Ark Aquatica release date confirmed as ASE braces for its exclusive expansion

With all attention on its Unreal Engine 5 remaster and its official servers switched off for good, Ark fans never thought they'd see an original expansion in Ark Survival Evolved again. However, to celebrate the series' tenth birthday, ASE is back in the spotlight with Ark Aquatica. While its AI-generated reveal trailer caused some backlash, it looks to be a mightily impressive expansion to Survival Evolved, which will have its official servers reinstated just for the occasion. Now, Snail Games has locked in an Ark Aquatica release date, and you don't have long to wait at all - you'll be able to head beneath the waves next week on Tuesday, July 15.

It's been a wild anniversary year for the dino-taming survival series. Ark Survival Ascended dropped its remastered Ragnarok DLC and is gearing up for its first totally original expansion, Lost Colony. That game also got a significant engine upgrade. Despite all the content and improvements, there are still tens of thousands of Ark fans that haven't made the switch from Ark Survival Evolved over to Survival Ascended. On Steam, you'll regularly find ASE boasting more daily concurrent players than ASA, with community hosted servers keeping the game alive. In just a few days, Ark Aquatica will arrive and give those fans something new to shout about.

Set mostly underwater, save for a few islands that jut above the ocean's surface, Aquatica combines Ark's futuristic dino fantasy with a Subnautica-esque setting. A combination of two games on our best survival games list? Sounds like a recipe for success.

It's story (which begins with you emerging onto this watery alien planet from a crashed Ark ship) is non-canonical, so don't expect this to be teasing any story beats for Ark 2 like ASA's Lost Colony. This is just an experimental, celebratory piece of content for ASE fans.

Studio Wildcard and parent company Snail (who has taken responsibility for developing Aquatica) have made it clear that this is a one-off, and that there are no plans for any more expansions to Survival Evolved in the future. However, to support Aquatica, it will of course be switching its official servers back on. According to the DLC's official Q+A, these servers will remain on "through the end of 2025, with the potential for extension."

Ark Aquatica will be available to Ark Survival Evolved players on Tuesday, July 15. For the first two weeks after launch, it'll be available with a very generous 40% discount, making it just $8.99 according to information sent to PCGamesN by Snail.

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