Ark modder issues statement after being called "lazy" and "uncreative" for reusing assets from an abandoned game

After being labelled "uncreative" and "cheap," popular Ark modder and head of mod development at Nitrado, 'Nekatus', has issued a statement explaining why they used assets from another game in the latest update of the officially endorsed Ark Survival Ascended DLC, Astraeos.

Following the release of the Pyranthos update to Nekatus' Ark: Survival Ascended Astraeos map, the developer was called out by the community for reusing assets from Atlas, an early access open-world pirate game from the Ark team that hasn't seen an update in over two years.

The issue with the new Astraeos update revolves around the newly added Hydraskos boss, which bears a striking resemblance to the Hydra boss from Atlas. In response to the pushback, Nekatus has put out a statement to "talk about a topic which I have seen over and over again" since the update dropped on February 25.

The mod developer says: "I don't model, texturize, animate, or code" and that being "a level designer" is the reason behind the decision to reuse assets instead of going through the process of making something entirely new.

"Reading that I am uncreative or that it's cheap to do that doesn't feel good," they add, before noting that they "probably would get less negative responses" had they instead opted to bring basic creatures like the spider, gorilla, and dragon from Atlas over to the Astraeos map instead. "Atlas has some very nice creatures… I would like to see more of them in Ark, and I hope that more will come," Nekatus says. They've done it once, and they'll do it again is how I'm choosing to read that. Double down.

Following the statement, community members were quick to jump to Nekatus' defense, calling the reusing and repurposing of assets "smart, not lazy," and explaining that there's "nothing wrong with them coming into Ark" following the quiet sunsetting of Atlas. Those dinos went extinct once, and Ark brought them back. Why should the mobs of Atlas' be left to die?

Atlas launched back in 2018 as an early access title that struggled to find its stride. Despite launching to around 40,000 concurrent players at the peak of the holiday season, the game had lost almost 80% of those by March the following year. Described by its publisher as "one of the most ambitious online worlds of all time," and said to be "an early access title for approximately two years," Atlas has yet to exit the Steam Early Access program. Its last update dropped on May 30 and merely focused on "resolving key issues."