realistic Survival Games

To make matters even better, Survival Ascended has also just launched the Bob's Tall Tales expansion which features the voice talents of Karl Urban and Auliʻi Cravalho. The add-one chronicles the adventures of the titular Bob across The Island, Scorched Earth, Aberration, and Extinction and includes several new creatures and vehicles, including an Oasisaur and a train. Additionally, players can also unlock skins inspired by ARK: The Animated Series, including Helena, Bob, Dodo, and Scary the Parasaur.

The Ark franchise is so popular that it spawned its own animated series which premiered on Paramount+ in 2024 to decent reviews.

Announced and shadow-dropped in October 2023, Ark: Survival Ascended may just be one of the most elaborate attempts to remaster a game that the industry has ever seen. The entirety of Evolved is included in the package alongside a plethora of additional features like a revamped UI, realistic lighting achieved with Unreal Engine 5, a new map system, and even more creatures to hunt, making it the definitive version of the game. Despite this, the game has largely received mixed reviews from the community.

ARK: Survival Ascended has earned praise for taking the systems of Survival Evolved and making them both more accessible for newcomers and tweaking its presentation to look better than ever. However, many players have also criticized the game as a paid product given Studio Wildcard initially promised that it would be a free upgrade. This, alongside the fact that the game's performance on PC wasn't up to snuff at launch, has left a bad taste in fans' mouths.

Source: Steam